Genesis 26:18

26:18 Isaac reopened ¹  the wells that had been dug ²  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ³  after Abraham died. Isaac ⁴  gave these wells ⁵  the same names his father had given them. ⁶ 

Genesis 30:14

30:14 At the time ⁷  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ⁸  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

Genesis 47:9

47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All ⁹  the years of my travels ¹⁰  are 130. All ¹¹  the years of my life have been few and painful; ¹²  the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” ¹³ 

[26:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

[26:18]  ² tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

[26:18]  ³ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

[26:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”

[30:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  ⁸ sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[47:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.

[47:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.

[47:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”