Genesis 31:9

31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

Genesis 37:21

37:21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph ¹  from their hands, ²  saying, ³  “Let’s not take his life!” ⁴ 

Genesis 31:16

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.”

Genesis 32:11

32:11 Rescue me, ⁵  I pray, from the hand ⁶  of my brother Esau, ⁷  for I am afraid he will come ⁸  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ⁹ 

Genesis 32:30

32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, ¹⁰  explaining, ¹¹  “Certainly ¹²  I have seen God face to face ¹³  and have survived.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 37:22

37:22 Reuben continued, ¹⁵  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ¹⁶  (Reuben said this ¹⁷  so he could rescue Joseph ¹⁸  from them ¹⁹  and take him back to his father.)

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn From their hands. The instigators of this plot may have been the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (see v. 2).

³ tn Heb “and he said.”

⁴ tn Heb “we must not strike him down [with respect to] life.”

¹ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

² tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

³ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

⁴ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

⁵ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

¹ sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

² tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Or “because.”

⁴ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

⁵ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

¹ tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

² sn The verbs translated shed, throw, and lay sound alike in Hebrew; the repetition of similar sounds draws attention to Reuben’s words.

³ tn The words “Reuben said this” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “from their hands” (cf. v. 21). This expression has been translated as “them” here for stylistic reasons.