Discovery BoxGenesis 28:10-11
Context28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place 1 where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. 2 He took one of the stones 3 and placed it near his head. 4 Then he fell asleep 5 in that place
Job 8:7
Context8:7 Your beginning 6 will seem so small,
since your future will flourish. 7
Psalms 18:35
Context18:35 You give me your protective shield; 8
your right hand supports me; 9
[28:11] 1 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
[28:11] 2 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
[28:11] 3 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
[28:11] 4 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
[8:7] 6 tn The reference to “your beginning” is a reference to Job’s former estate of wealth and peace. The reference to “latter end” is a reference to conditions still in the future. What Job had before will seem so small in comparison to what lies ahead.
[8:7] 7 tn The verb has the idea of “to grow”; here it must mean “to flourish; to grow considerably” or the like. The statement is not so much a prophecy; rather Bildad is saying that “if Job had recourse to God, then….” This will be fulfilled, of course, at the end of the book.
[18:35] 8 tn Heb “and you give to me the shield of your deliverance.”
[18:35] 9 tc 2 Sam 22:36 omits this line, perhaps due to homoioarcton. A scribe’s eye may have jumped from the vav (ו) prefixed to “your right hand” to the vav prefixed to the following “and your answer,” causing the copyist to omit by accident the intervening words (“your right hand supports me and”).
[18:35] 10 tn The MT of Ps 18:35 appears to read, “your condescension,” apparently referring to God’s willingness to intervene (cf. NIV “you stoop down”). However, the noun עֲנָוָה (’anavah) elsewhere means “humility” and is used only here of God. The form עַנְוַתְךָ (’anvatÿkha) may be a fully written form of the suffixed infinitive construct of עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”; a defectively written form of the infinitive appears in 2 Sam 22:36). In this case the psalmist refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer; one might translate, “your favorable response.”
