Genesis 48:16

48:16 the Angel ¹  who has protected me ² 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ³ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

Genesis 48:1

Manasseh and Ephraim

48:1 After these things Joseph was told, ⁴  “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

Genesis 1:29

1:29 Then God said, “I now ⁵  give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ⁶ 

Psalms 31:5-7

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ⁷ 

you will rescue ⁸  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

31:6 I hate those who serve worthless idols, ⁹ 

but I trust in the Lord.

31:7 I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,

because you notice my pain

and you are aware of how distressed I am. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 34:6-7

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ¹¹  from all his troubles.

34:7 The Lord’s angel camps around

the Lord’s ¹²  loyal followers ¹³  and delivers them. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 34:17

34:17 The godly ¹⁵  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 34:22

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants; ¹⁷ 

all who take shelter in him escape punishment. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 71:23

71:23 My lips will shout for joy! Yes, ¹⁹  I will sing your praises!

I will praise you when you rescue me! ²⁰ 

Psalms 103:4

103:4 who delivers ²¹  your life from the Pit, ²² 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

Psalms 106:10

106:10 He delivered them from the power ²³  of the one who hated them,

and rescued ²⁴  them from the power ²⁵  of the enemy.

Psalms 107:2

107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out, ²⁶ 

those whom he delivered ²⁷  from the power ²⁸  of the enemy,

Psalms 107:2

107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out, ²⁹ 

those whom he delivered ³⁰  from the power ³¹  of the enemy,

Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ³² 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ³³ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ³⁴ 

Have mercy on me ³⁵  and respond to ³⁶  my prayer!

Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ³⁷ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ³⁸ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ³⁹ 

Have mercy on me ⁴⁰  and respond to ⁴¹  my prayer!

[48:16]  ¹ 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.

[48:16]  ² 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).

[48:16]  ³ tn Or “be recalled through them.”

[48:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and one said.” With no expressed subject in the Hebrew text, the verb can be translated with the passive voice.

[1:29]  ⁵ tn The text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh), often archaically translated “behold.” It is often used to express the dramatic present, the immediacy of an event – “Look, this is what I am doing!”

[1:29]  ⁶ sn G. J. Wenham (Genesis [WBC], 1:34) points out that there is nothing in the passage that prohibits the man and the woman from eating meat. He suggests that eating meat came after the fall. Gen 9:3 may then ratify the postfall practice of eating meat rather than inaugurate the practice, as is often understood.

[31:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ⁸ tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[31:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the ones who observe vain things of falsehood.” See Jonah 2:9.

[31:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you know the distresses of my life.”

[34:6]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[34:7]  ¹² tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[34:7]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.

[34:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ¹⁶ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[34:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.

[34:22]  ¹⁸ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:19).

[71:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or “when.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) has an emphasizing (asseverative) function here.

[71:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and my life [or “soul”] which you will have redeemed.” The perfect verbal form functions here as a future perfect. The psalmist anticipates praising God, for God will have rescued him by that time.

[103:4]  ²¹ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ²² tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.

[106:10]  ²³ tn Heb “hand.”

[106:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “redeemed.”

[106:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[107:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “let the redeemed of the Lord say [so].”

[107:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “redeemed.”

[107:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[107:2]  ²⁹ tn Or “let the redeemed of the Lord say [so].”

[107:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “redeemed.”

[107:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[4:1]  ³² sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ³³ tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ³⁵ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “hear.”

[4:1]  ³⁷ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “hear.”