Genesis 25:29

25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, ¹  and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.

Genesis 29:21

29:21 Finally Jacob said ²  to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. ³  I want to have marital relations with her.” ⁴ 

Genesis 31:48

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement ⁵  today.” That is why it was called Galeed.

Genesis 47:28

47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years ⁶  of Jacob’s life were 147 in all.

[25:29]  ¹ 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).

[29:21]  ² tn Heb “and Jacob said.”

[29:21]  ³ tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”

[29:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire. The verb “go in” in this context refers to sexual intercourse (i.e., the consummation of the marriage).

[31:48]  ³ tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”

[47:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “the days of the years.”