Genesis 9:26

9:26 He also said,

“Worthy of praise is¹ the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem!²

Genesis 14:19

14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by³ the Most High God,

Creator⁴ of heaven and earth.⁵

Genesis 24:31

24:31 Laban said to him,⁶ “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord!⁷ Why are you standing out here when I have prepared⁸ the house and a place for the camels?”

Genesis 26:29

26:29 so that⁹ you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed¹⁰ you, but have always treated you well¹¹ before sending you away¹² in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.”¹³

Genesis 27:29

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be¹⁴ lord¹⁵ over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you.¹⁶

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Genesis 24:27

24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love¹⁷ for my master! The Lord has led me¹⁸ to the house¹⁹ of my master’s relatives!”²⁰

Genesis 27:33

27:33 Isaac began to shake violently²¹ and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him.²² He will indeed be blessed!”

¹tn Heb “blessed be.”

²tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.

⁴tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”

⁵tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.

⁵tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁶sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the Lord. Already the author is laying the foundation for subsequent events in the narrative, where Laban’s greed becomes his dominant characteristic.

⁷tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.

⁷tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

⁸tn Heb “touched.”

⁹tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

¹⁰tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

¹¹tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

⁹tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.

¹⁰tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”

¹¹tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

¹¹tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”

¹²tn Heb “As for me – in the way the Lord led me.”

¹³tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.

¹⁴tn Heb “brothers.”

¹³tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.

¹⁴tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”