Genesis 21:1

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ¹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²  for Sarah what he had promised. ³ 

Genesis 26:2

26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ⁴  settle down in the land that I will point out to you. ⁵ 

Genesis 31:49

31:49 It was also called Mizpah ⁶  because he said, “May the Lord watch ⁷  between us ⁸  when we are out of sight of one another. ⁹ 

Genesis 43:17

43:17 The man did just as Joseph said; he ¹⁰  brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹¹ 

¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

² tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “spoken.”

⁴ sn Do not go down to Egypt. The words echo Gen 12:10, which reports that “Abram went down to Egypt,” but state the opposite.

⁵ tn Heb “say to you.”

⁷ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

⁸ sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

⁹ tn Heb “between me and you.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the man.” This has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ sn This verse is a summary statement. The next verses delineate intermediate steps (see v. 24) in the process.