Genesis 11:31

11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.

Genesis 12:10

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ¹  to stay for a while ²  because the famine was severe. ³ 

Genesis 24:6-8

24:6 “Be careful ⁴  never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. ⁵  24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ⁶  promised me with a solemn oath, ⁷  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ⁸  before you so that you may find ⁹  a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, ¹⁰  you will be free ¹¹  from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

Genesis 31:18

31:18 He took ¹²  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ¹³ 

Genesis 32:9-11

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, ¹⁴  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ¹⁵  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ¹⁶  32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ¹⁷  you have shown ¹⁸  your servant. With only my walking stick ¹⁹  I crossed the Jordan, ²⁰  but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, ²¹  I pray, from the hand ²²  of my brother Esau, ²³  for I am afraid he will come ²⁴  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ²⁵ 

[12:10]  ¹ sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.

[12:10]  ² tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “guard yourself.”

[24:6]  ⁵ tn The introductory clause “And Abraham said to him” has been moved to the end of the opening sentence of direct discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:7]  ⁶ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ⁸ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[24:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ to go after you.”

[24:8]  ¹¹ sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.

[31:18]  ¹² tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.

[31:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”

[32:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[32:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the one who said.”

[32:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.

[32:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[32:11]  ²¹ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  ²² tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  ²³ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  ²⁵ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.