Genesis 14:14-16

14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew ¹  had been taken captive, he mobilized ²  his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders ³  as far as Dan. ⁴  14:15 Then, during the night, ⁵  Abram ⁶  divided his forces ⁷  against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north ⁸  of Damascus. 14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. ⁹  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ¹⁰  the people.

Genesis 14:1

The Blessing of Victory for God’s People

14:1 At that time ¹¹  Amraphel king of Shinar, ¹²  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations ¹³ 

Genesis 30:1-8

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ¹⁴  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ¹⁵  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious ¹⁶  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ¹⁷  30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ¹⁸  her so that she can bear ¹⁹  children ²⁰  for me ²¹  and I can have a family through her.” ²² 

30:4 So Rachel ²³  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with ²⁴  her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant ²⁵  and gave Jacob a son. ²⁶  30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ²⁷  and given me a son.” That is why ²⁸  she named him Dan. ²⁹ 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ³⁰  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ³¹  So she named him Naphtali. ³² 

Genesis 30:18-20

30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ³³  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ³⁴  So she named him Issachar. ³⁵ 

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. ³⁶  30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ³⁷ 

[14:14]  ¹ tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).

[14:14]  ² tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.

[14:14]  ³ tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:14]  ⁴ sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.

[14:15]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.

[14:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”

[14:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

[14:16]  ⁹ tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:16]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:1]  ¹¹ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”

[14:1]  ¹² sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.

[14:1]  ¹³ tn Or “king of Goyim.” The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means “nations,” but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB “Goyim”; NIV, NRSV “Goiim”).

[30:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”

[30:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”

[30:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ¹⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ²⁰ tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ²² tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[30:4]  ²³ tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).

[30:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ²⁹ sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[30:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  ³² sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[30:18]  ³³ tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ³⁴ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  ³⁵ sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.

[30:19]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:20]  ³⁷ sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.