Genesis 24:67

24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah ¹  into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her ²  as his wife and loved her. ³  So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. ⁴ 

Genesis 29:10

29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, ⁵  and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he ⁶  went over ⁷  and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. ⁸ 

Genesis 21:21

21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ⁹  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 27:13-14

27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, ¹¹  my son! Just obey me! ¹²  Go and get them for me!”

27:14 So he went and got the goats ¹³  and brought them to his mother. She ¹⁴  prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it.

Genesis 28:7

28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram.

Genesis 2:24

2:24 That is why ¹⁵  a man leaves ¹⁶  his father and mother and unites with ¹⁷  his wife, and they become a new family. ¹⁸ 

Genesis 27:11

27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! ¹⁹ 

Genesis 30:14

30:14 At the time ²⁰  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ²¹  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ²²  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ²³ 

[24:67]  ¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.

[24:67]  ² tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:67]  ³ tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”

[24:67]  ⁴ tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.

[29:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).

[29:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “drew near, approached.”

[29:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).

[21:21]  ⁹ sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[27:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “upon me your curse.”

[27:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “only listen to my voice.”

[27:14]  ¹⁷ tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:24]  ²¹ tn This statement, introduced by the Hebrew phrase עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore” or “that is why”), is an editorial comment, not an extension of the quotation. The statement is describing what typically happens, not what will or should happen. It is saying, “This is why we do things the way we do.” It links a contemporary (with the narrator) practice with the historical event being narrated. The historical event narrated in v. 23 provides the basis for the contemporary practice described in v. 24. That is why the imperfect verb forms are translated with the present tense rather than future.

[2:24]  ²² tn The imperfect verb form has a habitual or characteristic nuance. For other examples of עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore, that is why”) with the imperfect in a narrative framework, see Gen 10:9; 32:32 (the phrase “to this day” indicates characteristic behavior is in view); Num 21:14, 27; 1 Sam 5:5 (note “to this day”); 19:24 (perhaps the imperfect is customary here, “were saying”); 2 Sam 5:8. The verb translated “leave” (עָזָב, ’azab) normally means “to abandon, to forsake, to leave behind, to discard,” when used with human subject and object (see Josh 22:3; 1 Sam 30:13; Ps 27:10; Prov 2:17; Isa 54:6; 60:15; 62:4; Jer 49:11). Within the context of the ancient Israelite extended family structure, this cannot refer to emotional or geographical separation. The narrator is using hyperbole to emphasize the change in perspective that typically overtakes a young man when his thoughts turn to love and marriage.

[2:24]  ²³ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same habitual or characteristic nuance as the preceding imperfect. The verb is traditionally translated “cleaves [to]”; it has the basic idea of “stick with/to” (e.g., it is used of Ruth resolutely staying with her mother-in-law in Ruth 1:14). In this passage it describes the inseparable relationship between the man and the woman in marriage as God intended it.

[2:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they become one flesh.” The perfect with vav consecutive carries the same habitual or characteristic nuance as the preceding verbs in the verse. The retention of the word “flesh” (בָּשָׂר, basar) in the translation often leads to improper or incomplete interpretations. The Hebrew word refers to more than just a sexual union. When they unite in marriage, the man and woman bring into being a new family unit (הָיָה + לְ, hayah + lamed preposition means “become”). The phrase “one flesh” occurs only here and must be interpreted in light of v. 23. There the man declares that the woman is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be related by blood to someone. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Laban and Jacob (Gen 29:14); Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17). The expression “one flesh” seems to indicate that they become, as it were, “kin,” at least legally (a new family unit is created) or metaphorically. In this first marriage in human history, the woman was literally formed from the man’s bone and flesh. Even though later marriages do not involve such a divine surgical operation, the first marriage sets the pattern for how later marriages are understood and explains why marriage supersedes the parent-child relationship.

[27:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  ³⁰ sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[43:29]  ³³ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ³⁴ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.