Genesis 25:27

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ¹  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ² 

Genesis 25:2

25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Genesis 7:2

7:2 You must take with you seven ³  of every kind of clean animal, ⁴  the male and its mate, ⁵  two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,

Jeremiah 35:7

35:7 Do not build houses. Do not plant crops. Do not plant a vineyard or own one. ⁶  Live in tents all your lives. If you do these things you will ⁷  live a long time in the land that you wander about on.’ ⁸ 

Hebrews 11:9-13

11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner ⁹  in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs ¹⁰  of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, ¹¹  whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, ¹²  he received the ability to procreate, ¹³  because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children ¹⁴  were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand ¹⁵  on the seashore. ¹⁶  11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ¹⁷  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ¹⁸  on the earth.

¹ tn Heb “knowing.”

² 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.”

³ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

⁴ sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.

⁵ tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.

⁶ tn Heb “Don’t plant a vineyard and it shall not be to you [= and you shall/must not have one].”

⁷ tn Heb “Don’t…and don’t…but live…in order that you might….”

⁸ sn Heb “where you are sojourning.” The terms “sojourn” and “sojourner” referred to a person who resided in a country not his own, without the rights and privileges of citizenship as a member of a nation, state, or principality. In the ancient Near East such people were dependent on the laws of hospitality rather than the laws of state for protection and provision of legal rights. Perhaps the best illustration of this is Abraham who “sojourned” among the Philistines and the Hittites in Canaan and was dependent upon them for grazing and water rights and for a place to bury his wife (cf. Gen 20-24). What is described here is the typical lifestyle of a nomadic tribe.

⁹ tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”

¹⁰ tn Or “heirs with him.”

¹¹ tn Grk “that has foundations.”

¹² tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”

¹³ tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

¹⁶ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).

¹⁷ tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

¹⁸ tn Or “sojourners.”