Discovery BoxGenesis 25:20--28:9
Context25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, 1 the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 2
25:21 Isaac prayed to 3 the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 25:22 But the children struggled 4 inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” 5 So she asked the Lord, 6 25:23 and the Lord said to her,
“Two nations 7 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, 8 there were 9 twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish 10 all over, 11 like a hairy 12 garment, so they named him Esau. 13 25:26 When his brother came out with 14 his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. 15 Isaac was sixty years old 16 when they were born.
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 17 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 18 25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, 19 but Rebekah loved 20 Jacob.
25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, 21 and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed 22 me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called 23 Edom.) 24
25:31 But Jacob replied, “First 25 sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 26 25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” 27 So Esau 28 swore an oath to him and sold his birthright 29 to Jacob.
25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. 30 So Esau despised his birthright. 31
26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred 32 in the days of Abraham. 33 Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; 34 settle down in the land that I will point out to you. 35 26:3 Stay 36 in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, 37 for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, 38 and I will fulfill 39 the solemn promise I made 40 to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them 41 all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 42 26:5 All this will come to pass 43 because Abraham obeyed me 44 and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” 45 26:6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” 46 He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, 47 “The men of this place will kill me to get 48 Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”
26:8 After Isaac 49 had been there a long time, 50 Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed 51 Isaac caressing 52 his wife Rebekah. 26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really 53 your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.” 54
26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 55 One of the men 56 might easily have had sexual relations with 57 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches 58 this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 59
26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, 60 because the Lord blessed him. 61 26:13 The man became wealthy. 62 His influence continued to grow 63 until he became very prominent. 26:14 He had 64 so many sheep 65 and cattle 66 and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous 67 of him. 26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up 68 all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.
26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, 69 for you have become much more powerful 70 than we are.” 26:17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. 71 26:18 Isaac reopened 72 the wells that had been dug 73 back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up 74 after Abraham died. Isaac 75 gave these wells 76 the same names his father had given them. 77
26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing 78 water there, 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled 79 with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac 80 named the well 81 Esek 82 because they argued with him about it. 83 26:21 His servants 84 dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it 85 Sitnah. 86 26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac 87 named it 88 Rehoboth, 89 saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”
26:23 From there Isaac 90 went up to Beer Sheba. 26:24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped 91 the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. 92
26:26 Now Abimelech had come 93 to him from Gerar along with 94 Ahuzzah his friend 95 and Phicol the commander of his army. 26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me 96 and sent me away from you.” 26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see 97 that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be 98 a pact between us 99 – between us 100 and you. Allow us to make 101 a treaty with you 26:29 so that 102 you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed 103 you, but have always treated you well 104 before sending you away 105 in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” 106
26:30 So Isaac 107 held a feast for them and they celebrated. 108 26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. 109 Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. 110
26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. 111 26:33 So he named it Shibah; 112 that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba 113 to this day.
26:34 When 114 Esau was forty years old, 115 he married 116 Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety. 117
27:1 When 118 Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, 119 he called his older 120 son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau 121 replied. 27:2 Isaac 122 said, “Since 123 I am so old, I could die at any time. 124 27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game 125 for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then 126 I will eat it so that I may bless you 127 before I die.”
27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. 128 When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 129 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat 130 it and bless you 131 in the presence of the Lord 132 before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do 133 exactly what I tell you! 134 27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare 135 them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take 136 it to your father. Thus he will eat it 137 and 138 bless you before he dies.”
27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 139 27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him 140 and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, 141 my son! Just obey me! 142 Go and get them for me!”
27:14 So he went and got the goats 143 and brought them to his mother. She 144 prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats 145 on his hands 146 and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed 147 the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac 148 replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” 149 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up 150 and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” 151 27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world 152 did you find it so quickly, 153 my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” 154 he replied. 155 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, 156 my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” 157 27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 158 27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob 159 replied. 27:25 Isaac 160 said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. 161 Then I will bless you.” 162 So Jacob 163 brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac 164 drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob 165 went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent 166 of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,
“Yes, 167 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
27:28 May God give you
the dew of the sky 168
and the richness 169 of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
27:29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be 170 lord 171 over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. 172
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 173 his father’s 174 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 175 27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau 176 said to him, “My father, get up 177 and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” 178 27:32 His father Isaac asked, 179 “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” 180 he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently 181 and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. 182 He will indeed be blessed!”
27:34 When Esau heard 183 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 184 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac 185 replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away 186 your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! 187 He has tripped me up 188 two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”
27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” 189 Then Esau wept loudly. 190
27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,
“Indeed, 191 your home will be
away from the richness 192 of the earth,
and away from the dew of the sky above.
27:40 You will live by your sword
but you will serve your brother.
When you grow restless,
you will tear off his yoke
from your neck.” 193
27:41 So Esau hated 194 Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. 195 Esau said privately, 196 “The time 197 of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill 198 my brother Jacob!”
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 199 she quickly summoned 200 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 201 27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. 202 Run away immediately 203 to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while 204 until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there 205 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. 206 Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 207
27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed 208 because of these daughters of Heth. 209 If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” 210
28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 211 28:2 Leave immediately 212 for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign God 213 bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! 214 Then you will become 215 a large nation. 216 28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham 217 so that you may possess the land 218 God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” 219 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. 220 As he blessed him, 221 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 222 28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized 223 that the Canaanite women 224 were displeasing to 225 his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married 226 Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.
[25:20] 1 tn Heb “And Isaac was the son of forty years when he took Rebekah.”
[25:20] 2 sn Some valuable information is provided here. We learn here that Isaac married thirty-five years before Abraham died, that Rebekah was barren for twenty years, and that Abraham would have lived to see Jacob and Esau begin to grow up. The death of Abraham was recorded in the first part of the chapter as a “tidying up” of one generation before beginning the account of the next.
[25:21] 3 tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the
[25:22] 5 tn The Hebrew word used here suggests a violent struggle that was out of the ordinary.
[25:22] 6 tn Heb “If [it is] so, why [am] I this [way]?” Rebekah wanted to know what was happening to her, but the question itself reflects a growing despair over the struggle of the unborn children.
[25:22] 7 sn Asked the
[25:23] 7 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
[25:24] 9 tn Heb “And her days were filled to give birth.”
[25:24] 10 tn Heb “look!” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene as if they were actually present at the birth.
[25:25] 11 sn Reddish. The Hebrew word translated “reddish” is אַדְמוֹנִי (’admoni), which forms a wordplay on the Edomites, Esau’s descendants. The writer sees in Esau’s appearance at birth a sign of what was to come. After all, the reader has already been made aware of the “nations” that were being born.
[25:25] 12 tn Heb “all of him.”
[25:25] 13 sn Hairy. Here is another wordplay involving the descendants of Esau. The Hebrew word translated “hairy” is שֵׂעָר (se’ar); the Edomites will later live in Mount Seir, perhaps named for its wooded nature.
[25:25] 14 tn Heb “And they called his name Esau.” The name “Esau” (עֵשָׂו, ’esav) is not etymologically related to שֵׂעָר (se’ar), but it draws on some of the sounds.
[25:26] 13 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
[25:26] 14 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
[25:26] 15 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
[25:27] 16 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
[25:28] 17 tn Heb “the taste of game was in his mouth.” The word for “game,” “venison” is here the same Hebrew word as “hunter” in the last verse. Here it is a metonymy, referring to that which the hunter kills.
[25:28] 18 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Rebekah with Jacob and draws attention to the contrast. The verb here is a participle, drawing attention to Rebekah’s continuing, enduring love for her son.
[25:29] 19 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
[25:30] 21 tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
[25:30] 22 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
[25:30] 23 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
[25:32] 25 tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”
[25:33] 27 tn Heb “Swear to me today.”
[25:33] 28 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:33] 29 sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.
[25:34] 29 sn The style here is typical of Hebrew narrative; after the tension is resolved with the dialogue, the working out of it is recorded in a rapid sequence of verbs (“gave”; “ate”; “drank”; “got up”; “went out”). See also Gen 3:1-7 for another example.
[25:34] 30 sn So Esau despised his birthright. This clause, which concludes the episode, is a summary statement which reveals the underlying significance of Esau’s actions. “To despise” means to treat something as worthless or with contempt. Esau’s willingness to sell his birthright was evidence that he considered it to be unimportant.
[26:1] 31 tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”
[26:1] 32 sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.
[26:2] 33 sn Do not go down to Egypt. The words echo Gen 12:10, which reports that “Abram went down to Egypt,” but state the opposite.
[26:2] 34 tn Heb “say to you.”
[26:3] 35 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.
[26:3] 36 tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.
[26:3] 37 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
[26:3] 38 tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.
[26:3] 39 tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”
[26:4] 37 tn Heb “your descendants.”
[26:4] 38 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
[26:5] 39 tn The words “All this will come to pass” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.
[26:5] 40 tn Heb “listened to my voice.”
[26:5] 41 sn My charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. The language of this verse is clearly interpretive, for Abraham did not have all these laws. The terms are legal designations for sections of the Mosaic law and presuppose the existence of the law. Some Rabbinic views actually conclude that Abraham had fulfilled the whole law before it was given (see m. Qiddushin 4:14). Some scholars argue that this story could only have been written after the law was given (C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:424-25). But the simplest explanation is that the narrator (traditionally taken to be Moses the Lawgiver) elaborated on the simple report of Abraham’s obedience by using terms with which the Israelites were familiar. In this way he depicts Abraham as the model of obedience to God’s commands, whose example Israel should follow.
[26:7] 41 sn Rebekah, unlike Sarah, was not actually her husband’s sister.
[26:7] 42 tn Heb “lest.” The words “for he thought to himself” are supplied because the next clause is written with a first person pronoun, showing that Isaac was saying or thinking this.
[26:7] 43 tn Heb “kill me on account of.”
[26:8] 43 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:8] 44 tn Heb “and it happened when the days were long to him there.”
[26:8] 45 tn Heb “look, Isaac.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene through Abimelech’s eyes.
[26:9] 45 tn Heb “Surely, look!” See N. H. Snaith, “The meaning of Hebrew ‘ak,” VT 14 (1964): 221-25.
[26:9] 46 tn Heb “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” Since the verb “said” probably means “said to myself” (i.e., “thought”) here, the direct discourse in the Hebrew statement has been converted to indirect discourse in the translation. In addition the simple prepositional phrase “on account of her” has been clarified in the translation as “to get her” (cf. v. 7).
[26:10] 47 tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
[26:10] 49 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
[26:11] 49 tn Heb “strikes.” Here the verb has the nuance “to harm in any way.” It would include assaulting the woman or killing the man.
[26:11] 50 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the imperfect makes the construction emphatic.
[26:12] 51 tn Heb “a hundredfold.”
[26:12] 52 tn This final clause explains why Isaac had such a bountiful harvest.
[26:13] 53 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Isaac’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are included.
[26:13] 54 tn Heb “and he went, going and becoming great.” The construction stresses that his growth in possessions and power continued steadily.
[26:14] 55 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
[26:14] 56 tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”
[26:14] 57 tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”
[26:14] 58 tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).
[26:15] 57 tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”
[26:16] 59 tn Heb “Go away from us.”
[26:16] 60 sn You have become much more powerful. This explanation for the expulsion of Isaac from Philistine territory foreshadows the words used later by the Egyptians to justify their oppression of Israel (see Exod 1:9).
[26:17] 61 tn Heb “and he camped in the valley of Gerar and he lived there.”
[26:18] 63 tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”
[26:18] 64 tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.
[26:18] 65 tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.
[26:18] 66 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:18] 67 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:18] 68 tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”
[26:19] 65 tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).
[26:20] 67 tn The Hebrew verb translated “quarreled” describes a conflict that often has legal ramifications.
[26:20] 68 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:20] 69 tn Heb “and he called the name of the well.”
[26:20] 70 sn The name Esek means “argument” in Hebrew. The following causal clause explains that Isaac gave the well this name as a reminder of the conflict its discovery had created. In the Hebrew text there is a wordplay, for the name is derived from the verb translated “argued.”
[26:20] 71 tn The words “about it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:21] 69 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:21] 70 tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:21] 71 sn The name Sitnah (שִׂטְנָה, sitnah) is derived from a Hebrew verbal root meaning “to oppose; to be an adversary” (cf. Job 1:6). The name was a reminder that the digging of this well caused “opposition” from the Philistines.
[26:22] 71 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:22] 72 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
[26:22] 73 sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.
[26:23] 73 tn Heb “and he went up from there”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:25] 75 tn Heb “called in the name of.” The expression refers to worshiping the
[26:25] 76 tn Heb “and they dug there, the servants of Isaac, a well.”
[26:26] 77 tn The disjunctive clause supplies pertinent supplemental information. The past perfect is used because the following narrative records the treaty at Beer Sheba. Prior to this we are told that Isaac settled in Beer Sheba; presumably this treaty would have allowed him to do that. However, it may be that he settled there and then made the treaty by which he renamed the place Beer Sheba. In this case one may translate “Now Abimelech came to him.”
[26:26] 79 tn Many modern translations render the Hebrew term מֵרֵעַ (merea’) as “councillor” or “adviser,” but the term may not designate an official position but simply a close personal friend.
[26:27] 79 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, expressing the reason for his question.
[26:28] 81 tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.
[26:28] 82 tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:28] 83 tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.
[26:28] 84 tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).
[26:28] 85 tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”
[26:29] 83 tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”
[26:29] 85 tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”
[26:29] 86 tn Heb “and we sent you away.”
[26:29] 87 tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).
[26:30] 85 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:30] 86 tn Heb “and they ate and drank.”
[26:31] 87 tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”
[26:31] 88 tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”
[26:32] 89 tn Heb “and they said to him, ‘We have found water.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[26:33] 91 sn The name Shibah (שִׁבְעָה, shiv’ah) means (or at least sounds like) the word meaning “oath.” The name was a reminder of the oath sworn by Isaac and the Philistines to solidify their treaty.
[26:33] 92 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of an oath” or “well of seven.” According to Gen 21:31 Abraham gave Beer Sheba its name when he made a treaty with the Philistines. Because of the parallels between this earlier story and the account in 26:26-33, some scholars see chaps. 21 and 26 as two versions (or doublets) of one original story. However, if one takes the text as it stands, it appears that Isaac made a later treaty agreement with the people of the land that was similar to his father’s. Abraham dug a well at the site and named the place Beer Sheba; Isaac dug another well there and named the well Shibah. Later generations then associated the name Beer Sheba with Isaac, even though Abraham gave the place its name at an earlier time.
[26:34] 93 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making this clause subordinate to the next.
[26:34] 94 tn Heb “the son of forty years.”
[26:34] 95 tn Heb “took as a wife.”
[26:35] 95 tn Heb “And they were [a source of ] bitterness in spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.”
[27:1] 97 tn The clause begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making it subordinate to the main clause that follows later in the sentence.
[27:1] 98 tn Heb “and his eyes were weak from seeing.”
[27:1] 99 tn Heb “greater” (in terms of age).
[27:1] 100 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Esau) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 99 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaac) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 100 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here introduces a logically foundational statement, upon which the coming instruction will be based.
[27:2] 101 tn Heb “I do not know the day of my death.”
[27:3] 101 tn The Hebrew word is to be spelled either צַיִד (tsayid) following the marginal reading (Qere), or צֵידָה (tsedah) following the consonantal text (Kethib). Either way it is from the same root as the imperative צוּדָה (tsudah, “hunt down”).
[27:4] 103 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:4] 104 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.
[27:5] 105 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a conjunction with the subject, followed by the predicate) here introduces a new scene in the story.
[27:5] 106 tc The LXX adds here “to his father,” which may have been accidentally omitted in the MT.
[27:7] 107 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:7] 108 tn The cohortative, with the prefixed conjunction, also expresses logical sequence. See vv. 4, 19, 27.
[27:7] 109 tn In her report to Jacob, Rebekah plays down Isaac’s strong desire to bless Esau by leaving out נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”), but by adding the phrase “in the presence of the
[27:8] 109 tn Heb “listen to my voice.” The Hebrew idiom means “to comply; to obey.”
[27:8] 110 tn Heb “to that which I am commanding you.”
[27:9] 111 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:10] 113 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.
[27:10] 114 tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.
[27:10] 115 tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:11] 115 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.
[27:12] 117 tn Heb “Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes like a mocker.” The Hebrew expression “I will be in his eyes like” means “I would appear to him as.”
[27:13] 119 tn Heb “upon me your curse.”
[27:13] 120 tn Heb “only listen to my voice.”
[27:14] 121 tn The words “the goats” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:14] 122 tn Heb “his mother.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “she” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:16] 123 tn In the Hebrew text the object (“the skins of the young goats”) precedes the verb. The disjunctive clause draws attention to this key element in the subterfuge.
[27:16] 124 tn The word “hands” probably includes the forearms here. How the skins were attached is not specified in the Hebrew text; cf. NLT “she made him a pair of gloves.”
[27:17] 125 tn Heb “gave…into the hand of.”
[27:18] 127 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:18] 128 sn Which are you, my son? Isaac’s first question shows that the deception is going to require more subterfuge than Rebekah had anticipated. Jacob will have to pull off the deceit.
[27:19] 129 tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.
[27:19] 130 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.
[27:20] 131 tn Heb “What is this?” The enclitic pronoun “this” adds emphasis to the question, which is comparable to the English rhetorical question, “How in the world?”
[27:20] 132 tn Heb “you hastened to find.” In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb and the first verb becomes adverbial.
[27:20] 133 tn Heb “caused to meet before me.”
[27:20] 134 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Because the
[27:21] 133 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
[27:21] 134 tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.
[27:23] 135 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:24] 137 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 139 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 140 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] 141 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] 142 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:25] 143 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:27] 141 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:27] 142 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:28] 143 tn Heb “and from the dew of the sky.”
[27:28] 144 tn Heb “and from the fatness.”
[27:29] 145 tn Heb “and be.” The verb is an imperative, which is used rhetorically in this oracle of blessing. It is an invitation to exercise authority his brothers and indicates that he is granted such authority by the patriarch of the family. Furthermore, the blessing enables the recipient to accomplish this.
[27:29] 146 tn The Hebrew word is גְבִיר (gevir, “lord, mighty one”). The one being blessed will be stronger and therefore more powerful than his brother. See Gen 25:23. The feminine form of this rare noun means “mistress” or “queen-mother.”
[27:29] 147 tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[27:30] 147 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
[27:30] 148 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
[27:30] 149 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
[27:31] 149 tn Heb “and he said to his father”; the referent of “he” (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity, while the words “his father” have been replaced by the pronoun “him” for stylistic reasons.
[27:31] 150 tn Or “arise” (i.e., sit up).
[27:31] 151 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.”
[27:32] 152 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I [am] your son, your firstborn.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged for stylistic reasons.
[27:33] 153 tn Heb “and Isaac trembled with a great trembling to excess.” The verb “trembled” is joined with a cognate accusative, which is modified by an adjective “great,” and a prepositional phrase “to excess.” All of this is emphatic, showing the violence of Isaac’s reaction to the news.
[27:33] 154 tn Heb “Who then is he who hunted game and brought [it] to me so that I ate from all before you arrived and blessed him?”
[27:34] 155 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
[27:34] 156 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
[27:35] 157 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:35] 158 tn Or “took”; “received.”
[27:36] 159 tn Heb “Is he not rightly named Jacob?” The rhetorical question, since it expects a positive reply, has been translated as a declarative statement.
[27:36] 160 sn He has tripped me up. When originally given, the name Jacob was a play on the word “heel” (see Gen 25:26). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. Esau gives the name “Jacob” a negative connotation here, the meaning “to trip up; to supplant.”
[27:38] 161 tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:38] 162 tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”
[27:39] 164 tn Heb “from the fatness.”
[27:40] 165 sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.
[27:41] 167 tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.
[27:41] 168 tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”
[27:41] 169 tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.
[27:41] 171 tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.
[27:42] 169 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
[27:42] 170 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
[27:42] 171 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
[27:43] 171 tn Heb “listen to my voice.”
[27:43] 172 tn Heb “arise, flee.”
[27:44] 173 tn Heb “a few days.” Rebekah probably downplays the length of time Jacob will be gone, perhaps to encourage him and assure him that things will settle down soon. She probably expects Esau’s anger to die down quickly. However, Jacob ends up being gone twenty years and he never sees Rebekah again.
[27:45] 175 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[27:45] 176 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
[27:45] 177 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
[27:46] 177 tn Heb “loathe my life.” The Hebrew verb translated “loathe” refers to strong disgust (see Lev 20:23).
[27:46] 178 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
[27:46] 179 tn Heb “If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me life?”
[28:1] 179 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:2] 181 tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.
[28:3] 183 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
[28:3] 184 tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.
[28:3] 185 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”
[28:3] 186 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
[28:4] 185 tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.
[28:4] 186 tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[28:4] 187 tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.
[28:6] 187 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
[28:6] 188 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
[28:6] 189 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
[28:8] 190 tn Heb “the daughters of Canaan.”
