25:19 This is the account of Isaac, 1 the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, 2 the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 3
25:21 Isaac prayed to 4 the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 25:22 But the children struggled 5 inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” 6 So she asked the Lord, 7 25:23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nations 8 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, 9 there were 10 twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish 11 all over, 12 like a hairy 13 garment, so they named him Esau. 14 25:26 When his brother came out with 15 his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. 16 Isaac was sixty years old 17 when they were born.
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 18 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 19 25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, 20 but Rebekah loved 21 Jacob.
25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, 22 and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed 23 me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called 24 Edom.) 25
25:31 But Jacob replied, “First 26 sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 27 25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” 28 So Esau 29 swore an oath to him and sold his birthright 30 to Jacob.
25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. 31 So Esau despised his birthright. 32
26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred 33 in the days of Abraham. 34 Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; 35 settle down in the land that I will point out to you. 36 26:3 Stay 37 in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, 38 for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, 39 and I will fulfill 40 the solemn promise I made 41 to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them 42 all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 43 26:5 All this will come to pass 44 because Abraham obeyed me 45 and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” 46 26:6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” 47 He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, 48 “The men of this place will kill me to get 49 Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”
26:8 After Isaac 50 had been there a long time, 51 Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed 52 Isaac caressing 53 his wife Rebekah. 26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really 54 your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.” 55
26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 56 One of the men 57 might easily have had sexual relations with 58 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches 59 this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 60
26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, 61 because the Lord blessed him. 62 26:13 The man became wealthy. 63 His influence continued to grow 64 until he became very prominent. 26:14 He had 65 so many sheep 66 and cattle 67 and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous 68 of him. 26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up 69 all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.
26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, 70 for you have become much more powerful 71 than we are.” 26:17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. 72 26:18 Isaac reopened 73 the wells that had been dug 74 back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up 75 after Abraham died. Isaac 76 gave these wells 77 the same names his father had given them. 78
26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing 79 water there, 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled 80 with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac 81 named the well 82 Esek 83 because they argued with him about it. 84 26:21 His servants 85 dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it 86 Sitnah. 87 26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac 88 named it 89 Rehoboth, 90 saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”
26:23 From there Isaac 91 went up to Beer Sheba. 26:24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped 92 the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. 93
26:26 Now Abimelech had come 94 to him from Gerar along with 95 Ahuzzah his friend 96 and Phicol the commander of his army. 26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me 97 and sent me away from you.” 26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see 98 that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be 99 a pact between us 100 – between us 101 and you. Allow us to make 102 a treaty with you 26:29 so that 103 you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed 104 you, but have always treated you well 105 before sending you away 106 in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” 107
26:30 So Isaac 108 held a feast for them and they celebrated. 109 26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. 110 Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. 111
26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. 112 26:33 So he named it Shibah; 113 that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba 114 to this day.
26:34 When 115 Esau was forty years old, 116 he married 117 Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety. 118
27:1 When 119 Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, 120 he called his older 121 son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau 122 replied. 27:2 Isaac 123 said, “Since 124 I am so old, I could die at any time. 125 27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game 126 for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then 127 I will eat it so that I may bless you 128 before I die.”
27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. 129 When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 130 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat 131 it and bless you 132 in the presence of the Lord 133 before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do 134 exactly what I tell you! 135 27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare 136 them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take 137 it to your father. Thus he will eat it 138 and 139 bless you before he dies.”
27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 140 27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him 141 and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, 142 my son! Just obey me! 143 Go and get them for me!”
27:14 So he went and got the goats 144 and brought them to his mother. She 145 prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats 146 on his hands 147 and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed 148 the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac 149 replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” 150 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up 151 and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” 152 27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world 153 did you find it so quickly, 154 my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” 155 he replied. 156 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, 157 my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” 158 27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 159 27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob 160 replied. 27:25 Isaac 161 said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. 162 Then I will bless you.” 163 So Jacob 164 brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac 165 drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob 166 went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent 167 of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,
“Yes, 168 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
27:28 May God give you
the dew of the sky 169
and the richness 170 of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
27:29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be 171 lord 172 over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. 173
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 174 his father’s 175 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 176 27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau 177 said to him, “My father, get up 178 and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” 179 27:32 His father Isaac asked, 180 “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” 181 he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently 182 and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. 183 He will indeed be blessed!”
27:34 When Esau heard 184 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 185 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac 186 replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away 187 your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! 188 He has tripped me up 189 two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”
27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” 190 Then Esau wept loudly. 191
27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,
“Indeed, 192 your home will be
away from the richness 193 of the earth,
and away from the dew of the sky above.
27:40 You will live by your sword
but you will serve your brother.
When you grow restless,
you will tear off his yoke
from your neck.” 194
27:41 So Esau hated 195 Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. 196 Esau said privately, 197 “The time 198 of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill 199 my brother Jacob!”
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 200 she quickly summoned 201 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 202 27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. 203 Run away immediately 204 to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while 205 until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there 206 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. 207 Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 208
27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed 209 because of these daughters of Heth. 210 If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” 211
28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 212 28:2 Leave immediately 213 for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign God 214 bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! 215 Then you will become 216 a large nation. 217 28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham 218 so that you may possess the land 219 God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” 220 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. 221 As he blessed him, 222 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 223 28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized 224 that the Canaanite women 225 were displeasing to 226 his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married 227 Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.
28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place 228 where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. 229 He took one of the stones 230 and placed it near his head. 231 Then he fell asleep 232 in that place 28:12 and had a dream. 233 He saw 234 a stairway 235 erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 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. 236 I will give you and your descendants the ground 237 you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, 238 and you will spread out 239 to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 240 using your name and that of your descendants. 241 28:15 I am with you! 242 I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”
28:16 Then Jacob woke up 243 and thought, 244 “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”
28:18 Early 245 in the morning Jacob 246 took the stone he had placed near his head 247 and set it up as a sacred stone. 248 Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel, 249 although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food 250 to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, 251 then the Lord will become my God. 28:22 Then this stone 252 that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely 253 give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” 254
29:1 So Jacob moved on 255 and came to the land of the eastern people. 256 29:2 He saw 257 in the field a well with 258 three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now 259 a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds 260 would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.
29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” 29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson 261 of Nahor?” “We know him,” 262 they said. 29:6 “Is he well?” 263 Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. 264 Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob 265 said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, 266 it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” 267 29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water 268 the sheep.”
29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. 269 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, 270 and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he 271 went over 272 and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. 273 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. 274 29:12 When Jacob explained 275 to Rachel that he was a relative of her father 276 and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father. 29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob 277 told Laban how he was related to him. 278 29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” 279 So Jacob 280 stayed with him for a month. 281
29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work 282 for me for nothing because you are my relative? 283 Tell me what your wages should be.” 29:16 (Now Laban had two daughters; 284 the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel. 29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, 285 but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) 286 29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with 287 Rachel, he said, “I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 29:19 Laban replied, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. 288 Stay with me.” 29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. 289 But they seemed like only a few days to him 290 because his love for her was so great. 291
29:21 Finally Jacob said 292 to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. 293 I want to have marital relations with her.” 294 29:22 So Laban invited all the people 295 of that place and prepared a feast. 29:23 In the evening he brought his daughter Leah 296 to Jacob, 297 and Jacob 298 had marital relations with her. 299 29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 300
29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! 301 So Jacob 302 said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! 303 Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked 304 me?” 29:26 “It is not our custom here,” 305 Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage 306 before the firstborn. 29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. 307 Then we will give you the younger one 308 too, in exchange for seven more years of work.” 309
29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. 310 When Jacob 311 completed Leah’s bridal week, 312 Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 313 29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 314 29:30 Jacob 315 had marital relations 316 with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban 317 for seven more years. 318
29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, 319 he enabled her to become pregnant 320 while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant 321 and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, 322 for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. 323 Surely my husband will love me now.”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, 324 he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 325
29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, 326 because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. 327
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. 328 Then she stopped having children.
30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she 329 became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children 330 or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious 331 with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 332 30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with 333 her so that she can bear 334 children 335 for me 336 and I can have a family through her.” 337
30:4 So Rachel 338 gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with 339 her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant 340 and gave Jacob a son. 341 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer 342 and given me a son.” That is why 343 she named him Dan. 344
30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 345 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” 346 So she named him Naphtali. 347
30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave 348 her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 349 30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” 350 So she named him Gad. 351
30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 352 30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, 353 for women 354 will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. 355
30:14 At the time 356 of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants 357 in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, 358 “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” 359 Rachel said, “he may sleep 360 with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep 361 with me because I have paid for your services 362 with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations 363 with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention 364 to Leah; she became pregnant 365 and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 366 30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward 367 because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” 368 So she named him Issachar. 369
30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 370 30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 371
30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
30:22 Then God took note of 372 Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 373 30:23 She became pregnant 374 and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 375 30:24 She named him Joseph, 376 saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
30:25 After Rachel had given birth 377 to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send 378 me on my way so that I can go 379 home to my own country. 380 30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. 381 Then I’ll depart, 382 because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” 383
30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 384 for I have learned by divination 385 that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” 386
30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, 387 “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 388 30:30 Indeed, 389 you had little before I arrived, 390 but now your possessions have increased many times over. 391 The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. 392 But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” 393
30:31 So Laban asked, 394 “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 395 Jacob replied, 396 “but if you agree to this one condition, 397 I will continue to care for 398 your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among 399 all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, 400 and the spotted or speckled goats. 401 These animals will be my wages. 402 30:33 My integrity will testify for me 403 later on. 404 When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, 405 if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 406 30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” 407
30:35 So that day Laban 408 removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 409 of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, 410 while 411 Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 412 30:39 When the sheep mated 413 in front of the branches, they 414 gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face 415 the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, 416 Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. 417 So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban 418 and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob 419 became extremely prosperous. He owned 420 large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, 421 “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich 422 at our father’s expense!” 423 31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. 424
31:3 The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers 425 and to your relatives. I will be with you.” 426 31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah 427 to come to the field 428 where his flocks were. 429 31:5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, 430 but the God of my father has been with me. 31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could, 431 31:7 but your father has humiliated 432 me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. 31:8 If he said, 433 ‘The speckled animals 434 will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. 31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
31:10 “Once 435 during breeding season I saw 436 in a dream that the male goats mating with 437 the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 31:11 In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe 438 that all the male goats mating with 439 the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, 440 where you anointed 441 the sacred stone and made a vow to me. 442 Now leave this land immediately 443 and return to your native land.’”
31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance 444 in our father’s house? 31:15 Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted 445 the money paid for us! 446 31:16 Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you.”
31:17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. 447 31:18 He took 448 away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. 449
31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, 450 Rachel stole the household idols 451 that belonged to her father. 31:20 Jacob also deceived 452 Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving. 453 31:21 He left 454 with all he owned. He quickly crossed 455 the Euphrates River 456 and headed for 457 the hill country of Gilead.
31:22 Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left. 458 31:23 So he took his relatives 459 with him and pursued Jacob 460 for seven days. 461 He caught up with 462 him in the hill country of Gilead. 31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, 463 “Be careful 464 that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” 465
31:25 Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. 466 31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me 467 and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! 468 31:27 Why did you run away secretly 469 and deceive me? 470 Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? 471 31:28 You didn’t even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren 472 good-bye. You have acted foolishly! 31:29 I have 473 the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful 474 that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ 475 31:30 Now I understand that 476 you have gone away 477 because you longed desperately 478 for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” 479
31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” 480 Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought 481 you might take your daughters away from me by force. 482 31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! 483 In the presence of our relatives 484 identify whatever is yours and take it.” 485 (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) 486
31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. 487 Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 488 31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle 489 and sat on them.) 490 Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. 491 31:35 Rachel 492 said to her father, “Don’t be angry, 493 my lord. I cannot stand up 494 in your presence because I am having my period.” 495 So he searched thoroughly, 496 but did not find the idols.
31:36 Jacob became angry 497 and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. 498 “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? 499 31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? 500 Set it here before my relatives and yours, 501 and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! 502
31:38 “I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 31:39 Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. 503 You always made me pay for every missing animal, 504 whether it was taken by day or at night. 31:40 I was consumed by scorching heat 505 during the day and by piercing cold 506 at night, and I went without sleep. 507 31:41 This was my lot 508 for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave 509 for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times! 31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears 510 – 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, 511 and he rebuked you last night.”
31:43 Laban replied 512 to Jacob, “These women 513 are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, 514 and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today 515 or the children to whom they have given birth? 31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, 516 you and I, and it will be 517 proof that we have made peace.” 518
31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 31:46 Then he 519 said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. 520 They ate there by the pile of stones. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, 521 but Jacob called it Galeed. 522
31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement 523 today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 31:49 It was also called Mizpah 524 because he said, “May the Lord watch 525 between us 526 when we are out of sight of one another. 527 31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize 528 that God is witness to your actions.” 529
31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. 530 31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. 531 31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, 532 the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. 533 31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice 534 on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. 535 They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.
31:55 (32:1) 536 Early in the morning Laban kissed 537 his grandchildren 538 and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. 539
32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God 540 met him. 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, 541 “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 542
32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead 543 to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region 544 of Edom. 32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant 545 Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent 546 this message 547 to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.” 32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 32:8 “If Esau attacks one camp,” 548 he thought, 549 “then the other camp will be able to escape.” 550
32:9 Then Jacob prayed, 551 “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said 552 to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 553 32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love 554 you have shown 555 your servant. With only my walking stick 556 I crossed the Jordan, 557 but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, 558 I pray, from the hand 559 of my brother Esau, 560 for I am afraid he will come 561 and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. 562 32:12 But you 563 said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper 564 and will make 565 your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” 566
32:13 Jacob 567 stayed there that night. Then he sent 568 as a gift 569 to his brother Esau 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 32:15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 32:16 He entrusted them to 570 his servants, who divided them into herds. 571 He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, 572 “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? 573 Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ 574 32:18 then you must say, 575 ‘They belong 576 to your servant Jacob. 577 They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. 578 In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” 579
32:19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 580 32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” 581 Jacob thought, 582 “I will first appease him 583 by sending a gift ahead of me. 584 After that I will meet him. 585 Perhaps he will accept me.” 586 32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him 587 while he spent that night in the camp. 588
32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took 589 his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons 590 and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 591 32:23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. 592 32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man 593 wrestled 594 with him until daybreak. 595 32:25 When the man 596 saw that he could not defeat Jacob, 597 he struck 598 the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
32:26 Then the man 599 said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” 600 “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, 601 “unless you bless me.” 602 32:27 The man asked him, 603 “What is your name?” 604 He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, 605 “but Israel, 606 because you have fought 607 with God and with men and have prevailed.”
32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” 608 “Why 609 do you ask my name?” the man replied. 610 Then he blessed 611 Jacob 612 there. 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, 613 explaining, 614 “Certainly 615 I have seen God face to face 616 and have survived.” 617
32:31 The sun rose 618 over him as he crossed over Penuel, 619 but 620 he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day 621 the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck 622 the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.
33:1 Jacob looked up 623 and saw that Esau was coming 624 along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. 625 33:3 But Jacob 626 himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached 627 his brother. 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 33:5 When Esau 628 looked up 629 and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob 630 replied, “The children whom God has graciously given 631 your servant.” 33:6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down. 632 33:7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.
33:8 Esau 633 then asked, “What did you intend 634 by sending all these herds to meet me?” 635 Jacob 636 replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.” 33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 33:10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said. 637 “If I have found favor in your sight, accept 638 my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, 639 it is as if I have seen the face of God. 640 33:11 Please take my present 641 that was brought to you, for God has been generous 642 to me and I have all I need.” 643 When Jacob urged him, he took it. 644
33:12 Then Esau 645 said, “Let’s be on our way! 646 I will go in front of you.” 33:13 But Jacob 647 said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young, 648 and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. 649 If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. 33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, 650 until I come to my lord at Seir.”
33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” 651 “Why do that?” Jacob replied. 652 “My lord has already been kind enough to me.” 653
33:16 So that same day Esau made his way back 654 to Seir. 33:17 But 655 Jacob traveled to Succoth 656 where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called 657 Succoth. 658
33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near 659 the city. 33:19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it 660 from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. 661 33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.” 662
34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet 663 the young women 664 of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, 665 and sexually assaulted her. 666 34:3 Then he became very attached 667 to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. 668 34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” 669 34:5 When 670 Jacob heard that Shechem 671 had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent 672 until they came in.
34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. 673 34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. 674 They 675 were offended 676 and very angry because Shechem 677 had disgraced Israel 678 by sexually assaulting 679 Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. 680
34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. 681 Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. 682 Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. 683 34:10 You may live 684 among us, and the land will be open to you. 685 Live in it, travel freely in it, 686 and acquire property in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s 687 father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me 688 I’ll give. 689 34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, 690 and I’ll give 691 whatever you ask 692 of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”
34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem 693 had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give 694 our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace 695 to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become 696 like us by circumcising 697 all your males. 34:16 Then we will give 698 you our daughters to marry, 699 and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms 700 by being circumcised, then we will take 701 our sister 702 and depart.”
34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 703 34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked 704 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah 705 badly. (Now he was more important 706 than anyone in his father’s household.) 707 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate 708 of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough 709 for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. 710 34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand 711 that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, 712 won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”
34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate 713 agreed with 714 Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate 715 was circumcised. 34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword 716 and went to the unsuspecting city 717 and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them 718 and looted the city because their sister had been violated. 719 34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. 720 34:29 They captured as plunder 721 all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 722 on me by making me a foul odor 723 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 724 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied, 725 “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”
35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once 726 to Bethel 727 and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 728 35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. 729 Purify yourselves and change your clothes. 730 35:3 Let us go up at once 731 to Bethel. Then I will make 732 an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress 733 and has been with me wherever I went.” 734
35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession 735 and the rings that were in their ears. 736 Jacob buried them 737 under the oak 738 near Shechem 35:5 and they started on their journey. 739 The surrounding cities were afraid of God, 740 and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) 741 in the land of Canaan. 742 35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel 743 because there God had revealed himself 744 to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, 745 Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named 746 Oak of Weeping.) 747
35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him. 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So God named him Israel. 748 35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. 749 Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! 750 35:12 The land I gave 751 to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants 752 I will also give this land.” 35:13 Then God went up from the place 753 where he spoke with him. 35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. 754 He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. 755 35:15 Jacob named the place 756 where God spoke with him Bethel. 757
35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, 758 Rachel went into labor 759 – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, 760 the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” 761 35:18 With her dying breath, 762 she named him Ben-Oni. 763 But his father called him Benjamin instead. 764 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 765 35:20 Jacob set up a marker 766 over her grave; it is 767 the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.
35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 768 35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with 769 Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
Jacob had twelve sons:
1 sn This is the account of Isaac. What follows for several chapters is not the account of Isaac, except briefly, but the account of Jacob and Esau. The next chapters tell what became of Isaac and his family.
2 tn Heb “And Isaac was the son of forty years when he took Rebekah.”
3 sn Some valuable information is provided here. We learn here that Isaac married thirty-five years before Abraham died, that Rebekah was barren for twenty years, and that Abraham would have lived to see Jacob and Esau begin to grow up. The death of Abraham was recorded in the first part of the chapter as a “tidying up” of one generation before beginning the account of the next.
3 tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the
4 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
5 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
6 sn Asked the
5 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
6 tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”
7 tn Heb “look!” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene as if they were actually present at the birth.
7 sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (’admoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.
8 tn Heb “all of him.”
9 sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (se’ar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.
10 tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ’esav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (se’ar), but it draws on some of the sounds.
8 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
9 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
10 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
9 tn Heb “knowing.”
10 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
10 tn Heb “the taste of game was in his mouth.” The word for “game,” “venison” is here the same Hebrew word as “hunter” in the last verse. Here it is a metonymy, referring to that which the hunter kills.
11 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Rebekah with Jacob and draws attention to the contrast. The verb here is a participle, drawing attention to Rebekah’s continuing, enduring love for her son.
11 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
12 tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
13 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
14 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
13 tn Heb “today.”
14 tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”
15 tn Heb “Swear to me today.”
16 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.
16 sn The style here is typical of Hebrew narrative; after the tension is resolved with the dialogue, the working out of it is recorded in a rapid sequence of verbs (“gave”; “ate”; “drank”; “got up”; “went out”). See also Gen 3:1-7 for another example.
17 sn So Esau despised his birthright. This clause, which concludes the episode, is a summary statement which reveals the underlying significance of Esau’s actions. “To despise” means to treat something as worthless or with contempt. Esau’s willingness to sell his birthright was evidence that he considered it to be unimportant.
17 tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”
18 sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.
18 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.
19 tn Heb “say to you.”
19 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.
20 tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.
21 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
22 tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.
23 tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”
20 tn Heb “your descendants.”
21 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
21 tn The words “All this will come to pass” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.
22 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
23 sn My charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. The language of this verse is clearly interpretive, for Abraham did not have all these laws. The terms are legal designations for sections of the Mosaic law and presuppose the existence of the law. Some Rabbinic views actually conclude that Abraham had fulfilled the whole law before it was given (see m. Qiddushin 4:14). Some scholars argue that this story could only have been written after the law was given (C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:424-25). But the simplest explanation is that the narrator (traditionally taken to be Moses the Lawgiver) elaborated on the simple report of Abraham’s obedience by using terms with which the Israelites were familiar. In this way he depicts Abraham as the model of obedience to God’s commands, whose example Israel should follow.
22 sn Rebekah, unlike Sarah, was not actually her husband’s sister.
23 tn Heb “lest.” The words “for he thought to himself” are supplied because the next clause is written with a first person pronoun, showing that Isaac was saying or thinking this.
24 tn Heb “kill me on account of.”
23 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “and it happened when the days were long to him there.”
25 tn Heb “look, Isaac.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene through Abimelech’s eyes.
26 tn Or “fondling.”
24 tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.
25 tn Heb “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” Since the verb “said” probably means “said to myself” (i.e., “thought”) here, the direct discourse in the Hebrew statement has been converted to indirect discourse in the translation. In addition the simple prepositional phrase “on account of her” has been clarified in the translation as “to get her” (cf. v. 7).
25 tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
26 tn Heb “people.”
27 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
26 tn Heb “strikes.” Here the verb has the nuance “to harm in any way.” It would include assaulting the woman or killing the man.
27 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the imperfect makes the construction emphatic.
27 tn Heb “a hundredfold.”
28 tn This final clause explains why Isaac had such a bountiful harvest.
28 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Isaac’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are included.
29 tn Heb “and he went, going and becoming great.” The construction stresses that his growth in possessions and power continued steadily.
29 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
30 tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”
31 tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”
32 tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).
30 tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”
31 tn Heb “Go away from us.”
32 sn You have become much more powerful. This explanation for the expulsion of Isaac from Philistine territory foreshadows the words used later by the Egyptians to justify their oppression of Israel (see Exod 1:9).
32 tn Heb “and he camped in the valley of Gerar and he lived there.”
33 tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”
34 tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.
35 tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.
36 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”
34 tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).
35 tn The Hebrew verb translated “quarreled” describes a conflict that often has legal ramifications.
36 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37 tn Heb “and he called the name of the well.”
38 sn The name Esek means “argument” in Hebrew. The following causal clause explains that Isaac gave the well this name as a reminder of the conflict its discovery had created. In the Hebrew text there is a wordplay, for the name is derived from the verb translated “argued.”
39 tn The words “about it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
36 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37 tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 sn The name Sitnah (שִׂטְנָה, sitnah) is derived from a Hebrew verbal root meaning “to oppose; to be an adversary” (cf. Job 1:6). The name was a reminder that the digging of this well caused “opposition” from the Philistines.
37 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
38 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
39 sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.
38 tn Heb “and he went up from there”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39 tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the
40 tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”
40 tn The disjunctive clause supplies pertinent supplemental information. The past perfect is used because the following narrative records the treaty at Beer Sheba. Prior to this we are told that Isaac settled in Beer Sheba; presumably this treaty would have allowed him to do that. However, it may be that he settled there and then made the treaty by which he renamed the place Beer Sheba. In this case one may translate “Now Abimelech came to him.”
41 tn Heb “and.”
42 tn Many modern translations render the Hebrew term מֵרֵעַ (merea’) as “councillor” or “adviser,” but the term may not designate an official position but simply a close personal friend.
41 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, expressing the reason for his question.
42 tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.
43 tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
44 tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.
45 tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).
46 tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”
43 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
44 tn Heb “touched.”
45 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
46 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
47 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
44 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
45 tn Heb “and they ate and drank.”
45 tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”
46 tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”
46 tn Heb “and they said to him, ‘We have found water.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
47 sn The name Shibah (שִׁבְעָה, shiv’ah) means (or at least sounds like) the word meaning “oath.” The name was a reminder of the oath sworn by Isaac and the Philistines to solidify their treaty.
48 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of an oath” or “well of seven.” According to Gen 21:31 Abraham gave Beer Sheba its name when he made a treaty with the Philistines. Because of the parallels between this earlier story and the account in 26:26-33, some scholars see chaps. 21 and 26 as two versions (or doublets) of one original story. However, if one takes the text as it stands, it appears that Isaac made a later treaty agreement with the people of the land that was similar to his father’s. Abraham dug a well at the site and named the place Beer Sheba; Isaac dug another well there and named the well Shibah. Later generations then associated the name Beer Sheba with Isaac, even though Abraham gave the place its name at an earlier time.
48 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making this clause subordinate to the next.
49 tn Heb “the son of forty years.”
50 tn Heb “took as a wife.”
49 tn Heb “And they were [a source of ] bitterness in spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.”
50 tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.
51 tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”
52 tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).
53 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.
51 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaac) is specified in the translation for clarity.
52 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here introduces a logically foundational statement, upon which the coming instruction will be based.
53 tn Heb “I do not know the day of my death.”
52 tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).
53 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
54 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.
54 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.
55 tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.
55 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
56 tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.
57 tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the
56 tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The Hebrew idiom means “to comply; to obey.”
57 tn Heb “to that which I am commanding you.”
57 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
58 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.
59 tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.
60 tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.
59 tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
60 tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”
61 tn Heb “upon me your curse.”
62 tn Heb “only listen to my voice.”
62 tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
63 tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
63 tn In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.
64 tn The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”
64 tn Heb “gave…into the hand of.”
65 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
66 sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.
66 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.
67 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.
67 tn Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”
68 tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.
69 tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”
70 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Because the
68 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
69 tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.
69 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
70 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
71 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
72 tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
73 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.
74 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
75 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
72 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
73 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
74 tn Heb “see.”
73 tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”
74 tn Heb “and from the fatness.”
74 tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.
75 tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”
76 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
75 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
76 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
77 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
76 tn Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.
77 tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
78 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”
77 tn Heb “said.”
78 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I [am] your son, your firstborn.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
78 tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.
79 tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”
79 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
80 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
80 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
81 tn Or “took”; “received.”
81 tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.
82 sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”
82 tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
83 tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
83 tn Heb “look.”
84 tn Heb “from the fatness.”
84 sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.
85 tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.
86 tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”
87 tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.
88 tn Heb “days.”
89 tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.
86 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
87 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
88 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
87 tn Heb “listen to my voice.”
88 tn Heb “arise, flee.”
88 tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.
89 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
90 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
91 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
90 tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).
91 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
92 tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”
91 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
92 tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.
93 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
94 tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.
95 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”
96 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
94 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
95 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
96 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
95 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
96 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
97 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
96 tn Heb “saw.”
97 tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”
98 tn Heb “evil in the eyes of.”
97 tn Heb “took for a wife.”
98 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.
99 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
100 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
101 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.
102 tn Heb “lay down.”
99 tn Heb “and dreamed.”
100 tn Heb “and look.” The scene which Jacob witnessed is described in three clauses introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh). In this way the narrator invites the reader to witness the scene through Jacob’s eyes. J. P. Fokkelman points out that the particle goes with a lifted arm and an open mouth: “There, a ladder! Oh, angels! and look, the
101 tn The Hebrew noun סֻלָּם (sullam, “ladder, stairway”) occurs only here in the OT, but there appears to be an Akkadian cognate simmiltu (with metathesis of the second and third consonants and a feminine ending) which has a specialized meaning of “stairway, ramp.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 34. For further discussion see C. Houtman, “What Did Jacob See in His Dream at Bethel? Some Remarks on Genesis 28:10-22,” VT 27 (1977): 337-52; J. G. Griffiths, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 76 (1964/65): 229-30; and A. R. Millard, “The Celestial Ladder and the Gate of Heaven,” ExpTim 78 (1966/67): 86-87.
100 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.
101 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.
101 tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.
102 tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.
103 tn Theoretically the Niphal stem can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Jacob were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in other formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless (i.e., pronounce blessings upon) themselves/one another.” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 28:14 predicts that Jacob will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae (see Gen 12:2 and 18:18 as well, where Abram/Abraham receives this promise). For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.
104 tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”
102 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).
103 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
104 tn Heb “said.”
104 tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”
105 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
106 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.
107 tn Heb “standing stone.”
105 tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew (see v. 17).
106 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
107 tn Heb “and I return in peace to the house of my father.”
108 tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.
109 tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.
110 tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.
109 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.
110 tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”
110 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.
111 tn Heb “and look, there.”
112 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
111 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
112 tn Heb “son.”
113 tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.
113 tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”
114 tn Heb “peace.”
114 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
115 tn Heb “the day is great.”
116 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.
115 tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.
116 tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”
117 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).
118 tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
119 tn Heb “drew near, approached.”
120 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).
118 tn Heb “and he lifted up his voice and wept.” The idiom calls deliberate attention to the fact that Jacob wept out loud.
119 tn Heb “declared.”
120 tn Heb “that he [was] the brother of her father.”
120 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
121 tn Heb “and he told to Laban all these things.” This might mean Jacob told Laban how he happened to be there, but Laban’s response (see v. 14) suggests “all these things” refers to what Jacob had previously told Rachel (see v. 12).
121 tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12,); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).
122 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
123 tn Heb “a month of days.”
122 tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.
123 tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.
123 tn Heb “and to Laban [there were] two daughters.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a prepositional phrase) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, vv. 16-17 have been set in parentheses in the translation.
124 tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.
125 tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”
125 tn Heb “Jacob loved.”
126 tn Heb “Better my giving her to you than my giving her to another man.”
127 tn Heb “in exchange for Rachel.”
128 sn But they seemed like only a few days to him. This need not mean that the time passed quickly. More likely it means that the price seemed insignificant when compared to what he was getting in the bargain.
129 tn Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
128 tn Heb “and Jacob said.”
129 tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”
130 tn Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire. The verb “go in” in this context refers to sexual intercourse (i.e., the consummation of the marriage).
129 tn Heb “men.”
130 tn Heb “and it happened in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her.”
131 tn Heb “to him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
132 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
133 tn Heb “went in to her.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
131 tn Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
132 tn Heb “and it happened in the morning that look, it was Leah.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
133 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
134 tn Heb What is this you have done to me?” The use of the pronoun “this” is enclitic, adding emphasis to the question: “What in the world have you done to me?”
135 sn The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around, comes around. See J. A. Diamond, “The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem,” VT 34 (1984): 211-13.
133 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘It is not done so in our place.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
134 tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
134 tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.
135 tn Heb “this other one.”
136 tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”
135 tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
136 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
137 tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.
138 tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
136 tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”
137 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
138 tn Heb “went in also to Rachel.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
139 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
140 tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”
138 tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.
139 tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”
139 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
140 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
141 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
140 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
141 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the
141 tn Heb “will be joined to me.”
142 sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.
142 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
143 tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
144 tn Heb “sons.”
144 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”
145 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”
145 tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
146 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.
147 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
148 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.
149 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).
146 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
147 tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
147 tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).
148 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”
148 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.
149 tn Or “therefore.”
150 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.
149 tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”
150 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.
151 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”
151 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”
152 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”
153 tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”
154 sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.
154 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”
155 tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”
156 tn Heb “daughters.”
157 sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.
156 tn Heb “during the days.”
157 sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.
157 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
158 tn Heb “therefore.”
159 tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
158 tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.
159 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.
160 tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.
159 tn Heb “listened to.”
160 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).
161 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.
160 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”
161 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).
162 sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.
161 tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.
162 sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.
163 tn Heb “remembered.”
164 tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons
164 tn Or “conceived.”
165 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
165 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
166 tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.
167 tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.
168 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
169 tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”
167 tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.
168 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
169 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”
168 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
169 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the
169 tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”
170 tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
171 tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”
171 tn Or “for.”
172 tn Heb “before me.”
173 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”
174 tn Heb “at my foot.”
175 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”
172 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
173 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.
174 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
175 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”
176 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”
173 tn Heb “pass through.”
174 tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”
175 tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”
176 tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.
174 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”
175 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”
176 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”
177 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”
175 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.
176 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
177 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
177 tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”
178 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.
178 sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).
179 tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.
180 tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
180 tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”
181 tn Heb “and at every breeding-heat of the flock.”
182 tn Heb “he did not put [them] in.” The referent of the [understood] direct object, “them,” has been specified as “the branches” in the translation for clarity.
183 tn Heb “were for Laban.”
183 tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
184 tn Heb “and there were to him.”
184 tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”
185 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).
186 tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”
185 tn Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face that his attitude toward him had changed – Jacob had become persona non grata.
186 tn Or perhaps “ancestors” (so NRSV), although the only “ancestors” Jacob had there were his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac.
187 sn I will be with you. Though Laban was no longer “with him,” the
187 tn Heb “sent and called for Rachel and for Leah.” Jacob did not go in person, but probably sent a servant with a message for his wives to meet him in the field.
188 tn Heb “the field.” The word is an adverbial accusative, indicating that this is where Jacob wanted them to meet him. The words “to come to” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
189 tn Heb “to his flock.”
188 tn Heb “I see the face of your father, that he is not toward me as formerly.”
189 tn Heb “with all my strength.”
190 tn This rare verb means “to make a fool of” someone. It involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers (see Exod 8:25).
191 tn In the protasis (“if” section) of this conditional clause, the imperfect verbal form has a customary nuance – whatever he would say worked to Jacob’s benefit.
192 tn Heb “speckled” (twice this verse). The word “animals” (after the first occurrence of “speckled”) and “offspring” (after the second) have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The same two terms (“animals” and “offspring”) have been supplied after the two occurrences of “streaked” later in this verse.
192 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator, “and it happened at the time of.”
193 tn Heb “in the time of the breeding of the flock I lifted up my eyes and I saw.”
194 tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.
193 tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”
194 tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.
194 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
195 sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the
196 sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the
197 tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.
195 tn The two nouns may form a hendiadys, meaning “a share in the inheritance” or “a portion to inherit.”
196 tn Heb “and he devoured, even devouring.” The infinitive absolute (following the finite verb here) is used for emphasis.
197 tn Heb “our money.” The word “money” is used figuratively here; it means the price paid for Leah and Rachel. A literal translation (“our money”) makes it sound as if Laban wasted money that belonged to Rachel and Leah, rather than the money paid for them.
197 tn Heb “and Jacob arose and he lifted up his sons and his wives on to the camels.”
198 tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.
199 tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”
199 tn This disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new scene. In the English translation it may be subordinated to the following clause.
200 tn Or “household gods.” Some translations merely transliterate the Hebrew term תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim) as “teraphim,” which apparently refers to household idols. Some contend that possession of these idols guaranteed the right of inheritance, but it is more likely that they were viewed simply as protective deities. See M. Greenberg, “Another Look at Rachel’s Theft of the Teraphim,” JBL 81 (1962): 239-48.
200 tn Heb “stole the heart of,” an expression which apparently means “to deceive.” The repetition of the verb “to steal” shows that Jacob and Rachel are kindred spirits. Any thought that Laban would have resigned himself to their departure was now out of the question.
201 tn Heb “fleeing,” which reflects Jacob’s viewpoint.
201 tn Heb “and he fled.”
202 tn Heb “he arose and crossed.” The first verb emphasizes that he wasted no time in getting across.
203 tn Heb “the river”; the referent (the Euphrates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
204 tn Heb “he set his face.”
202 tn Heb “and it was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.”
203 tn Heb “his brothers.”
204 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
205 tn Heb “and he pursued after him a journey of seven days.”
206 tn Heb “drew close to.”
204 tn Heb “said to him.”
205 tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.
206 tn Heb “lest you speak with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 29, is uncertain. Since Laban proceeded to speak to Jacob at length, it cannot mean to maintain silence. Nor does it seem to be a prohibition against criticism (see vv. 26-30). Most likely it refers to a formal pronouncement, whether it be a blessing or a curse. Laban was to avoid saying anything to Jacob that would be intended to enhance him or to harm him.
205 tn Heb “and Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban pitched with his brothers in the hill country of Gilead.” The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb in both clauses) indicates synchronism of action.
206 tn Heb “and you have stolen my heart.” This expression apparently means “to deceive” (see v. 20).
207 tn Heb “and you have led away my daughters like captives of a sword.”
207 tn Heb “Why did you hide in order to flee?” The verb “hide” and the infinitive “to flee” form a hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the other the adverb: “flee secretly.”
208 tn Heb “and steal me.”
209 tn Heb “And [why did] you not tell me so I could send you off with joy and with songs, with a tambourine and with a harp?”
208 tn Heb “my sons and my daughters.” Here “sons” refers to “grandsons,” and has been translated “grandchildren” since at least one granddaughter, Dinah, was involved. The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
209 tn Heb “there is to my hand.”
210 tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.
211 tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.
210 tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
211 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.
212 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.
213 sn Yet why did you steal my gods? This last sentence is dropped into the speech rather suddenly. See C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings,” VT 30 (1980): 192-207, and G. W. Coats, “Self-Abasement and Insult Formulas,” JBL 91 (1972): 90-92.
211 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
212 tn Heb “for I said.”
213 tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”
212 tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”
213 tn Heb “brothers.”
214 tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”
215 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, it has been placed in parentheses in the translation.
213 tn No direct object is specified for the verb “find” in the Hebrew text. The words “the idols” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
214 tn Heb “and he went out from the tent of Leah and went into the tent of Rachel.”
214 tn The “camel’s saddle” was probably some sort of basket-saddle, a cushioned saddle with a basket bound on. Cf. NAB “inside a camel cushion.”
215 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides another parenthetical statement necessary to the storyline.
216 tn The word “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
215 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
216 tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.
217 tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”
218 tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.
219 tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
216 tn Heb “it was hot to Jacob.” This idiom refers to anger.
217 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘What is my sin?’” The proper name “Jacob” has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation and the order of the introductory clause and direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
218 tn Heb “What is my sin that you have hotly pursued after me.” The Hebrew verb translated “pursue hotly” is used elsewhere of soldiers chasing defeated enemies (1 Sam 17:53).
217 tn Heb “what did you find from all the goods of your house?”
218 tn Heb “your relatives.” The word “relatives” has not been repeated in the translation here for stylistic reasons.
219 tn Heb “that they may decide between us two.”
218 tn The imperfect verbal form indicates that this was a customary or typical action.
219 tn Heb “from my hand you exacted it.” The imperfect verbal form again indicates that this was a customary or typical action. The words “for every missing animal” are supplied in the translation for clarity; the following clause in Hebrew, “stolen by day or stolen by night,” probably means “stolen by wild beasts” and refers to the same animals “torn by wild beasts” in the previous clause, although it may refer to animals stolen by people. The translation used here, “missing,” is ambiguous enough to cover either eventuality.
219 tn Or “by drought.”
220 tn Heb “frost, ice,” though when contrasted with the חֹרֶב (khorev, “drought, parching heat”) of the day, “piercing cold” is more appropriate as a contrast.
221 tn Heb “and my sleep fled from my eyes.”
220 tn Heb “this to me.”
221 tn Heb “served you,” but in this accusatory context the meaning is more “worked like a slave.”
221 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.
222 tn Heb “My oppression and the work of my hands God saw.”
222 tn Heb “answered and said.”
223 tn Heb “daughters.”
224 tn Heb “children.”
225 tn Heb “but to my daughters what can I do to these today?”
223 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
224 tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition לְ (lÿ) means “become.”
225 tn Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”
224 tn Heb “Jacob”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
225 sn The Hebrew word for “pile” is גַּל (gal), which sounds like the name “Galeed” (גַּלְעֵד, gal’ed). See v. 48.
225 sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”
226 sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.
226 tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”
227 tn Heb “and Mizpah.”
228 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
229 tn Heb “between me and you.”
230 tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”
228 tn Heb “see.”
229 tn Heb “between me and you.”
229 tn Heb “and Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between men and you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
230 tn Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”
231 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.
232 tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.
232 tn The construction is a cognate accusative with the verb, expressing a specific sacrifice.
233 tn Heb “bread, food.” Presumably this was a type of peace offering, where the person bringing the offering ate the animal being sacrificed.
233 sn Beginning with 31:55, the verse numbers in the English Bible through 32:32 differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 31:55 ET = 32:1 HT, 32:1 ET = 32:2 HT, etc., through 32:32 ET = 32:33 HT. From 33:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
234 tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”
235 tn Heb “his sons.”
236 tn Heb “to his place.”
234 sn The phrase angels of God occurs only here and in Gen 28:12 in the OT. Jacob saw a vision of angels just before he left the promised land. Now he encounters angels as he prepares to return to it. The text does not give the details of the encounter, but Jacob’s response suggests it was amicable. This location was a spot where heaven made contact with earth, and where God made his presence known to the patriarch. See C. Houtman, “Jacob at Mahanaim: Some Remarks on Genesis XXXII 2-3,” VT 28 (1978): 37-44.
235 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”
236 sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.
236 tn Heb “before him.”
237 tn Heb “field.”
237 sn Your servant. The narrative recounts Jacob’s groveling in fear before Esau as he calls his brother his “lord,” as if to minimize what had been done twenty years ago.
238 tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.
239 tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
239 tn Heb “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.”
240 tn Heb “and he said, ‘If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.” The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’amar) here represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “he thought.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
241 tn Heb “the surviving camp will be for escape.” The word “escape” is a feminine noun. The term most often refers to refugees from war.
240 tn Heb “said.”
241 tn Heb “the one who said.”
242 tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.
241 tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).
242 tn Heb “you have done with.”
243 tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.
244 tn Heb “this Jordan.”
242 tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.
243 tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”
244 tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”
245 tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”
246 sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.
243 tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
244 tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.
245 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.
246 tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.
244 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
245 tn Heb “and he took from that which was going into his hand,” meaning that he took some of what belonged to him.
246 sn The Hebrew noun translated gift can in some contexts refer to the tribute paid by a subject to his lord. Such a nuance is possible here, because Jacob refers to Esau as his lord and to himself as Esau’s servant (v. 4).
245 tn Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”
246 tn Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.
246 tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.
247 tn Heb “to whom are you?”
248 tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”
247 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.
248 tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
249 tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”
250 tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”
251 tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
248 tn Heb “And he commanded also the second, also the third, also all the ones going after the herds, saying: ‘According to this word you will speak when you find him.’”
249 tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”
250 tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”
251 tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.
252 tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”
253 tn Heb “I will see his face.”
254 tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.
250 tn Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”
251 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.
251 tn Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.
252 tn The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד (yeled) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah (Gen 30:21). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later (Gen 35:16-19).
253 sn Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here v. 22 is the summary statement, while v. 23 begins the detailed account.
252 tn Heb “and he sent across what he had.”
253 sn Reflecting Jacob’s perspective at the beginning of the encounter, the narrator calls the opponent simply “a man.” Not until later in the struggle does Jacob realize his true identity.
254 sn The verb translated “wrestled” (וַיֵּאָבֵק, vayye’aveq) sounds in Hebrew like the names “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב, ya’aqov) and “Jabbok” (יַבֹּק, yabboq). In this way the narrator links the setting, the main action, and the main participant together in the mind of the reader or hearer.
255 tn Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”
254 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
255 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
256 tn Or “injured”; traditionally “touched.” The Hebrew verb translated “struck” has the primary meanings “to touch; to reach; to strike.” It can, however, carry the connotation “to harm; to molest; to injure.” God’s “touch” cripples Jacob – it would be comparable to a devastating blow.
255 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
256 tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”
257 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I will not let you go.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
258 sn Jacob wrestled with a man thinking him to be a mere man, and on that basis was equal to the task. But when it had gone on long enough, the night visitor touched Jacob and crippled him. Jacob’s request for a blessing can only mean that he now knew that his opponent was supernatural. Contrary to many allegorical interpretations of the passage that make fighting equivalent to prayer, this passage shows that Jacob stopped fighting, and then asked for a blessing.
256 tn Heb “and he said to him.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
257 sn What is your name? The question is rhetorical, since the
257 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
258 sn The name Israel is a common construction, using a verb with a theophoric element (אֵל, ’el) that usually indicates the subject of the verb. Here it means “God fights.” This name will replace the name Jacob; it will be both a promise and a call for faith. In essence, the
259 sn You have fought. The explanation of the name Israel includes a sound play. In Hebrew the verb translated “you have fought” (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) sounds like the name “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל, yisra’el ), meaning “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). The name would evoke the memory of the fight and what it meant. A. Dillmann says that ever after this the name would tell the Israelites that, when Jacob contended successfully with God, he won the battle with man (Genesis, 2:279). To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency (A. P. Ross, “Jacob at the Jabboq, Israel at Peniel,” BSac 142 [1985]: 51-62).
258 sn Tell me your name. In primitive thought to know the name of a deity or supernatural being would enable one to use it for magical manipulation or power (A. S. Herbert, Genesis 12-50 [TBC], 108). For a thorough structural analysis of the passage discussing the plays on the names and the request of Jacob, see R. Barthes, “The Struggle with the Angel: Textual Analysis of Genesis 32:23-33,” Structural Analysis and Biblical Exegesis (PTMS), 21-33.
259 tn The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.
260 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
261 tn The verb here means that the
262 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
259 sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.
260 tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
261 tn Or “because.”
262 sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.
263 tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”
260 tn Heb “shone.”
261 sn The name is spelled Penuel here, apparently a variant spelling of Peniel (see v. 30).
262 tn The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.
261 sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
262 tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.
262 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”
263 tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
263 sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.
264 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
265 tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.
265 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
266 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
267 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
268 tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”
266 tn Heb “and the female servants drew near, they and their children and they bowed down.”
267 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
268 tn Heb “Who to you?”
269 tn Heb “all this camp which I met.”
270 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
268 tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
269 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.
270 tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here.
271 tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”
269 tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.
270 tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.
271 tn Heb “all.”
272 tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.
270 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
271 tn Heb “let us travel and let us go.” The two cohortatives are used in combination with the sense, “let’s travel along, get going, be on our way.”
271 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
272 tn Heb “weak.”
273 tn Heb “and the sheep and the cattle nursing [are] upon me.”
272 tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”
273 tn The cohortative verbal form here indicates a polite offer of help.
274 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why this?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
275 tn Heb “I am finding favor in the eyes of my lord.”
274 tn Heb “returned on his way.”
275 tn The disjunctive clause contrasts Jacob’s action with Esau’s.
276 sn But Jacob traveled to Succoth. There are several reasons why Jacob chose not to go to Mt. Seir after Esau. First, as he said, his herds and children probably could not keep up with the warriors. Second, he probably did not fully trust his brother. The current friendliness could change, and he could lose everything. And third, God did tell him to return to his land, not Seir. But Jacob is still not able to deal truthfully, probably because of fear of Esau.
277 tn Heb “why he called.” One could understand “Jacob” as the subject of the verb, but it is more likely that the subject is indefinite, in which case the verb is better translated as passive.
278 sn The name Succoth means “shelters,” an appropriate name in light of the shelters Jacob built there for his livestock.
276 tn Heb “in front of.”
277 tn The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence.
278 tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. REB, which renders the term as “sheep”).
278 tn Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.
279 tn Heb “went out to see.” The verb “to see,” followed by the preposition בְּ (bÿ), here has the idea of “look over.” The young girl wanted to meet these women and see what they were like.
280 tn Heb “daughters.”
280 tn Heb “and he took her and lay with her.” The suffixed form following the verb appears to be the sign of the accusative instead of the preposition, but see BDB 1012 s.v. שָׁכַב.
281 tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) in the Piel stem can have various shades of meaning, depending on the context: “to defile; to mistreat; to violate; to rape; to shame; to afflict.” Here it means that Shechem violated or humiliated Dinah by raping her.
281 tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.
282 tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).
282 tn Heb “Take for me this young woman for a wife.”
283 tn The two disjunctive clauses in this verse (“Now Jacob heard…and his sons were”) are juxtaposed to indicate synchronic action.
284 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
285 sn The expected response would be anger or rage; but Jacob remained silent. He appears too indifferent or confused to act decisively. When the leader does not act decisively, the younger zealots will, and often with disastrous results.
284 tn Heb “went out to Jacob to speak with him.” The words “about Dinah” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
285 tn Heb “when they heard.” The words “the news” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
286 tn Heb “the men.” This sounds as if a new group has been introduced into the narrative, so it has been translated as “they” to indicate that it refers to Jacob’s sons, mentioned in the first part of the verse.
287 tn The Hebrew verb עָצַב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic nuances depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain; to be depressed emotionally; to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed; to be insulted; to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself; Gen 6:6; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 6:6). The third category fits best in Gen 34:7 because Jacob’s sons were not merely wounded emotionally. On the contrary, Shechem’s action prompted them to strike out in judgment against the source of their distress.
288 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
289 tn Heb “a disgraceful thing he did against Israel.”
290 tn Heb “by lying with the daughter of Jacob.” The infinitive here explains the preceding verb, indicating exactly how he had disgraced Jacob. The expression “to lie with” is a euphemism for sexual relations, or in this case, sexual assault.
291 tn Heb “and so it should not be done.” The negated imperfect has an obligatory nuance here, but there is also a generalizing tone. The narrator emphasizes that this particular type of crime (sexual assault) is especially reprehensible.
286 tn Heb “Shechem my son, his soul is attached to your daughter.” The verb means “to love” in the sense of being emotionally attached to or drawn to someone. This is a slightly different way of saying what was reported earlier (v. 3). However, there is no mention here of the offense. Even though Hamor is speaking to Dinah’s brothers, he refers to her as their daughter (see v. 17).
287 tn Heb “form marriage alliances with us.”
288 tn Heb “Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.” In the translation the words “let…marry” and “as wives” are supplied for clarity.
288 tn The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
289 tn Heb “before you.”
290 tn The verb seems to carry the basic meaning “travel about freely,” although the substantival participial form refers to a trader (see E. A. Speiser, “The Verb sh£r in Genesis and Early Hebrew Movements,” BASOR 164 [1961]: 23-28); cf. NIV, NRSV “trade in it.”
289 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Dinah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
290 tn Heb “whatever you say.”
291 tn Or “pay.”
290 tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.
291 tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.
292 tn Heb “say.”
291 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Shechem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
292 tn Heb “we are not able to do this thing, to give.” The second infinitive is in apposition to the first, explaining what they are not able to do.
293 tn The Hebrew word translated “disgrace” usually means “ridicule; taunt; reproach.” It can also refer to the reason the condition of shame or disgrace causes ridicule or a reproach.
293 tn Heb “if you are like us.”
294 tn The infinitive here explains how they would become like them.
294 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
295 tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
295 tn Heb “listen to us.”
296 tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.
297 tn Heb “daughter.” Jacob’s sons call Dinah their daughter, even though she was their sister (see v. 8). This has been translated as “sister” for clarity.
296 tn Heb “and their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem son of Hamor.”
297 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
298 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
299 tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).
300 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
298 sn The gate. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the location for conducting important public business.
299 tn Heb “wide on both hands,” that is, in both directions.
300 tn The words “to marry” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
300 tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”
301 tn The words “If we do so” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
302 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
303 tn Heb “listened to.”
304 tn Heb “all those going out the gate of his city.”
303 tn Heb “a man his sword.”
304 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.
304 tn Heb “came upon the slain.” Because of this statement the preceding phrase “Jacob’s sons” is frequently taken to mean the other sons of Jacob besides Simeon and Levi, but the text does not clearly affirm this.
305 tn Heb “because they violated their sister.” The plural verb is active in form, but with no expressed subject, it may be translated passive.
305 tn Heb “and what was in the city and what was in the field they took.”
306 tn Heb “they took captive and they plundered,” that is, “they captured as plunder.”
307 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.
308 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.
309 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
308 tn Heb “but they said.” The referent of “they” (Simeon and Levi) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
309 tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
310 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
311 sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).
310 tn Heb “which are in your midst.”
311 sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the
311 tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.
312 tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.
313 tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.
314 tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).
312 tn Heb “in their hand.”
313 sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).
314 sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.
315 tn Or “terebinth.”
313 tn Heb “and they journeyed.”
314 tn Heb “and the fear of God was upon the cities which were round about them.” The expression “fear of God” apparently refers (1) to a fear of God (objective genitive; God is the object of their fear). (2) But it could mean “fear from God,” that is, fear which God placed in them (cf. NRSV “a terror from God”). Another option (3) is that the divine name is used as a superlative here, referring to “tremendous fear” (cf. NEB “were panic-stricken”; NASB “a great terror”).
314 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
315 tn Heb “and Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan – it is Bethel – he and all the people who were with him.”
315 sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”
316 tn Heb “revealed themselves.” The verb נִגְלוּ (niglu), translated “revealed himself,” is plural, even though one expects the singular form with the plural of majesty. Perhaps אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a numerical plural, referring both to God and the angelic beings that appeared to Jacob. See the note on the word “know” in Gen 3:5.
316 sn Deborah. This woman had been Rebekah’s nurse, but later attached herself to Jacob. She must have been about one hundred and eighty years old when she died.
317 tn “and he called its name.” There is no expressed subject, so the verb can be translated as passive.
318 tn Or “Allon Bacuth,” if one transliterates the Hebrew name (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). An oak tree was revered in the ancient world and often designated as a shrine or landmark. This one was named for the weeping (mourning) occasioned by the death of Deborah.
317 tn Heb “and he called his name Israel.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
318 tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. For a fuller discussion see the note on “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
319 tn Heb “A nation and a company of nations will be from you and kings from your loins will come out.”
319 tn The Hebrew verb translated “gave” refers to the Abrahamic promise of the land. However, the actual possession of that land lay in the future. The decree of the
320 tn Heb “and to your offspring after you.”
320 tn Heb “went up from upon him in the place.”
321 tn Heb “and Jacob set up a sacred pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a sacred pillar of stone” (see the notes on the term “sacred stone” in Gen 28:18). This passage stands parallel to Gen 28:18-19, where Jacob set up a sacred stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel. Some commentators see these as two traditions referring to the same event, but it is more likely that Jacob reconsecrated the place in fulfillment of the vow he had made here earlier. In support of this is the fact that the present narrative alludes to and is built on the previous one.
322 tn The verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “to pour out, to make libations,” and the noun נֶסֶךְ (nesekh) is a “drink-offering,” usually of wine or of blood. The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out,” often of anointing oil, but of other elements as well.
322 sn Called the name of the place. In view of the previous naming of Bethel in Gen 28:19, here Jacob was confirming or affirming the name through an official ritual marking the fulfillment of the vow. This place now did become Bethel, the house of God.
323 tn The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew.
323 tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”
324 tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”
324 tn The construction uses a Hiphil infinitive, which E. A. Speiser classifies as an elative Hiphil. The contrast is with the previous Piel: there “she had hard labor,” and here, “her labor was at its hardest.” Failure to see this, Speiser notes, has led to redundant translations and misunderstandings (Genesis [AB], 273).
325 sn Another son. The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph (Gen 30:24): “may he add” another son.
325 tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.
326 sn The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1, “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.
327 tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.
326 sn This explanatory note links the earlier name Ephrath with the later name Bethlehem.
327 tn Heb “standing stone.”
328 tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).
328 sn The location of Migdal Eder is not given. It appears to be somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron. Various traditions have identified it as at the shepherds’ fields near Bethlehem (the Hebrew name Migdal Eder means “tower of the flock”; see Mic 4:8) or located it near Solomon’s pools.
329 tn Heb “and Reuben went and lay with.” The expression “lay with” is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse.