Genesis 27:29

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ¹  lord ²  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ³ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

Genesis 29:34

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ⁴  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ⁵ 

Genesis 30:20

30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ⁶ 

Genesis 31:1

Jacob’s Flight from Laban

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ⁷  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ⁸  at our father’s expense!” ⁹ 

Genesis 42:37

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may ¹⁰  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care ¹¹  and I will bring him back to you.”

Genesis 48:5

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. ¹²  Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.

[27:29]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (which is either an imperfect or a jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[29:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ⁵ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[30:20]  ⁷ sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.

[31:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”

[31:1]  ¹¹ sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).

[31:1]  ¹² tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”

[42:37]  ¹³ tn The nuance of the imperfect verbal form is permissive here.

[42:37]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my hand.”

[48:5]  ¹⁶ sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.