Genesis 27:25

27:25 Isaac ¹  said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. ²  Then I will bless you.” ³  So Jacob ⁴  brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac ⁵  drank.

Genesis 35:11

35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. ⁶  Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! ⁷ 

Genesis 44:29

44:29 If you take ⁸  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ⁹  in tragedy ¹⁰  to the grave.’ ¹¹ 

¹ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

³ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.

⁴ tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. For a fuller discussion see the note on “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

⁷ tn Heb “A nation and a company of nations will be from you and kings from your loins will come out.”

⁸ tn The construction uses a perfect verbal form with the vav consecutive to introduce the conditional clause and then another perfect verbal form with a vav consecutive to complete the sentence: “if you take…then you will bring down.”

⁹ sn The expression bring down my gray hair is figurative, using a part for the whole – they would put Jacob in the grave. But the gray head signifies a long life of worry and trouble. See Gen 42:38.

¹⁰ tn Heb “evil/calamity.” The term is different than the one used in the otherwise identical statement recorded in v. 31 (see also 42:38).

¹¹ tn Heb “to Sheol,” the dwelling place of the dead.