12:2 Then I will make you 2 into a great nation, and I will bless you, 3
and I will make your name great, 4
so that you will exemplify divine blessing. 5
37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! 6 Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”
43:15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt 10 and stood before Joseph.
48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked –
the God who has been my shepherd 16
all my life long to this day,
49:29 Then he instructed them, 17 “I am about to go 18 to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
1 tn The traditional rendering here, “who forged” (or “a forger of”) is now more commonly associated with counterfeit or fraud (e.g., “forged copies” or “forged checks”) than with the forging of metal. The phrase “heated metal and shaped [it]” has been used in the translation instead.
2 tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.
3 sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.
4 tn Or “I will make you famous.”
5 tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.
3 sn A wild animal has eaten him. Jacob draws this conclusion on his own without his sons actually having to lie with their words (see v. 20). Dipping the tunic in the goat’s blood was the only deception needed.
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”
6 tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).
5 tn Heb “they arose and went down to Egypt.” The first verb has an adverbial function and emphasizes that they departed right away.
6 tn Or “you fathered.”
7 tn Heb “called” or “named.”
8 sn Listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. This means that any subsequent children of Joseph will be incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
7 tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”
8 tn Heb “and he brought near to him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” and “him” (Joseph and his father respectively) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.
9 tn The Hebrew text adds “and he said to them,” which is not included in the translation because it is redundant in English.
10 tn Heb “I am about to be gathered” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.