Genesis 19:20

19:20 Look, this town ¹  over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. ²  Let me go there. ³  It’s just a little place, isn’t it? ⁴  Then I’ll survive.” ⁵ 

Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ⁶  I will eat it so that I may bless you ⁷  before I die.”

Genesis 27:25

27:25 Isaac ⁸  said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. ⁹  Then I will bless you.” ¹⁰  So Jacob ¹¹  brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac ¹²  drank.

Genesis 32:30

32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, ¹³  explaining, ¹⁴  “Certainly ¹⁵  I have seen God face to face ¹⁶  and have survived.” ¹⁷ 

Genesis 49:6

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

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ¹⁸ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

[19:20]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”

[19:20]  ² tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”

[19:20]  ³ tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.

[19:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is it not little?”

[19:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.

[27:4]  ⁶ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[27:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

[27:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:25]  ¹² tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[27:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.

[27:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:30]  ¹⁶ sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

[32:30]  ¹⁷ tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:30]  ¹⁸ tn Or “because.”

[32:30]  ¹⁹ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

[32:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

[49:6]  ²¹ 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.