Genesis 1:14

1:14 God said, “Let there be lights ¹  in the expanse ²  of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs ³  to indicate seasons and days and years,

Genesis 27:25

27:25 Isaac ⁴  said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. ⁵  Then I will bless you.” ⁶  So Jacob ⁷  brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac ⁸  drank.

Genesis 27:33

27:33 Isaac began to shake violently ⁹  and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. ¹⁰  He will indeed be blessed!”

Genesis 31:13

31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ¹¹  where you anointed ¹²  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ¹³  Now leave this land immediately ¹⁴  and return to your native land.’”

Genesis 41:46

41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old ¹⁵  when he began serving ¹⁶  Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by ¹⁷  Pharaoh and was in charge of ¹⁸  all the land of Egypt.

¹ sn Let there be lights. Light itself was created before the light-bearers. The order would not seem strange to the ancient Hebrew mind that did not automatically link daylight with the sun (note that dawn and dusk appear to have light without the sun).

² tn The language describing the cosmos, which reflects a prescientific view of the world, must be interpreted as phenomenal, describing what appears to be the case. The sun and the moon are not in the sky (below the clouds), but from the viewpoint of a person standing on the earth, they appear that way. Even today we use similar phenomenological expressions, such as “the sun is rising” or “the stars in the sky.”

³ tn The text has “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” It seems likely from the meanings of the words involved that “signs” is the main idea, followed by two categories, “seasons” and “days and years.” This is the simplest explanation, and one that matches vv. 11-13. It could even be rendered “signs for the fixed seasons, that is [explicative vav (ו)] days and years.”

⁴ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

⁶ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.

⁷ tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.

⁸ tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”

¹⁰ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹¹ sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the Lord as an anointing. Jacob had consecrated the place.

¹² sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he anointed the stone (Gen 28:20-22). God is now going to take him back to the land, and so he will have to fulfill his vow.

¹³ tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.

¹³ tn Heb “a son of thirty years.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “when he stood before.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “went out from before.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”