Genesis 31:5

31:5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, ¹  but the God of my father has been with me.

Genesis 31:13

31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ²  where you anointed ³  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ⁴  Now leave this land immediately ⁵  and return to your native land.’”

Genesis 16:7-13

16:7 The Lord’s angel ⁶  found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. ⁷  16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from ⁸  my mistress, Sarai.”

16:9 Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit ⁹  to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Lord’s angel added, ¹⁰  “so that they will be too numerous to count.” ¹¹  16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ¹²  pregnant

and are about to give birth ¹³  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ¹⁴ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ¹⁵ 

16:12 He will be a wild donkey ¹⁶  of a man.

He will be hostile to everyone, ¹⁷ 

and everyone will be hostile to him. ¹⁸ 

He will live away from ¹⁹  his brothers.”

16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” ²⁰  for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” ²¹ 

Genesis 18:1

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ²²  by the oaks ²³  of Mamre while ²⁴  he was sitting at the entrance ²⁵  to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

Genesis 18:17

18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ²⁶ 

Genesis 48:15-16

48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked –

the God who has been my shepherd ²⁷ 

all my life long to this day,

48:16 the Angel ²⁸  who has protected me ²⁹ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ³⁰ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

[31:5]  ¹ tn Heb “I see the face of your father, that he is not toward me as formerly.”

[31:13]  ² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[31:13]  ³ sn You anointed the sacred stone. In Gen 28:18 the text simply reported that Jacob poured oil on top of the stone. Now that pouring is interpreted by the Lord as an anointing. Jacob had consecrated the place.

[31:13]  ⁴ sn And made a vow to me. The second clause reminds Jacob of the vow he made to the Lord when he anointed the stone (Gen 28:20-22). God is now going to take him back to the land, and so he will have to fulfill his vow.

[31:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “arise, leave!” The first imperative draws attention to the need for immediate action.

[16:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the messenger of the Lord.” Some identify the angel of the Lord as the preincarnate Christ because in some texts the angel is identified with the Lord himself. However, it is more likely that the angel merely represents the Lord; he can speak for the Lord because he is sent with the Lord’s full authority. In some cases the angel is clearly distinct from the Lord (see Judg 6:11-23). It is not certain if the same angel is always in view. Though the proper name following the noun “angel” makes the construction definite, this may simply indicate that a definite angel sent from the Lord is referred to in any given context. It need not be the same angel on every occasion. Note the analogous expression “the servant of the Lord,” which refers to various individuals in the OT (see BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד).

[16:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “And the angel of the Lord found her near the spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the way to Shur.”

[16:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the presence of.”

[16:9]  ⁹ tn The imperative וְהִתְעַנִּי (vÿhit’anni) is the Hitpael of עָנָה (’anah, here translated “submit”), the same word used for Sarai’s harsh treatment of her. Hagar is instructed not only to submit to Sarai’s authority, but to whatever mistreatment that involves. God calls for Hagar to humble herself.

[16:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The Lord’s angel said, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants….” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[16:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cannot be numbered because of abundance.”

[16:11]  ¹² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

[16:11]  ¹³ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

[16:11]  ¹⁴ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

[16:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

[16:12]  ¹⁶ sn A wild donkey of a man. The prophecy is not an insult. The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael would be free-roaming, strong, and like a bedouin; he would enjoy the freedom his mother sought.

[16:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “His hand will be against everyone.” The “hand” by metonymy represents strength. His free-roaming life style would put him in conflict with those who follow social conventions. There would not be open warfare, only friction because of his antagonism to their way of life.

[16:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And the hand of everyone will be against him.”

[16:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “opposite, across from.” Ishmael would live on the edge of society (cf. NASB “to the east of”). Some take this as an idiom meaning “be at odds with” (cf. NRSV, NLT) or “live in hostility toward” (cf. NIV).

[16:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).

[16:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “after one who sees me.”

[18:1]  ²² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ²³ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ²⁴ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[18:17]  ²⁶ tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

[48:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.

[48:16]  ²⁸ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

[48:16]  ²⁹ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

[48:16]  ³⁰ tn Or “be recalled through them.”