Genesis 16:10

16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, ¹  “so that they will be too numerous to count.” ² 

Genesis 27:28

27:28 May God give you

the dew of the sky ³ 

and the richness ⁴  of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

Genesis 30:30

30:30 Indeed, ⁵  you had little before I arrived, ⁶  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁷  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁸  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁹ 

Genesis 32:12

32:12 But you ¹⁰  said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper ¹¹  and will make ¹²  your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” ¹³ 

Genesis 48:16

48:16 the Angel ¹⁴  who has protected me ¹⁵ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ¹⁶ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

[16:10]  ¹ tn Heb “The Lord’s angel said, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants….” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:10]  ² tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”

[27:28]  ³ tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”

[27:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “and from the fatness.”

[30:30]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[32:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[32:12]  ⁸ tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.

[32:12]  ⁹ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

[32:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

[48:16]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “be recalled through them.”