Genesis 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ¹  some food ²  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ³  and sent her away. So she went wandering ⁴  aimlessly through the wilderness ⁵  of Beer Sheba.

Genesis 21:16

21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ⁶  away; for she thought, ⁷  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ⁸  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ⁹ 

Genesis 32:22

32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took ¹⁰  his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons ¹¹  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ¹² 

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ¹³  and saw that Esau was coming ¹⁴  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 33:14

33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, ¹⁵  until I come to my lord at Seir.”

[21:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ² tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ³ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ⁵ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[21:16]  ⁶ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[32:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.

[32:22]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד (yeled) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah (Gen 30:21). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later (Gen 35:16-19).

[32:22]  ¹³ sn Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here v. 22 is the summary statement, while v. 23 begins the detailed account.

[33:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[33:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”