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 from their hands, saying, “Let’s not take his life!”

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, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.

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.)


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

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

tn Heb “and he said.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

tn Or “because.”

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

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

tn Heb “and Reuben said to them.”

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

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

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

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