Kejadian 21:1--30:43
Konteks21:1 The Lord visited 1 Sarah just as he had said he would and did 2 for Sarah what he had promised. 3 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant 4 and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 5 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, 6 Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. 7 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) 8
21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. 9 Everyone who hears about this 10 will laugh 11 with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, 12 “Who would 13 have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared 14 a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 15 21:9 But Sarah noticed 16 the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 17 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish 18 that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”
21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 19 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset 20 about the boy or your slave wife. Do 21 all that Sarah is telling 22 you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 23 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”
21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took 24 some food 25 and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, 26 and sent her away. So she went wandering 27 aimlessly through the wilderness 28 of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved 29 the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot 30 away; for she thought, 31 “I refuse to watch the child die.” 32 So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. 33
21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. 34 The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, 35 Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard 36 the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. 37 She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.
21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. 38 His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 39
21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you 40 in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 41 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 42 Show me, and the land 43 where you are staying, 44 the same loyalty 45 that I have shown you.” 46
21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 47 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint 48 against Abimelech concerning a well 49 that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 50 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, 51 you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”
21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 52 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these 53 seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof 54 that I dug this well.” 55 21:31 That is why he named that place 56 Beer Sheba, 57 because the two of them swore 58 an oath there.
21:32 So they made a treaty 59 at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned 60 to the land of the Philistines. 61 21:33 Abraham 62 planted a tamarisk tree 63 in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, 64 the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. 65
22:1 Some time after these things God tested 66 Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham 67 replied. 22:2 God 68 said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac 69 – and go to the land of Moriah! 70 Offer him up there as a burnt offering 71 on one of the mountains which I will indicate to 72 you.”
22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. 73 He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out 74 for the place God had spoken to him about.
22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of 75 the place in the distance. 22:5 So he 76 said to his servants, “You two stay 77 here with the donkey while 78 the boy and I go up there. We will worship 79 and then return to you.” 80
22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, 81 and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 82 “My father?” “What is it, 83 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 84 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “God will provide 85 for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.
22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there 86 and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up 87 his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter 88 his son. 22:11 But the Lord’s angel 89 called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” 90 the angel said. 91 “Do not do anything to him, for now I know 92 that you fear 93 God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”
22:13 Abraham looked up 94 and saw 95 behind him 96 a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he 97 went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” 98 It is said to this day, 99 “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” 100
22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 101 decrees the Lord, 102 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, 103 and I will greatly multiply 104 your descendants 105 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 106 of the strongholds 107 of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 108 all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 109 using the name of your descendants.’”
22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together 110 for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. 111
22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah 112 also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 113 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now 114 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. 115 23:2 Then she 116 died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 117
23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife 118 and said to the sons of Heth, 119 23:4 “I am a temporary settler 120 among you. Grant 121 me ownership 122 of a burial site among you so that I may 123 bury my dead.” 124
23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, 125 23:6 “Listen, sir, 126 you are a mighty prince 127 among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you 128 from burying your dead.”
23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, 129 the sons of Heth. 23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree 130 that I may bury my dead, 131 then hear me out. 132 Ask 133 Ephron the son of Zohar 23:9 if he will sell 134 me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly 135 for the full price, 136 so that I may own it as a burial site.”
23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite 137 replied to Abraham in the hearing 138 of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate 139 of his city – 23:11 “No, my lord! Hear me out. I sell 140 you both the field and the cave that is in it. 141 In the presence of my people 142 I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”
23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people 23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay 143 to you the price 144 of the field. Take it from me so that I may 145 bury my dead there.”
23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 “Hear me, my lord. The land is worth 146 400 pieces of silver, 147 but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”
23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price 148 and weighed 149 out for him 150 the price 151 that Ephron had quoted 152 in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time. 153
23:17 So Abraham secured 154 Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border, 23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city. 155
23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site 156 from the sons of Heth.
24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, 157 and the Lord had blessed him 158 in everything. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one 159 in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh 160 24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise 161 by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire 162 a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives 163 to find 164 a wife for my son Isaac.”
24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me 165 to this land? Must I then 166 take your son back to the land from which you came?”
24:6 “Be careful 167 never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 168 24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, 169 promised me with a solemn oath, 170 ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel 171 before you so that you may find 172 a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, 173 you will be free 174 from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!” 24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. 175
24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. 176 He journeyed 177 to the region of Aram Naharaim 178 and the city of Nahor. 24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well 179 outside the city. It was evening, 180 the time when the women would go out to draw water. 24:12 He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. 181 Be faithful 182 to my master Abraham. 24:13 Here I am, standing by the spring, 183 and the daughters of the people 184 who live in the town are coming out to draw water. 24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ 185 In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” 186
24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah 187 with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). 188 24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. 189 She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. 24:17 Abraham’s servant 190 ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.” 24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering 191 her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink. 24:19 When she had done so, 192 she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.” 24:20 She quickly emptied 193 her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. 24:21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine 194 if the Lord had made his journey successful 195 or not.
24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka 196 and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels 197 and gave them to her. 198 24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. 199 “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24:24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor. 200 24:25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, 201 “and room for you 202 to spend the night.”
24:26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord, 24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love 203 for my master! The Lord has led me 204 to the house 205 of my master’s relatives!” 206
24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about 207 these things. 24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) 208 Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring. 24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring 209 and heard his sister Rebekah say, 210 “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing 211 by the camels near the spring. 24:31 Laban said to him, 212 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! 213 Why are you standing out here when I have prepared 214 the house and a place for the camels?”
24:32 So Abraham’s servant 215 went to the house and unloaded 216 the camels. Straw and feed were given 217 to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. 218 24:33 When food was served, 219 he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” 220 “Tell us,” Laban said. 221
24:34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. 24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. 222 The Lord 223 has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 24:36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him 224 when she was old, 225 and my master 226 has given him everything he owns. 24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find 227 a wife for my son.’ 24:39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go 228 with me?’ 229 24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, 230 will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. 24:41 You will be free from your oath 231 if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’ 24:42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, 232 may events unfold as follows: 233 24:43 Here I am, standing by the spring. 234 When 235 the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.” 24:44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, 236 along came Rebekah 237 with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ 24:46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. 24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ 238 I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter 239 of my master’s brother for his son. 24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.” 240
24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing. 241 Our wishes are of no concern. 242 24:51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become 243 the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.” 244
24:52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 24:53 Then he 245 brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. 24:54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. 246
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.” 247 24:55 But Rebekah’s 248 brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.” 24:56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord 249 has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return 250 to my master.” 24:57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.” 251 24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want 252 to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”
24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. 24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words: 253
“Our sister, may you become the mother 254 of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds 255 of their enemies.”
24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with 256 the man. So Abraham’s servant 257 took Rebekah and left.
24:62 Now 258 Isaac came from 259 Beer Lahai Roi, 260 for 261 he was living in the Negev. 262 24:63 He 263 went out to relax 264 in the field in the early evening. 265 Then he looked up 266 and saw that 267 there were camels approaching. 24:64 Rebekah looked up 268 and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 24:65 and asked 269 Abraham’s servant, 270 “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. 271 So she took her veil and covered herself.
24:66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah 272 into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her 273 as his wife and loved her. 274 So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. 275
25:1 Abraham had taken 276 another 277 wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. 278 The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants 279 of Keturah.
25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines 280 and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. 281
25:7 Abraham lived a total of 282 175 years. 25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. 283 He joined his ancestors. 284 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah 285 near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite. 25:10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. 286 There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 25:11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed 287 his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. 288
25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, 289 whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.
25:13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: 290 Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes 291 according to their clans.
25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 292 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 293 25:18 His descendants 294 settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next 295 to Egypt all the way 296 to Asshur. 297 They settled 298 away from all their relatives. 299
25:19 This is the account of Isaac, 300 the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, 301 the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 302
25:21 Isaac prayed to 303 the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 25:22 But the children struggled 304 inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” 305 So she asked the Lord, 306 25:23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nations 307 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, 308 there were 309 twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish 310 all over, 311 like a hairy 312 garment, so they named him Esau. 313 25:26 When his brother came out with 314 his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. 315 Isaac was sixty years old 316 when they were born.
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 317 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 318 25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, 319 but Rebekah loved 320 Jacob.
25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, 321 and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed 322 me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called 323 Edom.) 324
25:31 But Jacob replied, “First 325 sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 326 25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” 327 So Esau 328 swore an oath to him and sold his birthright 329 to Jacob.
25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. 330 So Esau despised his birthright. 331
26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred 332 in the days of Abraham. 333 Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; 334 settle down in the land that I will point out to you. 335 26:3 Stay 336 in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, 337 for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, 338 and I will fulfill 339 the solemn promise I made 340 to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them 341 all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 342 26:5 All this will come to pass 343 because Abraham obeyed me 344 and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” 345 26:6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” 346 He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, 347 “The men of this place will kill me to get 348 Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”
26:8 After Isaac 349 had been there a long time, 350 Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed 351 Isaac caressing 352 his wife Rebekah. 26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really 353 your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.” 354
26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 355 One of the men 356 might easily have had sexual relations with 357 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches 358 this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 359
26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, 360 because the Lord blessed him. 361 26:13 The man became wealthy. 362 His influence continued to grow 363 until he became very prominent. 26:14 He had 364 so many sheep 365 and cattle 366 and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous 367 of him. 26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up 368 all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.
26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, 369 for you have become much more powerful 370 than we are.” 26:17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. 371 26:18 Isaac reopened 372 the wells that had been dug 373 back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up 374 after Abraham died. Isaac 375 gave these wells 376 the same names his father had given them. 377
26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing 378 water there, 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled 379 with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac 380 named the well 381 Esek 382 because they argued with him about it. 383 26:21 His servants 384 dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it 385 Sitnah. 386 26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac 387 named it 388 Rehoboth, 389 saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”
26:23 From there Isaac 390 went up to Beer Sheba. 26:24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped 391 the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. 392
26:26 Now Abimelech had come 393 to him from Gerar along with 394 Ahuzzah his friend 395 and Phicol the commander of his army. 26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me 396 and sent me away from you.” 26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see 397 that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be 398 a pact between us 399 – between us 400 and you. Allow us to make 401 a treaty with you 26:29 so that 402 you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed 403 you, but have always treated you well 404 before sending you away 405 in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” 406
26:30 So Isaac 407 held a feast for them and they celebrated. 408 26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. 409 Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. 410
26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. 411 26:33 So he named it Shibah; 412 that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba 413 to this day.
26:34 When 414 Esau was forty years old, 415 he married 416 Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety. 417
27:1 When 418 Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, 419 he called his older 420 son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau 421 replied. 27:2 Isaac 422 said, “Since 423 I am so old, I could die at any time. 424 27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game 425 for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then 426 I will eat it so that I may bless you 427 before I die.”
27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. 428 When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 429 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat 430 it and bless you 431 in the presence of the Lord 432 before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do 433 exactly what I tell you! 434 27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare 435 them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take 436 it to your father. Thus he will eat it 437 and 438 bless you before he dies.”
27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 439 27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him 440 and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, 441 my son! Just obey me! 442 Go and get them for me!”
27:14 So he went and got the goats 443 and brought them to his mother. She 444 prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats 445 on his hands 446 and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed 447 the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac 448 replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” 449 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up 450 and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” 451 27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world 452 did you find it so quickly, 453 my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” 454 he replied. 455 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, 456 my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” 457 27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 458 27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob 459 replied. 27:25 Isaac 460 said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. 461 Then I will bless you.” 462 So Jacob 463 brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac 464 drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob 465 went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent 466 of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,
“Yes, 467 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
27:28 May God give you
the dew of the sky 468
and the richness 469 of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
27:29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be 470 lord 471 over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. 472
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 473 his father’s 474 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 475 27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau 476 said to him, “My father, get up 477 and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” 478 27:32 His father Isaac asked, 479 “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” 480 he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently 481 and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. 482 He will indeed be blessed!”
27:34 When Esau heard 483 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 484 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac 485 replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away 486 your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! 487 He has tripped me up 488 two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”
27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” 489 Then Esau wept loudly. 490
27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,
“Indeed, 491 your home will be
away from the richness 492 of the earth,
and away from the dew of the sky above.
27:40 You will live by your sword
but you will serve your brother.
When you grow restless,
you will tear off his yoke
from your neck.” 493
27:41 So Esau hated 494 Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. 495 Esau said privately, 496 “The time 497 of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill 498 my brother Jacob!”
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 499 she quickly summoned 500 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 501 27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. 502 Run away immediately 503 to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while 504 until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there 505 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. 506 Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 507
27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed 508 because of these daughters of Heth. 509 If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” 510
28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 511 28:2 Leave immediately 512 for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign God 513 bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! 514 Then you will become 515 a large nation. 516 28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham 517 so that you may possess the land 518 God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” 519 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. 520 As he blessed him, 521 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 522 28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized 523 that the Canaanite women 524 were displeasing to 525 his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married 526 Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.
28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place 527 where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. 528 He took one of the stones 529 and placed it near his head. 530 Then he fell asleep 531 in that place 28:12 and had a dream. 532 He saw 533 a stairway 534 erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. 535 I will give you and your descendants the ground 536 you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, 537 and you will spread out 538 to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 539 using your name and that of your descendants. 540 28:15 I am with you! 541 I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”
28:16 Then Jacob woke up 542 and thought, 543 “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”
28:18 Early 544 in the morning Jacob 545 took the stone he had placed near his head 546 and set it up as a sacred stone. 547 Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel, 548 although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food 549 to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, 550 then the Lord will become my God. 28:22 Then this stone 551 that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely 552 give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” 553
29:1 So Jacob moved on 554 and came to the land of the eastern people. 555 29:2 He saw 556 in the field a well with 557 three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now 558 a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds 559 would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.
29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” 29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson 560 of Nahor?” “We know him,” 561 they said. 29:6 “Is he well?” 562 Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. 563 Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob 564 said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, 565 it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” 566 29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water 567 the sheep.”
29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. 568 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, 569 and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he 570 went over 571 and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. 572 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. 573 29:12 When Jacob explained 574 to Rachel that he was a relative of her father 575 and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father. 29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob 576 told Laban how he was related to him. 577 29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” 578 So Jacob 579 stayed with him for a month. 580
29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work 581 for me for nothing because you are my relative? 582 Tell me what your wages should be.” 29:16 (Now Laban had two daughters; 583 the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel. 29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, 584 but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) 585 29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with 586 Rachel, he said, “I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 29:19 Laban replied, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. 587 Stay with me.” 29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. 588 But they seemed like only a few days to him 589 because his love for her was so great. 590
29:21 Finally Jacob said 591 to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. 592 I want to have marital relations with her.” 593 29:22 So Laban invited all the people 594 of that place and prepared a feast. 29:23 In the evening he brought his daughter Leah 595 to Jacob, 596 and Jacob 597 had marital relations with her. 598 29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 599
29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! 600 So Jacob 601 said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! 602 Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked 603 me?” 29:26 “It is not our custom here,” 604 Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage 605 before the firstborn. 29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. 606 Then we will give you the younger one 607 too, in exchange for seven more years of work.” 608
29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. 609 When Jacob 610 completed Leah’s bridal week, 611 Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 612 29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 613 29:30 Jacob 614 had marital relations 615 with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban 616 for seven more years. 617
29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, 618 he enabled her to become pregnant 619 while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant 620 and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, 621 for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. 622 Surely my husband will love me now.”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, 623 he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 624
29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, 625 because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. 626
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. 627 Then she stopped having children.
30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she 628 became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children 629 or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious 630 with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 631 30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with 632 her so that she can bear 633 children 634 for me 635 and I can have a family through her.” 636
30:4 So Rachel 637 gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with 638 her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant 639 and gave Jacob a son. 640 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer 641 and given me a son.” That is why 642 she named him Dan. 643
30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 644 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” 645 So she named him Naphtali. 646
30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave 647 her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 648 30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” 649 So she named him Gad. 650
30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 651 30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, 652 for women 653 will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. 654
30:14 At the time 655 of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants 656 in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, 657 “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” 658 Rachel said, “he may sleep 659 with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep 660 with me because I have paid for your services 661 with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations 662 with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention 663 to Leah; she became pregnant 664 and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 665 30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward 666 because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” 667 So she named him Issachar. 668
30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 669 30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 670
30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
30:22 Then God took note of 671 Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 672 30:23 She became pregnant 673 and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 674 30:24 She named him Joseph, 675 saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
30:25 After Rachel had given birth 676 to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send 677 me on my way so that I can go 678 home to my own country. 679 30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. 680 Then I’ll depart, 681 because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” 682
30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 683 for I have learned by divination 684 that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” 685
30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, 686 “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 687 30:30 Indeed, 688 you had little before I arrived, 689 but now your possessions have increased many times over. 690 The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. 691 But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” 692
30:31 So Laban asked, 693 “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 694 Jacob replied, 695 “but if you agree to this one condition, 696 I will continue to care for 697 your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among 698 all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, 699 and the spotted or speckled goats. 700 These animals will be my wages. 701 30:33 My integrity will testify for me 702 later on. 703 When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, 704 if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 705 30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” 706
30:35 So that day Laban 707 removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 708 of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, 709 while 710 Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 711 30:39 When the sheep mated 712 in front of the branches, they 713 gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face 714 the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, 715 Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. 716 So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban 717 and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob 718 became extremely prosperous. He owned 719 large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
[21:1] 1 sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the
[21:1] 2 tn Heb “and the
[21:2] 4 tn Or “she conceived.”
[21:3] 5 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.
[21:4] 6 tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.
[21:4] 7 sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the
[21:5] 8 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).
[21:6] 9 tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”
[21:6] 10 tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[21:6] 11 sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).
[21:7] 13 tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.
[21:8] 15 sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.
[21:9] 17 tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.
[21:9] sn Mocking. Here Sarah interprets Ishmael’s actions as being sinister. Ishmael probably did not take the younger child seriously and Sarah saw this as a threat to Isaac. Paul in Gal 4:29 says that Ishmael persecuted Isaac. He uses a Greek word that can mean “to put to flight; to chase away; to pursue” and may be drawing on a rabbinic interpretation of the passage. In Paul’s analogical application of the passage, he points out that once the promised child Isaac (symbolizing Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promise) has come, there is no room left for the slave woman and her son (who symbolize the Mosaic law).
[21:10] 18 tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.
[21:11] 19 tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.
[21:12] 20 tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”
[21:12] 21 tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.
[21:12] 22 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.
[21:12] 23 tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.
[21:14] 24 tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”
[21:14] 25 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[21:14] 26 tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”
[21:14] 27 tn Heb “she went and wandered.”
[21:14] 28 tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.
[21:15] 29 tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.
[21:16] 30 sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).
[21:16] 32 tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.
[21:16] 33 tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.
[21:17] 34 sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the
[21:17] 35 tn Heb “What to you?”
[21:17] 36 sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.
[21:19] 37 tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:21] 38 sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.
[21:21] 39 tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”
[21:22] 40 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
[21:23] 41 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
[21:23] 42 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
[21:23] 43 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
[21:23] 44 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
[21:23] 46 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
[21:24] 47 tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.
[21:25] 48 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.
[21:25] 49 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
[21:25] 50 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
[21:27] 52 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:29] 53 tn Heb “What are these?”
[21:30] 54 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 55 sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.
[21:31] 56 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
[21:31] 57 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
[21:31] 58 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
[21:32] 59 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[21:32] 60 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
[21:32] 61 sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.
[21:33] 62 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:33] 63 sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.
[21:33] 64 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the
[21:34] 65 tn Heb “many days.”
[22:1] 66 sn The Hebrew verb used here means “to test; to try; to prove.” In this passage God tests Abraham to see if he would be obedient. See T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 44-48. See also J. L. Crenshaw, A Whirlpool of Torment (OBT), 9-30; and J. I. Lawlor, “The Test of Abraham,” GTJ 1 (1980): 19-35.
[22:1] 67 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 68 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 69 sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.
[22:2] 70 sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.
[22:2] 71 sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.
[22:2] 72 tn Heb “which I will say to.”
[22:3] 73 tn Heb “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
[22:3] 74 tn Heb “he arose and he went.”
[22:4] 75 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”
[22:5] 76 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[22:5] 77 tn The Hebrew verb is masculine plural, referring to the two young servants who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on the journey.
[22:5] 78 tn The disjunctive clause (with the compound subject preceding the verb) may be circumstantial and temporal.
[22:5] 79 tn This Hebrew word literally means “to bow oneself close to the ground.” It often means “to worship.”
[22:5] 80 sn It is impossible to know what Abraham was thinking when he said, “we will…return to you.” When he went he knew (1) that he was to sacrifice Isaac, and (2) that God intended to fulfill his earlier promises through Isaac. How he reconciled those facts is not clear in the text. Heb 11:17-19 suggests that Abraham believed God could restore Isaac to him through resurrection.
[22:6] 81 sn He took the fire and the knife in his hand. These details anticipate the sacrifice that lies ahead.
[22:7] 82 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[22:7] 83 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
[22:7] 84 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:8] 85 tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”
[22:8] sn God will provide is the central theme of the passage and the turning point in the story. Note Paul’s allusion to the story in Rom 8:32 (“how shall he not freely give us all things?”) as well as H. J. Schoeps, “The Sacrifice of Isaac in Paul’s Theology,” JBL 65 (1946): 385-92.
[22:9] 86 sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?
[22:9] 87 sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.
[22:10] 88 tn Heb “in order to slaughter.”
[22:11] 89 sn Heb “the messenger of the
[22:12] 90 tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”
[22:12] 91 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:12] 92 sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).
[22:12] 93 sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.
[22:13] 94 tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”
[22:13] 95 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.
[22:13] 96 tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew
[22:13] 97 tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[22:14] 98 tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.
[22:14] 99 sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
[22:14] 100 sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.
[22:16] 101 tn Heb “By myself I swear.”
[22:16] 102 tn Heb “the oracle of the
[22:17] 103 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.
[22:17] 104 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
[22:17] sn I will greatly multiply. The
[22:17] 105 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[22:17] 107 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).
[22:18] 108 tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.
[22:18] sn Because you have obeyed me. Abraham’s obedience brought God’s ratification of the earlier conditional promise (see Gen 12:2).
[22:18] 109 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
[22:19] 110 tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”
[22:19] 111 tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.
[22:20] 112 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to the statement.
[22:21] 113 sn This parenthetical note about Kemuel’s descendant is probably a later insertion by the author/compiler of Genesis and not part of the original announcement.
[22:23] 114 tn The disjunctive clause gives information that is important but parenthetical to the narrative. Rebekah would become the wife of Isaac (Gen 24:15).
[23:1] 115 tn Heb “And the years of Sarah were one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.”
[23:2] 116 tn Heb “Sarah.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“she”) for stylistic reasons.
[23:2] 117 sn Mourn…weep. The description here is of standard mourning rites (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 149-50). They would have been carried out in the presence of the corpse, probably in Sarah’s tent. So Abraham came in to mourn; then he rose up to go and bury his dead (v. 3).
[23:3] 118 tn Heb “And Abraham arose from upon the face of his dead.”
[23:3] 119 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (also in vv. 5, 7, 10, 16, 18, 20), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
[23:4] 120 tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”
[23:4] 121 tn Heb “give,” which is used here as an idiom for “sell” (see v. 9). The idiom reflects the polite bartering that was done in the culture at the time.
[23:4] 122 tn Or “possession.”
[23:4] 123 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose.
[23:4] 124 tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:5] 125 tn Heb “answered Abraham saying to him.”
[23:6] 126 tn Heb “Hear us, my lord.”
[23:6] 127 tn Heb “prince of God.” The divine name may be used here as a means of expressing the superlative, “mighty prince.” The word for “prince” probably means “tribal chief” here. See M. H. Gottstein, “Nasi’ ‘elohim (Gen 23:6),” VT 3 (1953) 298-99; and D. W. Thomas, “Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 (1953) 215-16.
[23:6] 128 tn The phrase “to prevent you” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:7] 129 tn Heb “to the people of the land” (also in v. 12).
[23:8] 130 tn Heb “If it is with your purpose.” The Hebrew noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) here has the nuance “purpose” or perhaps “desire” (see BDB 661 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ).
[23:8] 131 tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:8] 133 tn Heb “intercede for me with.”
[23:9] 134 tn Heb “give.” This is used here (also a second time later in this verse) as an idiom for “sell”; see the note on the word “grant” in v. 4.
[23:9] 135 tn Heb “in your presence.”
[23:10] 137 tn Or perhaps “Hittite,” but see the note on the name “Heth” in v. 3.
[23:10] 138 tn Heb “ears.” By metonymy the “ears” stand for the presence or proximity (i.e., within earshot) of the persons named.
[23:10] 139 sn On the expression all who entered the gate see E. A. Speiser, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate,” BASOR 144 (1956): 20-23; and G. Evans, “‘Coming’ and ‘Going’ at the City Gate: A Discussion of Professor Speiser’s Paper,” BASOR 150 (1958): 28-33.
[23:11] 140 tn Heb “give.” The perfect tense has here a present nuance; this is a formal, legally binding declaration. Abraham asked only for a burial site/cave within the field; Ephron agrees to sell him the entire field.
[23:11] 141 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you I give [i.e., sell] it.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
[23:11] 142 tn Heb “in the presence of the sons of my people.”
[23:13] 145 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose or result.
[23:15] 146 tn The word “worth” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:15] 147 sn Four hundred pieces of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 4.6 kilograms, or 160 ounces (about 10 pounds).
[23:16] 148 tn Heb “listened to Ephron.”
[23:16] 149 tn Heb “and Abraham weighed out.”
[23:16] 150 tn Heb “to Ephron.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:16] 152 tn Heb “that he had spoken.” The referent (Ephron) has been specified here in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[23:16] 153 tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.
[23:17] 154 tn Heb “And it was conveyed.” The recipient, Abraham (mentioned in the Hebrew text at the beginning of v. 18) has been placed here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:18] 155 tn Heb “his city”; the referent (Ephron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:18] sn See G. M. Tucker, “The Legal Background of Genesis 23,” JBL 85 (1966):77-84; and M. R. Lehmann, “Abraham’s Purchase of Machpelah and Hittite Law,” BASOR 129 (1953): 15-18.
[23:20] 156 tn Heb “possession of a grave.”
[24:1] 158 tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[24:2] 159 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
[24:2] 160 sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.
[24:3] 161 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.
[24:3] 162 tn Heb “because you must not take.”
[24:4] 163 tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”
[24:5] 165 tn Heb “to go after me.”
[24:5] 166 tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.
[24:6] 167 tn Heb “guard yourself.”
[24:6] 168 tn The introductory clause “And Abraham said to him” has been moved to the end of the opening sentence of direct discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:7] 169 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
[24:7] 170 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
[24:7] 171 tn Or “his messenger.”
[24:7] 172 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
[24:8] 173 tn Heb “ to go after you.”
[24:8] 174 sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.
[24:9] 175 tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”
[24:10] 176 tn Heb “and every good thing of his master was in his hand.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, explaining that he took all kinds of gifts to be used at his discretion.
[24:10] 177 tn Heb “and he arose and went.”
[24:10] 178 tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:10] sn Aram Naharaim means in Hebrew “Aram of the Two Rivers,” a region in northern Mesopotamia.
[24:11] 179 tn Heb “well of water.”
[24:11] 180 tn Heb “at the time of evening.”
[24:12] 181 tn Heb “make it happen before me today.” Although a number of English translations understand this as a request for success in the task (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV) it is more likely that the servant is requesting an omen or sign from God (v. 14).
[24:12] 182 tn Heb “act in loyal love with” or “show kindness to.”
[24:13] 183 tn Heb “the spring of water.”
[24:14] 185 sn I will also give your camels water. It would be an enormous test for a young woman to water ten camels. The idea is that such a woman would not only be industrious but hospitable and generous.
[24:14] 186 tn Heb “And let the young woman to whom I say, ‘Lower your jar that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I will also give your camels water,’ – her you have appointed for your servant, for Isaac, and by it I will know that you have acted in faithfulness with my master.”
[24:15] 187 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out!” Using the participle introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator dramatically transports the audience back into the event and invites them to see Rebekah through the servant’s eyes.
[24:15] 188 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out – [she] who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham – and her jug [was] on her shoulder.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:16] 189 tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.
[24:17] 190 tn Heb “and the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:18] 191 tn Heb “and she hurried and lowered.”
[24:19] 192 tn Heb “when she had finished giving him a drink.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:20] 193 tn Heb “and she hurried and emptied.”
[24:21] 195 tn The Hebrew term צָלָה (tsalah), meaning “to make successful” in the Hiphil verbal stem, is a key term in the story (see vv. 40, 42, 56).
[24:22] 196 sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).
[24:22] 197 sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).
[24:22] 198 tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[24:23] 199 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:24] 200 tn Heb “whom she bore to Nahor.” The referent (Milcah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:25] 201 tn Heb “and she said, ‘We have plenty of both straw and feed.’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:25] 202 tn Heb The words “for you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[24:27] 203 tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”
[24:27] 204 tn Heb “As for me – in the way the
[24:27] 205 tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.
[24:27] 206 tn Heb “brothers.”
[24:28] 207 tn Heb “according to.”
[24:29] 208 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause introduces the audience to Laban, who will eventually play an important role in the unfolding story.
[24:30] 209 tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[24:30] 210 tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”
[24:30] 211 tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.
[24:31] 212 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:31] 213 sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the
[24:31] 214 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.
[24:32] 215 tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:32] 216 tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).
[24:32] 217 tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.
[24:32] 218 tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”
[24:33] 219 tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”
[24:33] 220 tn Heb “my words.”
[24:33] 221 tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”
[24:33] tn Heb “and he said, ‘Speak.’” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:35] 222 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.
[24:35] 223 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the
[24:36] 224 tn Heb “to my master.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:36] 225 tn Heb “after her old age.”
[24:36] 226 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the servant’s master, Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:38] 227 tn Heb “but to the house of my father you must go and to my family and you must take a wife for my son.”
[24:39] 228 tn The imperfect is used here in a modal sense to indicate desire.
[24:39] 229 tn Heb “after me.”
[24:40] 230 tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the
[24:41] 231 tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).
[24:42] 232 tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”
[24:42] 233 tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[24:43] 234 tn Heb “the spring of water.”
[24:43] 235 tn Heb “and it will be.”
[24:45] 236 tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.
[24:45] 237 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.
[24:47] 238 tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:48] 239 tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).
[24:49] 240 tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.
[24:50] 241 tn Heb “From the
[24:50] 242 tn Heb “We are not able to speak to you bad or good.” This means that Laban and Bethuel could not say one way or the other what they wanted, for they viewed it as God’s will.
[24:51] 243 tn Following the imperatives, the jussive with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[24:51] 244 tn Heb “as the
[24:53] 245 tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:54] 246 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
[24:54] 247 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
[24:55] 248 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Rebekah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:56] 249 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, indicating a reason for the preceding request.
[24:56] 250 tn After the preceding imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[24:57] 251 tn Heb “and we will ask her mouth.”
[24:58] 252 tn The imperfect verbal form here has a modal nuance, expressing desire.
[24:60] 253 tn Heb “and said to her.”
[24:60] 254 tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”
[24:60] sn May you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands. The blessing expresses their prayer that she produce children and start a family line that will greatly increase (cf. Gen 17:16).
[24:60] 255 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.
[24:61] 256 tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”
[24:61] 257 tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:62] 258 tn The disjunctive clause switches the audience’s attention to Isaac and signals a new episode in the story.
[24:62] 259 tn Heb “from the way of.”
[24:62] 260 sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” See Gen 16:14.
[24:62] 261 tn This disjunctive clause is explanatory.
[24:62] 262 tn Or “the South [country].”
[24:62] sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
[24:63] 263 tn Heb “Isaac”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:63] 264 tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain (cf. NASB, NIV “to meditate”; NRSV “to walk”).
[24:63] 265 tn Heb “at the turning of the evening.”
[24:63] 266 tn Heb “And he lifted up his eyes.” This idiom emphasizes the careful look Isaac had at the approaching caravan.
[24:63] 267 tn Heb “and look.” The clause introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the audience to view the scene through Isaac’s eyes.
[24:64] 268 tn Heb “lifted up her eyes.”
[24:65] 269 tn Heb “and she said to.”
[24:65] 270 tn Heb “the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:65] 271 tn Heb “and the servant said.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:67] 272 tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.
[24:67] 273 tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:67] 274 tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”
[24:67] 275 tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.
[25:1] sn Abraham had taken another wife. These events are not necessarily in chronological order following the events of the preceding chapter. They are listed here to summarize Abraham’s other descendants before the narrative of his death.
[25:1] 277 tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”
[25:3] 278 sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.
[25:6] 280 tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”
[25:6] 281 tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”
[25:7] 282 tn Heb “and these are the days of the years of the lifetime of Abraham that he lived.” The normal genealogical formula is expanded here due to the importance of the life of Abraham.
[25:8] 283 tn Heb “old and full.”
[25:8] 284 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
[25:9] 285 sn The cave of Machpelah was the place Abraham had purchased as a burial place for his wife Sarah (Gen 23:17-18).
[25:10] 286 tn See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
[25:11] 287 sn God blessed Isaac. The Hebrew verb “bless” in this passage must include all the gifts that God granted to Isaac. But fertility was not one of them, at least not for twenty years, because Rebekah was barren as well (see v. 21).
[25:11] 288 sn Beer Lahai Roi. See the note on this place name in Gen 24:62.
[25:12] 289 sn This is the account of Ishmael. The Book of Genesis tends to tidy up the family records at every turning point. Here, before proceeding with the story of Isaac’s family, the narrative traces Ishmael’s family line. Later, before discussing Jacob’s family, the narrative traces Esau’s family line (see Gen 36).
[25:13] 290 tn The meaning of this line is not easily understood. The sons of Ishmael are listed here “by their names” and “according to their descendants.”
[25:16] 291 tn Or “tribal chieftains.”
[25:17] 292 tn Heb “And these are the days of the years of Ishmael.”
[25:17] 293 tn Heb “And he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
[25:18] 294 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:18] 295 tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.
[25:18] 296 tn Heb “as you go.”
[25:18] 297 sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.
[25:18] 299 tn Heb “upon the face of all his brothers.” This last expression, obviously alluding to the earlier oracle about Ishmael (Gen 16:12), could mean that the descendants of Ishmael lived in hostility to others or that they lived in a territory that was opposite the lands of their relatives. While there is some ambiguity about the meaning, the line probably does give a hint of the Ishmaelite-Israelite conflicts to come.
[25:19] 300 sn This is the account of Isaac. What follows for several chapters is not the account of Isaac, except briefly, but the account of Jacob and Esau. The next chapters tell what became of Isaac and his family.
[25:20] 301 tn Heb “And Isaac was the son of forty years when he took Rebekah.”
[25:20] 302 sn Some valuable information is provided here. We learn here that Isaac married thirty-five years before Abraham died, that Rebekah was barren for twenty years, and that Abraham would have lived to see Jacob and Esau begin to grow up. The death of Abraham was recorded in the first part of the chapter as a “tidying up” of one generation before beginning the account of the next.
[25:21] 303 tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the
[25:22] 304 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
[25:22] 305 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
[25:22] 306 sn Asked the
[25:23] 307 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
[25:24] 308 tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”
[25:24] 309 tn Heb “look!” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene as if they were actually present at the birth.
[25:25] 310 sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (’admoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.
[25:25] 311 tn Heb “all of him.”
[25:25] 312 sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (se’ar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.
[25:25] 313 tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ’esav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (se’ar), but it draws on some of the sounds.
[25:26] 314 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
[25:26] 315 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
[25:26] sn The name Jacob is a play on the Hebrew word for “heel” (עָקֵב, ’aqev). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. It did not have a negative connotation until Esau redefined it. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. After receiving such an oracle, the parents would have preserved in memory almost every detail of the unusual births.
[25:26] 316 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
[25:27] 318 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
[25:28] 319 tn Heb “the taste of game was in his mouth.” The word for “game,” “venison” is here the same Hebrew word as “hunter” in the last verse. Here it is a metonymy, referring to that which the hunter kills.
[25:28] 320 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Rebekah with Jacob and draws attention to the contrast. The verb here is a participle, drawing attention to Rebekah’s continuing, enduring love for her son.
[25:29] 321 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[25:30] 322 tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
[25:30] 323 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
[25:30] 324 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
[25:32] 326 tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”
[25:33] 327 tn Heb “Swear to me today.”
[25:33] 328 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:33] 329 sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.
[25:34] 330 sn The style here is typical of Hebrew narrative; after the tension is resolved with the dialogue, the working out of it is recorded in a rapid sequence of verbs (“gave”; “ate”; “drank”; “got up”; “went out”). See also Gen 3:1-7 for another example.
[25:34] 331 sn So Esau despised his birthright. This clause, which concludes the episode, is a summary statement which reveals the underlying significance of Esau’s actions. “To despise” means to treat something as worthless or with contempt. Esau’s willingness to sell his birthright was evidence that he considered it to be unimportant.
[26:1] 332 tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”
[26:1] 333 sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.
[26:2] 334 sn Do not go down to Egypt. The words echo Gen 12:10, which reports that “Abram went down to Egypt,” but state the opposite.
[26:2] 335 tn Heb “say to you.”
[26:3] 336 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.
[26:3] 337 tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.
[26:3] sn I will be with you and I will bless you. The promise of divine presence is a promise to intervene to protect and to bless.
[26:3] 338 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[26:3] sn To you and to your descendants. The Abrahamic blessing will pass to Isaac. Everything included in that blessing will now belong to the son, and in turn will be passed on to his sons. But there is a contingency involved: If they are to enjoy the full blessings, they will have to obey the word of the
[26:3] 339 tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.
[26:3] 340 tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”
[26:3] sn The solemn promise I made. See Gen 15:18-20; 22:16-18.
[26:4] 341 tn Heb “your descendants.”
[26:4] 342 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
[26:5] 343 tn The words “All this will come to pass” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.
[26:5] 344 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
[26:5] 345 sn My charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. The language of this verse is clearly interpretive, for Abraham did not have all these laws. The terms are legal designations for sections of the Mosaic law and presuppose the existence of the law. Some Rabbinic views actually conclude that Abraham had fulfilled the whole law before it was given (see m. Qiddushin 4:14). Some scholars argue that this story could only have been written after the law was given (C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:424-25). But the simplest explanation is that the narrator (traditionally taken to be Moses the Lawgiver) elaborated on the simple report of Abraham’s obedience by using terms with which the Israelites were familiar. In this way he depicts Abraham as the model of obedience to God’s commands, whose example Israel should follow.
[26:7] 346 sn Rebekah, unlike Sarah, was not actually her husband’s sister.
[26:7] 347 tn Heb “lest.” The words “for he thought to himself” are supplied because the next clause is written with a first person pronoun, showing that Isaac was saying or thinking this.
[26:7] 348 tn Heb “kill me on account of.”
[26:8] 349 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:8] 350 tn Heb “and it happened when the days were long to him there.”
[26:8] 351 tn Heb “look, Isaac.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene through Abimelech’s eyes.
[26:8] sn The Hebrew word מְצַחֵק (mÿtsakheq), from the root צָחַק (tsakhaq, “laugh”), forms a sound play with the name “Isaac” right before it. Here it depicts an action, probably caressing or fondling, that indicated immediately that Rebekah was Isaac’s wife, not his sister. Isaac’s deception made a mockery of God’s covenantal promise. Ignoring God’s promise to protect and bless him, Isaac lied to protect himself and acted in bad faith to the men of Gerar.
[26:9] 353 tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.
[26:9] 354 tn Heb “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” Since the verb “said” probably means “said to myself” (i.e., “thought”) here, the direct discourse in the Hebrew statement has been converted to indirect discourse in the translation. In addition the simple prepositional phrase “on account of her” has been clarified in the translation as “to get her” (cf. v. 7).
[26:10] 355 tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
[26:10] 357 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
[26:11] 358 tn Heb “strikes.” Here the verb has the nuance “to harm in any way.” It would include assaulting the woman or killing the man.
[26:11] 359 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the imperfect makes the construction emphatic.
[26:12] 360 tn Heb “a hundredfold.”
[26:12] 361 tn This final clause explains why Isaac had such a bountiful harvest.
[26:13] 362 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Isaac’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are included.
[26:13] 363 tn Heb “and he went, going and becoming great.” The construction stresses that his growth in possessions and power continued steadily.
[26:14] 364 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
[26:14] 365 tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”
[26:14] 366 tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”
[26:14] 367 tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).
[26:15] 368 tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”
[26:16] 369 tn Heb “Go away from us.”
[26:16] 370 sn You have become much more powerful. This explanation for the expulsion of Isaac from Philistine territory foreshadows the words used later by the Egyptians to justify their oppression of Israel (see Exod 1:9).
[26:17] 371 tn Heb “and he camped in the valley of Gerar and he lived there.”
[26:17] sn This valley was actually a wadi (a dry river bed where the water would flow in the rainy season, but this would have been rare in the Negev). The water table under it would have been higher than in the desert because of water soaking in during the torrents, making it easier to find water when digging wells. However, this does not minimize the blessing of the
[26:18] 372 tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”
[26:18] 373 tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.
[26:18] 374 tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.
[26:18] 375 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:18] 376 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:18] 377 tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”
[26:19] 378 tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).
[26:20] 379 tn The Hebrew verb translated “quarreled” describes a conflict that often has legal ramifications.
[26:20] 380 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:20] 381 tn Heb “and he called the name of the well.”
[26:20] 382 sn The name Esek means “argument” in Hebrew. The following causal clause explains that Isaac gave the well this name as a reminder of the conflict its discovery had created. In the Hebrew text there is a wordplay, for the name is derived from the verb translated “argued.”
[26:20] 383 tn The words “about it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:21] 384 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:21] 385 tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:21] 386 sn The name Sitnah (שִׂטְנָה, sitnah) is derived from a Hebrew verbal root meaning “to oppose; to be an adversary” (cf. Job 1:6). The name was a reminder that the digging of this well caused “opposition” from the Philistines.
[26:22] 387 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:22] 388 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
[26:22] 389 sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.
[26:23] 390 tn Heb “and he went up from there”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:25] 391 tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the
[26:25] 392 tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”
[26:26] 393 tn The disjunctive clause supplies pertinent supplemental information. The past perfect is used because the following narrative records the treaty at Beer Sheba. Prior to this we are told that Isaac settled in Beer Sheba; presumably this treaty would have allowed him to do that. However, it may be that he settled there and then made the treaty by which he renamed the place Beer Sheba. In this case one may translate “Now Abimelech came to him.”
[26:26] 395 tn Many modern translations render the Hebrew term מֵרֵעַ (merea’) as “councillor” or “adviser,” but the term may not designate an official position but simply a close personal friend.
[26:27] 396 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, expressing the reason for his question.
[26:28] 397 tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.
[26:28] 398 tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:28] 399 tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.
[26:28] 400 tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).
[26:28] 401 tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”
[26:29] 402 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
[26:29] 404 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
[26:29] 405 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
[26:29] 406 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
[26:30] 407 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:30] 408 tn Heb “and they ate and drank.”
[26:31] 409 tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”
[26:31] 410 tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”
[26:32] 411 tn Heb “and they said to him, ‘We have found water.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:33] 412 sn The name Shibah (שִׁבְעָה, shiv’ah) means (or at least sounds like) the word meaning “oath.” The name was a reminder of the oath sworn by Isaac and the Philistines to solidify their treaty.
[26:33] 413 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of an oath” or “well of seven.” According to Gen 21:31 Abraham gave Beer Sheba its name when he made a treaty with the Philistines. Because of the parallels between this earlier story and the account in 26:26-33, some scholars see chaps. 21 and 26 as two versions (or doublets) of one original story. However, if one takes the text as it stands, it appears that Isaac made a later treaty agreement with the people of the land that was similar to his father’s. Abraham dug a well at the site and named the place Beer Sheba; Isaac dug another well there and named the well Shibah. Later generations then associated the name Beer Sheba with Isaac, even though Abraham gave the place its name at an earlier time.
[26:34] 414 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making this clause subordinate to the next.
[26:34] 415 tn Heb “the son of forty years.”
[26:34] 416 tn Heb “took as a wife.”
[26:35] 417 tn Heb “And they were [a source of ] bitterness in spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.”
[27:1] 418 tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.
[27:1] 419 tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”
[27:1] 420 tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).
[27:1] 421 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 422 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaac) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 423 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here introduces a logically foundational statement, upon which the coming instruction will be based.
[27:2] 424 tn Heb “I do not know the day of my death.”
[27:3] 425 tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).
[27:4] 426 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:4] 427 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.
[27:5] 428 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.
[27:5] 429 tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.
[27:7] 430 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:7] 431 tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.
[27:7] 432 tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the
[27:8] 433 tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The Hebrew idiom means “to comply; to obey.”
[27:8] 434 tn Heb “to that which I am commanding you.”
[27:9] 435 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:10] 436 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.
[27:10] 437 tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.
[27:10] 438 tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:11] 439 tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:12] 440 tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”
[27:13] 441 tn Heb “upon me your curse.”
[27:13] 442 tn Heb “only listen to my voice.”
[27:14] 443 tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:14] 444 tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:16] 445 tn In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.
[27:16] 446 tn The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”
[27:17] 447 tn Heb “gave…into the hand of.”
[27:18] 448 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:18] 449 sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.
[27:19] 450 tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.
[27:19] 451 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.
[27:20] 452 tn Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”
[27:20] 453 tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.
[27:20] 454 tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”
[27:20] 455 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Because the
[27:21] 456 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:21] 457 tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.
[27:23] 458 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:24] 459 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 460 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 461 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.
[27:25] 462 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.
[27:25] 463 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 464 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:27] 465 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:27] 466 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:28] 468 tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”
[27:28] 469 tn Heb “and from the fatness.”
[27:29] 470 tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.
[27:29] 471 tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”
[27:29] 472 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:30] 473 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
[27:30] 474 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
[27:30] 475 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
[27:31] 476 tn Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.
[27:31] 477 tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
[27:31] 478 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”
[27:32] 480 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I [am] your son, your firstborn.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
[27:33] 481 tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.
[27:33] 482 tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”
[27:34] 483 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
[27:34] 484 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
[27:35] 485 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:35] 486 tn Or “took”; “received.”
[27:36] 487 tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.
[27:36] 488 sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”
[27:38] 489 tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:38] 490 tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
[27:39] 492 tn Heb “from the fatness.”
[27:40] 493 sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.
[27:41] 494 tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.
[27:41] 495 tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”
[27:41] 496 tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.
[27:41] 498 tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.
[27:42] 499 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
[27:42] 500 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
[27:42] 501 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
[27:43] 502 tn Heb “listen to my voice.”
[27:43] 503 tn Heb “arise, flee.”
[27:44] 504 tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.
[27:45] 505 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:45] 506 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
[27:45] 507 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
[27:46] 508 tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).
[27:46] 509 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
[27:46] 510 tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”
[28:1] 511 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:2] 512 tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.
[28:3] 513 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
[28:3] 514 tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.
[28:3] 515 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”
[28:3] 516 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
[28:4] 517 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
[28:4] 518 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[28:4] 519 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
[28:6] 520 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
[28:6] 521 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
[28:6] 522 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:8] 524 tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:8] 525 tn Heb “evil in the eyes of.”
[28:9] 526 tn Heb “took for a wife.”
[28:11] 527 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
[28:11] 528 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
[28:11] 529 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
[28:11] 530 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
[28:11] 531 tn Heb “lay down.”
[28:12] 532 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
[28:12] 533 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the
[28:12] 534 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
[28:13] 535 tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.
[28:13] 536 tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.
[28:14] 537 tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.
[28:14] 538 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.
[28:14] 539 tn Theoretically the Niphal stem can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Jacob were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in other formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless (i.e., pronounce blessings upon) themselves/one another.” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 28:14 predicts that Jacob will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae (see Gen 12:2 and 18:18 as well, where Abram/Abraham receives this promise). For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
[28:14] 540 tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”
[28:15] 541 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).
[28:16] 542 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[28:18] 544 tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”
[28:18] 545 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:18] 546 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.
[28:18] 547 tn Heb “standing stone.”
[28:18] sn Sacred stone. Such a stone could be used as a boundary marker, a burial stone, or as a shrine. Here the stone is intended to be a reminder of the stairway that was “erected” and on which the
[28:19] 548 tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).
[28:19] map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[28:20] 549 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
[28:21] 550 tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”
[28:22] 551 tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.
[28:22] 552 tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.
[28:22] 553 tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.
[29:1] 554 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.
[29:1] 555 tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”
[29:2] 556 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.
[29:2] 557 tn Heb “and look, there.”
[29:2] 558 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
[29:3] 559 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:5] 561 tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.
[29:6] 562 tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”
[29:7] 564 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:7] 565 tn Heb “the day is great.”
[29:7] 566 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.
[29:8] 567 tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.
[29:9] 568 tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”
[29:10] 569 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).
[29:10] 570 tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:10] 571 tn Heb “drew near, approached.”
[29:10] 572 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).
[29:11] 573 tn Heb “and he lifted up his voice and wept.” The idiom calls deliberate attention to the fact that Jacob wept out loud.
[29:12] 574 tn Heb “declared.”
[29:12] 575 tn Heb “that he [was] the brother of her father.”
[29:13] 576 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:13] 577 tn Heb “and he told to Laban all these things.” This might mean Jacob told Laban how he happened to be there, but Laban’s response (see v. 14) suggests “all these things” refers to what Jacob had previously told Rachel (see v. 12).
[29:14] 578 tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12,); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).
[29:14] 579 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:14] 580 tn Heb “a month of days.”
[29:15] 581 tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.
[29:15] 582 tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.
[29:16] 583 tn Heb “and to Laban [there were] two daughters.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a prepositional phrase) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, vv. 16-17 have been set in parentheses in the translation.
[29:17] 584 tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.
[29:17] 585 tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”
[29:18] 586 tn Heb “Jacob loved.”
[29:19] 587 tn Heb “Better my giving her to you than my giving her to another man.”
[29:20] 588 tn Heb “in exchange for Rachel.”
[29:20] 589 sn But they seemed like only a few days to him. This need not mean that the time passed quickly. More likely it means that the price seemed insignificant when compared to what he was getting in the bargain.
[29:20] 590 tn Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
[29:21] 591 tn Heb “and Jacob said.”
[29:21] 592 tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”
[29:21] 593 tn Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire. The verb “go in” in this context refers to sexual intercourse (i.e., the consummation of the marriage).
[29:23] 595 tn Heb “and it happened in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her.”
[29:23] sn His daughter Leah. Laban’s deception of Jacob by giving him the older daughter instead of the younger was God’s way of disciplining the deceiver who tricked his older brother. D. Kidner says this account is “the very embodiment of anti-climax, and this moment a miniature of man’s disillusion, experienced from Eden onwards” (Genesis [TOTC], 160). G. von Rad notes, “That Laban secretly gave the unloved Leah to the man in love was, to be sure, a monstrous blow, a masterpiece of shameless treachery…It was certainly a move by which he won for himself far and wide the coarsest laughter” (Genesis [OTL], 291).
[29:23] 596 tn Heb “to him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:23] 597 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:23] 598 tn Heb “went in to her.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
[29:24] 599 tn Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
[29:25] 600 tn Heb “and it happened in the morning that look, it was Leah.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
[29:25] 601 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:25] 602 tn Heb What is this you have done to me?” The use of the pronoun “this” is enclitic, adding emphasis to the question: “What in the world have you done to me?”
[29:25] 603 sn The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around, comes around. See J. A. Diamond, “The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem,” VT 34 (1984): 211-13.
[29:26] 604 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘It is not done so in our place.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:26] 605 tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[29:27] 606 tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.
[29:27] sn Bridal week. An ancient Hebrew marriage ceremony included an entire week of festivities (cf. Judg 14:12).
[29:27] 607 tn Heb “this other one.”
[29:27] 608 tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”
[29:27] sn In exchange for seven more years of work. See C. H. Gordon, “The Story of Jacob and Laban in the Light of the Nuzi Tablets,” BASOR 66 (1937): 25-27; and J. Van Seters, “Jacob’s Marriages and Ancient Near Eastern Customs: A Reassessment,” HTR 62 (1969): 377-95.
[29:28] 609 tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[29:28] 610 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:28] 611 tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.
[29:28] 612 tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:29] 613 tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”
[29:30] 614 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:30] 615 tn Heb “went in also to Rachel.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
[29:30] 616 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[29:30] 617 tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”
[29:31] 618 tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.
[29:31] 619 tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”
[29:32] 620 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
[29:32] 621 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
[29:32] 622 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
[29:32] sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the
[29:33] 623 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
[29:33] 624 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the
[29:34] 625 tn Heb “will be joined to me.”
[29:34] 626 sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.
[29:35] 627 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
[30:1] 628 tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:2] 630 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”
[30:2] 631 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”
[30:3] 632 tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
[30:3] 633 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.
[30:3] 634 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:3] 635 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.
[30:3] 636 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).
[30:4] 637 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:4] 638 tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
[30:5] 639 tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).
[30:5] 640 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”
[30:6] 641 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.
[30:6] 643 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.
[30:7] 644 tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”
[30:8] 645 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.
[30:8] 646 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”
[30:9] 647 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”
[30:10] 648 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”
[30:11] 649 tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”
[30:11] 650 sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.
[30:12] 651 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”
[30:13] 652 tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”
[30:13] 653 tn Heb “daughters.”
[30:13] 654 sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.
[30:14] 655 tn Heb “during the days.”
[30:14] 656 sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.
[30:15] 657 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:15] 658 tn Heb “therefore.”
[30:15] 659 tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
[30:16] 660 tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.
[30:16] 661 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.
[30:16] 662 tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.
[30:17] 663 tn Heb “listened to.”
[30:17] 664 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).
[30:17] 665 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.
[30:18] 666 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”
[30:18] 667 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).
[30:18] sn Leah seems to regard the act of giving her servant Zilpah to her husband as a sacrifice, for which (she believes) God is now rewarding her with the birth of a son.
[30:18] 668 sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.
[30:19] 669 tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.
[30:20] 670 sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.
[30:22] 671 tn Heb “remembered.”
[30:22] 672 tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons
[30:23] 673 tn Or “conceived.”
[30:23] 674 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
[30:24] 675 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
[30:25] 676 tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.
[30:25] 677 tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.
[30:25] sn For Jacob to ask to leave would mean that seven more years had passed. Thus all Jacob’s children were born within the range of seven years of each other, with Joseph coming right at the end of the seven years.
[30:25] 678 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[30:25] 679 tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”
[30:26] 680 tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.
[30:26] 681 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[30:26] 682 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”
[30:27] 683 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[30:27] 684 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the
[30:28] 685 tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”
[30:29] 686 tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:29] 687 tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”
[30:30] 689 tn Heb “before me.”
[30:30] 690 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”
[30:30] 691 tn Heb “at my foot.”
[30:30] 692 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”
[30:31] 693 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:31] 694 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.
[30:31] 695 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:31] 696 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”
[30:31] 697 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”
[30:32] 698 tn Heb “pass through.”
[30:32] 699 tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”
[30:32] 700 tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”
[30:32] 701 tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.
[30:33] 702 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”
[30:33] 703 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”
[30:33] 704 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”
[30:33] sn Only the wage we agreed on. Jacob would have to be considered completely honest here, for he would have no control over the kind of animals born; and there could be no disagreement over which animals were his wages.
[30:33] 705 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”
[30:34] 706 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.
[30:35] 707 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:35] 708 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
[30:36] 709 tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”
[30:36] sn Three days’ traveling distance from Jacob. E. A. Speiser observes, “Laban is delighted with the terms, and promptly proceeds to violate the spirit of the bargain by removing to a safe distance all the grown animals that would be likely to produce the specified spots” (Genesis [AB], 238). Laban apparently thought that by separating out the spotted, striped, and dark colored animals he could minimize the production of spotted, striped, or dark offspring that would then belong to Jacob.
[30:36] 710 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.
[30:38] 711 sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).
[30:39] 712 tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.
[30:39] 713 tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:40] 714 tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”
[30:41] 715 tn Heb “and at every breeding-heat of the flock.”
[30:42] 716 tn Heb “he did not put [them] in.” The referent of the [understood] direct object, “them,” has been specified as “the branches” in the translation for clarity.
[30:42] 717 tn Heb “were for Laban.”
[30:43] 718 tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
