Genesis 25:26

25:26 When his brother came out with ¹  his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ²  Isaac was sixty years old ³  when they were born.

Genesis 27:40

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.” ⁴ 

Genesis 28:2

28:2 Leave immediately ⁵  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.

Genesis 32:6

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.”

Genesis 35:7

35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel ⁶  because there God had revealed himself ⁷  to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Genesis 43:3

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned ⁸  us, ‘You will not see my face ⁹  unless your brother is with you.’

¹ tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.

² 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.

³ tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”

⁴ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.

¹⁰ sn The name El-Bethel means “God of Bethel.”

¹¹ 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.

¹³ tn The infinitive absolute with the finite verb stresses the point. The primary meaning of the verb is “to witness; to testify.” It alludes to Joseph’s oath, which was tantamount to a threat or warning.

¹⁴ tn The idiom “see my face” means “have an audience with me.”