Genesis 32:24

32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man ¹  wrestled ²  with him until daybreak. ³ 

Genesis 49:4

49:4 You are destructive ⁴  like water and will not excel, ⁵ 

for you got on your father’s bed, ⁶ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ⁷ 

Genesis 30:36

30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, ⁸  while ⁹  Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Genesis 44:20

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ¹⁰  The boy’s ¹¹  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ¹²  and his father loves him.’

[32:24]  ¹ sn Reflecting Jacob’s perspective at the beginning of the encounter, the narrator calls the opponent simply “a man.” Not until later in the struggle does Jacob realize his true identity.

[32:24]  ² sn The verb translated “wrestled” (וַיֵּאָבֵק, vayye’aveq) sounds in Hebrew like the names “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב, ya’aqov) and “Jabbok” (יַבֹּק, yabboq). In this way the narrator links the setting, the main action, and the main participant together in the mind of the reader or hearer.

[32:24]  ³ tn Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”

[49:4]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).

[49:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).

[49:4]  ⁶ sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).

[49:4]  ⁷ tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.

[30:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”

[30:36]  ⁸ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.

[44:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ¹² tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”