Genesis 47:2

47:2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. ¹ 

Genesis 12:20

12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, ²  and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

Genesis 13:8

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. ³ 

Genesis 18:2

18:2 Abraham ⁴  looked up ⁵  and saw ⁶  three men standing across ⁷  from him. When he saw them ⁸  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ⁹  to the ground. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 32:28

32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ¹¹  “but Israel, ¹²  because you have fought ¹³  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Genesis 37:28

37:28 So when the Midianite ¹⁴  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ¹⁵  him ¹⁶  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ¹⁷  then took Joseph to Egypt.

¹ tn Heb “and from the whole of his brothers he took five men and presented them before Pharaoh.”

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.

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

⁵ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

⁶ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

⁷ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

⁸ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

⁹ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

¹⁰ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

⁵ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁶ sn The name Israel is a common construction, using a verb with a theophoric element (אֵל, ’el) that usually indicates the subject of the verb. Here it means “God fights.” This name will replace the name Jacob; it will be both a promise and a call for faith. In essence, the Lord was saying that Jacob would have victory and receive the promises because God would fight for him.

⁷ sn You have fought. The explanation of the name Israel includes a sound play. In Hebrew the verb translated “you have fought” (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) sounds like the name “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל, yisra’el ), meaning “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). The name would evoke the memory of the fight and what it meant. A. Dillmann says that ever after this the name would tell the Israelites that, when Jacob contended successfully with God, he won the battle with man (Genesis, 2:279). To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency (A. P. Ross, “Jacob at the Jabboq, Israel at Peniel,” BSac 142 [1985]: 51-62).

⁶ sn On the close relationship between Ishmaelites (v. 25) and Midianites, see Judg 8:24.

⁷ tn Heb “they drew and they lifted up.” The referent (Joseph’s brothers) has been specified in the translation for clarity; otherwise the reader might assume the Midianites had pulled Joseph from the cistern (but cf. NAB).

⁸ tn Heb “Joseph” (both here and in the following clause); the proper name has been replaced both times by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Ishmaelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.