Genesis 6:1

God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 When humankind ¹  began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born ²  to them, ³ 

Genesis 30:30

30:30 Indeed, ⁴  you had little before I arrived, ⁵  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁶  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁷  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁸ 

Genesis 48:16

48:16 the Angel ⁹  who has protected me ¹⁰ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ¹¹ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

¹ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”

² tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.

³ tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.

⁴ tn Or “for.”

⁵ tn Heb “before me.”

⁶ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

⁷ tn Heb “at my foot.”

⁸ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

⁷ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

⁸ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

⁹ tn Or “be recalled through them.”