Genesis 21:16

21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ¹  away; for she thought, ²  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ³  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ⁴ 

Genesis 24:45

24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, ⁵  along came Rebekah ⁶  with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

Genesis 28:11

28:11 He reached a certain place ⁷  where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. ⁸  He took one of the stones ⁹  and placed it near his head. ¹⁰  Then he fell asleep ¹¹  in that place

Genesis 44:31

44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹²  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave.

Genesis 45:9

45:9 Now go up to my father quickly ¹³  and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay!

Genesis 49:9

49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

¹ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

² tn Heb “said.”

³ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

⁴ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

⁵ tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.

⁶ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.

⁹ tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”

¹¹ tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).

¹² tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.

¹³ tn Heb “lay down.”

¹³ tn Heb “when he sees that there is no boy.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “hurry and go up.”