Genesis 1:9

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ¹  and let dry ground appear.” ²  It was so.

Genesis 20:11

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ³  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ⁴  my wife.’

Genesis 22:14

22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” ⁵  It is said to this day, ⁶  “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.” ⁷ 

Genesis 28:17

28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

Genesis 32:30

32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, ⁸  explaining, ⁹  “Certainly ¹⁰  I have seen God face to face ¹¹  and have survived.” ¹² 

Genesis 35:14

35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. ¹³  He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. ¹⁴ 

[1:9]  ¹ sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.

[1:9]  ² tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.

[20:11]  ³ tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[22:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord sees” (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, yÿhvah yir’eh, traditionally transliterated “Jehovah Jireh”; see the note on the word “provide” in v. 8). By so naming the place Abraham preserved in the memory of God’s people the amazing event that took place there.

[22:14]  ⁶ sn On the expression to this day see B. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until this Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[22:14]  ⁷ sn The saying connected with these events has some ambiguity, which was probably intended. The Niphal verb could be translated (1) “in the mountain of the Lord it will be seen/provided” or (2) “in the mountain the Lord will appear.” If the temple later stood here (see the note on “Moriah” in Gen 22:2), the latter interpretation might find support, for the people went to the temple to appear before the Lord, who “appeared” to them by providing for them his power and blessings. See S. R. Driver, Genesis, 219.

[32:30]  ⁷ sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

[32:30]  ⁸ tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:30]  ⁹ tn Or “because.”

[32:30]  ¹⁰ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

[32:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

[35:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob set up a sacred pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a sacred pillar of stone” (see the notes on the term “sacred stone” in Gen 28:18). This passage stands parallel to Gen 28:18-19, where Jacob set up a sacred stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel. Some commentators see these as two traditions referring to the same event, but it is more likely that Jacob reconsecrated the place in fulfillment of the vow he had made here earlier. In support of this is the fact that the present narrative alludes to and is built on the previous one.

[35:14]  ¹⁰ tn The verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “to pour out, to make libations,” and the noun נֶסֶךְ (nesekh) is a “drink-offering,” usually of wine or of blood. The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out,” often of anointing oil, but of other elements as well.