Genesis 21:33

21:33 Abraham ¹  planted a tamarisk tree ²  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ³  the eternal God.

Genesis 26:23

26:23 From there Isaac ⁴  went up to Beer Sheba.

Genesis 26:25

26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped ⁵  the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. ⁶ 

Genesis 28:13

28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. ⁷  I will give you and your descendants the ground ⁸  you are lying on.

Genesis 31:42

31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears ⁹  – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, ¹⁰  and he rebuked you last night.”

Genesis 31:53

31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ¹¹  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ¹² 

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

³ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

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

⁵ tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 21:33). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116.

⁶ tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”

⁷ tn Heb “the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” The Hebrew word for “father” can typically be used in a broader sense than the English word, in this case referring to Abraham (who was Jacob’s grandfather). For stylistic reasons and for clarity, the words “your father” are supplied with “Isaac” in the translation.

⁸ tn The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets) can mean “[the] earth,” “land,” “region,” “piece of ground,” or “ground” depending on the context. Here the term specifically refers to the plot of ground on which Jacob was lying, but at the same time this stands by metonymy for the entire land of Canaan.

⁹ tn Heb “the fear of Isaac,” that is, the one whom Isaac feared and respected. For further discussion of this title see M. Malul, “More on pahad yitschaq (Gen. 31:42,53) and the Oath by the Thigh,” VT 35 (1985): 192-200.

¹⁰ tn Heb “My oppression and the work of my hands God saw.”

¹¹ tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.

¹² tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.