“You are now 1 pregnant
and are about to give birth 2 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 3
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 4
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. 20 As he blessed him, 21 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 22
31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, 23 “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich 24 at our father’s expense!” 25
1 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
2 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
3 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
4 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
5 tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
6 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
7 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
8 sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
9 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
10 tn Heb “lest.”
11 tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
12 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
9 tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”
10 tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”
11 tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.
12 tn Heb “Is it not little?”
13 tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.
13 tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.
14 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.
17 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
18 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
19 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
21 tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”
22 sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).
23 tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”
25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “see.”
27 tn Heb “peace.”
28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.