Kejadian 31:44

31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, ¹  you and I, and it will be ²  proof that we have made peace.” ³ 

Kejadian 31:49

31:49 It was also called Mizpah ⁴  because he said, “May the Lord watch ⁵  between us ⁶  when we are out of sight of one another. ⁷ 

Kejadian 49:22

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, ⁸ 

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches ⁹  climb over the wall.

[31:44]  ¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[31:44]  ² tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition לְ (lÿ) means “become.”

[31:44]  ³ tn Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”

[31:49]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

[31:49]  ⁵ sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

[31:49]  ⁶ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:49]  ⁷ tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

[49:22]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text appears to mean “[is] a son of fruitfulness.” The second word is an active participle, feminine singular, from the verb פָּרָה (parah, “to be fruitful”). The translation “bough” is employed for בֵּן (ben, elsewhere typically “son”) because Joseph is pictured as a healthy and fruitful vine growing by the wall. But there are difficulties with this interpretation. The word “son” nowhere else refers to a plant and the noun translated “branches” (Heb “daughters”) in the third line is a plural form whereas its verb is singular. In the other oracles of Gen 49 an animal is used for comparison and not a plant, leading some to translate the opening phrase בֵּן פָּרָה (ben parah, “fruitful bough”) as “wild donkey” (JPS, NAB). Various other interpretations involving more radical emendation of the text have also been offered.

[49:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “daughters.”