Genesis 18:19

18:19 I have chosen him ¹  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ²  the way of the Lord by doing ³  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁴  to Abraham what he promised ⁵  him.”

Genesis 28:15

28:15 I am with you! ⁶  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ⁷  to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 30:31

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁸  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁹  Jacob replied, ¹⁰  “but if you agree to this one condition, ¹¹  I will continue to care for ¹²  your flocks and protect them:

Genesis 31:29

31:29 I have ¹³  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ¹⁴  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ¹⁵ 

[18:19]  ¹ tn Heb “For I have known him.” The verb יָדַע (yada’) here means “to recognize and treat in a special manner, to choose” (see Amos 3:2). It indicates that Abraham stood in a special covenantal relationship with the Lord.

[18:19]  ² tn Heb “and they will keep.” The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the subjective nuance of the preceding imperfect verbal form (translated “so that he may command”).

[18:19]  ³ tn The infinitive construct here indicates manner, explaining how Abraham’s children and his household will keep the way of the Lord.

[18:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “bring on.” The infinitive after לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) indicates result here.

[18:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “spoke to.”

[28:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).

[28:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[30:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  ¹⁷ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  ¹⁸ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[31:29]  ²¹ tn Heb “there is to my hand.”

[31:29]  ²² tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:29]  ²³ tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.