Genesis 29:1

The Marriages of Jacob

29:1 So Jacob moved on ¹  and came to the land of the eastern people. ² 

Genesis 29:11

29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. ³ 

Genesis 22:4

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of ⁴  the place in the distance.

Genesis 24:63

24:63 He ⁵  went out to relax ⁶  in the field in the early evening. ⁷  Then he looked up ⁸  and saw that ⁹  there were camels approaching.

Genesis 31:17

31:17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 18:2

18:2 Abraham ¹¹  looked up ¹²  and saw ¹³  three men standing across ¹⁴  from him. When he saw them ¹⁵  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹⁶  to the ground. ¹⁷ 

Genesis 27:38

27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” ¹⁸  Then Esau wept loudly. ¹⁹ 

Genesis 43:34

43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ²⁰  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ²¹ 

Genesis 13:10

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ²²  the whole region ²³  of the Jordan. He noticed ²⁴  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ²⁵  Sodom and Gomorrah) ²⁶  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ²⁷  all the way to Zoar.

Genesis 22:13

22:13 Abraham looked up ²⁸  and saw ²⁹  behind him ³⁰  a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he ³¹  went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ³²  and saw that Esau was coming ³³  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Genesis 33:5

33:5 When Esau ³⁴  looked up ³⁵  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob ³⁶  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given ³⁷  your servant.”

Genesis 40:20

40:20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up” ³⁸  the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants.

Genesis 43:29

43:29 When Joseph looked up ³⁹  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ⁴⁰ 

[29:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.

[29:1]  ² tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”

[29:11]  ³ tn Heb “and he lifted up his voice and wept.” The idiom calls deliberate attention to the fact that Jacob wept out loud.

[22:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”

[24:63]  ⁷ tn Heb “Isaac”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:63]  ⁸ tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain (cf. NASB, NIV “to meditate”; NRSV “to walk”).

[24:63]  ⁹ tn Heb “at the turning of the evening.”

[24:63]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And he lifted up his eyes.” This idiom emphasizes the careful look Isaac had at the approaching caravan.

[24:63]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and look.” The clause introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the audience to view the scene through Isaac’s eyes.

[31:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob arose and he lifted up his sons and his wives on to the camels.”

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ¹² tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ¹⁷ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

[27:38]  ¹³ tn Heb “Bless me, me also, my father.” The words “my father” have not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[27:38]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Esau lifted his voice and wept.”

[43:34]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”

[43:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.

[13:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

[13:10]  ¹⁸ tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

[13:10]  ¹⁹ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ²⁰ sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

[13:10]  ²¹ tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

[13:10]  ²² sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

[22:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lifted his eyes.”

[22:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to what Abraham saw and invites the audience to view the scene through his eyes.

[22:13]  ²¹ tc The translation follows the reading of the MT; a number of Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac, and Samaritan Pentateuch read “one” (אֶחָד, ’ekhad) instead of “behind him” (אַחַר, ’akhar).

[22:13]  ²² tn Heb “Abraham”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[33:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ²² tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[33:5]  ²³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[33:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:5]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”

[40:20]  ²⁵ tn The translation puts the verb in quotation marks because it is used rhetorically here and has a double meaning. With respect to the cup bearer it means “reinstate” (see v. 13), but with respect to the baker it means “decapitate” (see v. 19).

[43:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and he lifted his eyes.” The referent of “he” (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[43:29]  ²⁸ sn Joseph’s language here becomes warmer and more personal, culminating in calling Benjamin my son.