48:16 the Angel 1 who has protected me 2
from all harm –
bless these boys.
May my name be named in them, 3
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”
18:10 “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
1 sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.
2 tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).
3 tn Or “be recalled through them.”
4 sn The disciples were still not comfortable at this point thinking that this could be Jesus raised from the dead. Instead they thought they saw a spirit.
5 tc This is not a reference to “a phantom” as read by the Western ms D. For πνεῦμα (pneuma) having the force of “ghost,” or “an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses,” see BDAG 833-34 s.v. πνεῦμα 4.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
7 tn Or “disturbed,” “troubled.”
8 tn The expression here is an idiom; see BDAG 58 s.v. ἀναβαίνω 2. Here καρδία (kardia) is a collective singular; the expression has been translated as plural in English.