Genesis 16:7

16:7 The Lord’s angel ¹  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ² 

Genesis 20:1

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ³  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ⁴  in Gerar,

Genesis 49:22

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, ⁵ 

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches ⁶  climb over the wall.

Genesis 25:18

25:18 His descendants ⁷  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ⁸  to Egypt all the way ⁹  to Asshur. ¹⁰  They settled ¹¹  away from all their relatives. ¹² 

Genesis 32:5

32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ¹³  this message ¹⁴  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Genesis 49:6

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ¹⁵ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

[16:7]  ¹ tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

[16:7]  ² tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

[20:1]  ³ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[49:22]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text appears to mean “[is] a son of fruitfulness.” The second word is an active participle, feminine singular, from the verb פָּרָה (parah, “to be fruitful”). The translation “bough” is employed for בֵּן (ben, elsewhere typically “son”) because Joseph is pictured as a healthy and fruitful vine growing by the wall. But there are difficulties with this interpretation. The word “son” nowhere else refers to a plant and the noun translated “branches” (Heb “daughters”) in the third line is a plural form whereas its verb is singular. In the other oracles of Gen 49 an animal is used for comparison and not a plant, leading some to translate the opening phrase בֵּן פָּרָה (ben parah, “fruitful bough”) as “wild donkey” (JPS, NAB). Various other interpretations involving more radical emendation of the text have also been offered.

[49:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “daughters.”

[25:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Ishmael’s descendants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “which is by the face of,” or near the border. The territory ran along the border of Egypt.

[25:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “as you go.”

[25:18]  ¹⁰ sn The name Asshur refers here to a tribal area in the Sinai.

[25:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he fell.”

[25:18]  ¹² tn Heb “upon the face of all his brothers.” This last expression, obviously alluding to the earlier oracle about Ishmael (Gen 16:12), could mean that the descendants of Ishmael lived in hostility to others or that they lived in a territory that was opposite the lands of their relatives. While there is some ambiguity about the meaning, the line probably does give a hint of the Ishmaelite-Israelite conflicts to come.

[32:5]  ⁹ tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.

[32:5]  ¹⁰ tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[49:6]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text reads “my glory,” but it is preferable to repoint the form and read “my liver.” The liver was sometimes viewed as the seat of the emotions and will (see HALOT 456 s.v. II כָּבֵד) for which the heart is the modern equivalent.