12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel 1 and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. 2
13:3 And he journeyed from place to place 3 from the Negev as far as Bethel. 4 He returned 5 to the place where he had pitched his tent 6 at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.
13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live 7 by the oaks 8 of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.
18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham 9 by the oaks 10 of Mamre while 11 he was sitting at the entrance 12 to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham 13 looked up 14 and saw 15 three men standing across 16 from him. When he saw them 17 he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low 18 to the ground. 19
18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take 20 three measures 21 of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” 22
18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, 23 in the tent.”
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 24 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 25
1 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
2 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
3 tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.
4 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
5 tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “where his tent had been.”
7 tn Heb “he came and lived.”
8 tn Or “terebinths.”
9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Or “terebinths.”
11 tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.
12 tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
15 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.
16 tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.
17 tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
18 tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).
19 sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the
20 tn The word “take” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the sentence lacks a verb other than the imperative “hurry.” The elliptical structure of the language reflects Abraham’s haste to get things ready quickly.
21 sn Three measures (Heb “three seahs”) was equivalent to about twenty quarts (twenty-two liters) of flour, which would make a lot of bread. The animal prepared for the meal was far more than the three visitors needed. This was a banquet for royalty. Either it had been a lonely time for Abraham and the presence of visitors made him very happy, or he sensed this was a momentous visit.
22 sn The bread was the simple, round bread made by bedouins that is normally prepared quickly for visitors.
23 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) often accompanies a gesture of pointing or a focused gaze.
24 tn Heb “knowing.”
25 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.”