Kejadian 2:18

2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. ¹  I will make a companion ²  for him who corresponds to him.” ³ 

Kejadian 18:27

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁴  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁵ 

Kejadian 26:2

26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ⁶  settle down in the land that I will point out to you. ⁷ 

Kejadian 28:18

28:18 Early ⁸  in the morning Jacob ⁹  took the stone he had placed near his head ¹⁰  and set it up as a sacred stone. ¹¹  Then he poured oil on top of it.

Kejadian 31:51

31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ¹² 

Kejadian 48:3

48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign God ¹³  appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.

[2:18]  ¹ tn Heb “The being of man by himself is not good.” The meaning of “good” must be defined contextually. Within the context of creation, in which God instructs humankind to be fruitful and multiply, the man alone cannot comply. Being alone prevents the man from fulfilling the design of creation and therefore is not good.

[2:18]  ² tn Traditionally “helper.” The English word “helper,” because it can connote so many different ideas, does not accurately convey the connotation of the Hebrew word עֵזֶר (’ezer). Usage of the Hebrew term does not suggest a subordinate role, a connotation which English “helper” can have. In the Bible God is frequently described as the “helper,” the one who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, the one who meets our needs. In this context the word seems to express the idea of an “indispensable companion.” The woman would supply what the man was lacking in the design of creation and logically it would follow that the man would supply what she was lacking, although that is not stated here. See further M. L. Rosenzweig, “A Helper Equal to Him,” Jud 139 (1986): 277-80.

[2:18]  ³ tn The Hebrew expression כְּנֶגְדּוֹ (kÿnegdo) literally means “according to the opposite of him.” Translations such as “suitable [for]” (NASB, NIV), “matching,” “corresponding to” all capture the idea. (Translations that render the phrase simply “partner” [cf. NEB, NRSV], while not totally inaccurate, do not reflect the nuance of correspondence and/or suitability.) The man’s form and nature are matched by the woman’s as she reflects him and complements him. Together they correspond. In short, this prepositional phrase indicates that she has everything that God had invested in him.

[18:27]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[26:2]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “say to you.”

[28:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”

[28:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:18]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.

[28:18]  ¹¹ 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 Lord “stood.” (In Hebrew the word translated “sacred stone” is derived from the verb translated “erected” in v. 12 and “stood” in v. 13. Since the top of the stairway reached the heavens where the Lord stood, Jacob poured oil on the top of the stone. See C. F. Graesser, “Standing Stones in Ancient Palestine,” BA 35 (1972): 34-63; and E. Stockton, “Sacred Pillars in the Bible,” ABR 20 (1972): 16-32.

[31:51]  ¹² tn Heb “and Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between men and you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[48:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.