Genesis 29:1

The Marriages of Jacob

29:1 So Jacob moved on ¹  and came to the land of the eastern people. ² 

Numbers 23:7

23:7 Then Balaam ³  uttered ⁴  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁵  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁶ 

Isaiah 41:2

41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? ⁷ 

Who ⁸  officially commissions him for service? ⁹ 

He hands nations over to him, ¹⁰ 

and enables him to subdue ¹¹  kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like windblown straw with his bow. ¹² 

[29:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.

[29:1]  ² tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”

[23:7]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁵ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ⁶ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

[41:2]  ⁷ sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).

[41:2]  ⁸ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.

[41:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”

[41:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”

[41:2]  ¹¹ tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).

[41:2]  ¹² sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.