12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree 5 of Moreh 6 at Shechem. 7 (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 8
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 14 on me by making me a foul odor 15 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 16 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”
5:9 Then I 17 said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! 18 Should you not conduct yourselves 19 in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies?
1 tn Heb “were.”
2 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
3 tn Heb “as you go.”
4 tn Heb “as you go.”
5 tn Or “terebinth.”
6 sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.
7 tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”
8 tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature – the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.
9 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
10 tn The perfect verbal form is understood as instantaneous (“I here and now give”). Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, indicating certitude (“I have given” meaning it is as good as done, i.e., “I will surely give”).
11 sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not to the River Nile.
12 tn The words “the land” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Each of the names in the list has the Hebrew definite article, which is used here generically for the class of people identified.
14 tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.
15 tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.
16 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
17 tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).
18 tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.
19 tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”
20 tn Or “as stars in the universe.”
21 tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).
22 tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.
23 tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì46 D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA27 has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
24 tn Or “filled.”
25 tn The article with the genitive modifier τῆς πίστεως (th" pistew") is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
26 tn The genitive τῆς ἐνεργείας (th" energeia") has been translated as an objective genitive, “faith in the power.”