30:35 So that day Laban 1 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 2 of his sons.
37:1 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, 10 in the land of Canaan. 11
“You are now 14 pregnant
and are about to give birth 15 to a son.
You are to name him Ishmael, 16
for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 17
17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 18 Sarah 19 will be her name.
13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 22 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 23
15:25 “Now his older son was in the field. As 24 he came and approached the house, he heard music 25 and dancing.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
3 tn The text uses an interrogative clause: “Are not your brothers,” which means “your brothers are.”
4 sn With these words Joseph is depicted here as an obedient son who is ready to do what his father commands.
5 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here I am.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “see.”
8 tn Heb “peace.”
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “the land of the sojournings of his father.”
11 sn The next section begins with the heading This is the account of Jacob in Gen 37:2, so this verse actually forms part of the preceding section as a concluding contrast with Esau and his people. In contrast to all the settled and expanded population of Esau, Jacob was still moving about in the land without a permanent residence and without kings. Even if the Edomite king list was added later (as the reference to kings in Israel suggests), its placement here in contrast to Jacob and his descendants is important. Certainly the text deals with Esau before dealing with Jacob – that is the pattern. But the detail is so great in chap. 36 that the contrast cannot be missed.
12 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
13 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
14 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”
15 tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.
16 sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”
17 tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.
18 tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”
19 sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.
20 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the
21 tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
22 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
23 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
24 tn Grk “And as.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
25 sn This would have been primarily instrumental music, but might include singing as well.
26 tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”
27 tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.
28 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.
29 sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”