Genesis 12:9

12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages ¹  down to the Negev. ² 

Genesis 33:12

33:12 Then Esau ³  said, “Let’s be on our way! ⁴  I will go in front of you.”

Genesis 35:21

35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ⁵ 

Genesis 11:2

11:2 When the people ⁶  moved eastward, ⁷  they found a plain in Shinar ⁸  and settled there.

Genesis 20:1

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ⁹  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ¹⁰  in Gerar,

Genesis 13:11

13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ¹¹  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ¹² 

Genesis 33:17

33:17 But ¹³  Jacob traveled to Succoth ¹⁴  where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called ¹⁵  Succoth. ¹⁶ 

Genesis 35:5

35:5 and they started on their journey. ¹⁷  The surrounding cities were afraid of God, ¹⁸  and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Genesis 35:16

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ¹⁹  Rachel went into labor ²⁰  – and her labor was hard.

Genesis 37:17

37:17 The man said, “They left this area, ²¹  for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Genesis 46:1

The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt

46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. ²²  When he came to Beer Sheba ²³  he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

[12:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb נָסַע (nasa’) means “to journey”; more specifically it means to pull up the tent and move to another place. The construction here uses the preterite of this verb with its infinitive absolute to stress the activity of traveling. But it also adds the infinitive absolute of הָלַךְ (halakh) to stress that the traveling was continually going on. Thus “Abram journeyed, going and journeying” becomes “Abram continually journeyed by stages.”

[12:9]  ² tn Or “the South [country].”

[33:12]  ³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “let us travel and let us go.” The two cohortatives are used in combination with the sense, “let’s travel along, get going, be on our way.”

[35:21]  ⁵ sn The location of Migdal Eder is not given. It appears to be somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron. Various traditions have identified it as at the shepherds’ fields near Bethlehem (the Hebrew name Migdal Eder means “tower of the flock”; see Mic 4:8) or located it near Solomon’s pools.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”

[11:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”

[20:1]  ⁹ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

[13:11]  ¹² tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

[33:17]  ¹³ tn The disjunctive clause contrasts Jacob’s action with Esau’s.

[33:17]  ¹⁴ sn But Jacob traveled to Succoth. There are several reasons why Jacob chose not to go to Mt. Seir after Esau. First, as he said, his herds and children probably could not keep up with the warriors. Second, he probably did not fully trust his brother. The current friendliness could change, and he could lose everything. And third, God did tell him to return to his land, not Seir. But Jacob is still not able to deal truthfully, probably because of fear of Esau.

[33:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “why he called.” One could understand “Jacob” as the subject of the verb, but it is more likely that the subject is indefinite, in which case the verb is better translated as passive.

[33:17]  ¹⁶ sn The name Succoth means “shelters,” an appropriate name in light of the shelters Jacob built there for his livestock.

[35:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they journeyed.”

[35:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the fear of God was upon the cities which were round about them.” The expression “fear of God” apparently refers (1) to a fear of God (objective genitive; God is the object of their fear). (2) But it could mean “fear from God,” that is, fear which God placed in them (cf. NRSV “a terror from God”). Another option (3) is that the divine name is used as a superlative here, referring to “tremendous fear” (cf. NEB “were panic-stricken”; NASB “a great terror”).

[35:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

[35:16]  ¹⁸ tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”

[37:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they traveled from this place.”

[46:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.”

[46:1]  ²² sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10.