Genesis 32:8

32:8 “If Esau attacks one camp,” ¹  he thought, ²  “then the other camp will be able to escape.” ³ 

Genesis 32:11

32:11 Rescue me, ⁴  I pray, from the hand ⁵  of my brother Esau, ⁶  for I am afraid he will come ⁷  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ⁸ 

Genesis 27:40-41

27:40 You will live by your sword

but you will serve your brother.

When you grow restless,

you will tear off his yoke

from your neck.” ⁹ 

27:41 So Esau hated ¹⁰  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ¹¹  Esau said privately, ¹²  “The time ¹³  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ¹⁴  my brother Jacob!”

Genesis 33:1

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ¹⁵  and saw that Esau was coming ¹⁶  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹⁷ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ¹⁸  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

[32:8]  ¹ tn Heb “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.”

[32:8]  ² tn Heb “and he said, ‘If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.” The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’amar) here represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “he thought.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:8]  ³ tn Heb “the surviving camp will be for escape.” The word “escape” is a feminine noun. The term most often refers to refugees from war.

[32:11]  ⁴ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  ⁵ tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  ⁸ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

[27:40]  ⁹ sn You will tear off his yoke from your neck. It may be that this prophetic blessing found its fulfillment when Jerusalem fell and Edom got its revenge. The oracle makes Edom subservient to Israel and suggests the Edomites would live away from the best land and be forced to sustain themselves by violent measures.

[27:41]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.

[27:41]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”

[27:41]  ¹² tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.

[27:41]  ¹³ tn Heb “days.”

[27:41]  ¹⁴ tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.

[33:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ¹⁶ 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.

[5:19]  ¹⁷ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).