13:25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom 5 pressed 6 him, the king 7 was not willing to go. Instead, David 8 blessed him.
“Blessed be Abram by 9 the Most High God,
Creator 10 of heaven and earth. 11
47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him 16 before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed 17 Pharaoh.
1 tn Heb “and David returned to bless his house.”
2 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “honored.”
4 tn Heb “one of the foolish ones.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tc Here and in v. 27 the translation follows 4QSama ויצפר (vayyitspar, “and he pressed”) rather than the MT וַיִּפְרָץ (vayyiprats, “and he broke through”). This emended reading seems also to underlie the translations of the LXX (καὶ ἐβιάσατο, kai ebiasato), the Syriac Peshitta (we’alseh), and Vulgate (cogeret eum).
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.
10 tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”
11 tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.
12 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
13 tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.
14 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”
15 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
16 tn Heb “caused him to stand.”
17 sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.
18 tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”
19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
20 tn Grk “behold.”
21 tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.
22 sn The phrase the falling and rising of many emphasizes that Jesus will bring division in the nation, as some will be judged (falling) and others blessed (rising) because of how they respond to him. The language is like Isa 8:14-15 and conceptually like Isa 28:13-16. Here is the first hint that Jesus’ coming will be accompanied with some difficulties.
23 tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”