Genesis 47:10

47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. ¹ 

Genesis 5:2

5:2 He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.” ² 

Genesis 24:11

24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well ³  outside the city. It was evening, ⁴  the time when the women would go out to draw water.

Genesis 35:9

35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him.

Genesis 47:7

47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him ⁵  before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed ⁶  Pharaoh.

Genesis 1:22

1:22 God blessed them ⁷  and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ⁸ 

Genesis 2:3

2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy ⁹  because on it he ceased all the work that he ¹⁰  had been doing in creation. ¹¹ 

Genesis 9:1

God’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 25:11

25:11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed ¹²  his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. ¹³ 

Genesis 28:1

28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! ¹⁴ 

Genesis 30:30

30:30 Indeed, ¹⁵  you had little before I arrived, ¹⁶  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ¹⁷  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ¹⁸  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ¹⁹ 

Genesis 31:55

31:55 (32:1) ²⁰  Early in the morning Laban kissed ²¹  his grandchildren ²²  and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. ²³ 

Genesis 32:29

32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” ²⁴  “Why ²⁵  do you ask my name?” the man replied. ²⁶  Then he blessed ²⁷  Jacob ²⁸  there.

Genesis 48:3

48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign God ²⁹  appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.

Genesis 48:15

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 ³⁰ 

all my life long to this day,

Genesis 49:28

49:28 These ³¹  are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. ³² 

Genesis 1:28

1:28 God blessed ³³  them and said ³⁴  to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! ³⁵  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” ³⁶ 

Genesis 39:5

39:5 From the time ³⁷  Potiphar ³⁸  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ³⁹  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ⁴⁰  in his house and in his fields. ⁴¹ 

[47:10]  ¹ tn Heb “from before Pharaoh.”

[5:2]  ² tn The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’adam).

[24:11]  ³ tn Heb “well of water.”

[24:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the time of evening.”

[47:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “caused him to stand.”

[47:7]  ⁵ sn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “blessed” is difficult in this passage, because the content of Jacob’s blessing is not given. The expression could simply mean that he greeted Pharaoh, but that seems insufficient in this setting. Jacob probably praised Pharaoh, for the verb is used this way for praising God. It is also possible that he pronounced a formal prayer of blessing, asking God to reward Pharaoh for his kindness.

[1:22]  ⁵ tn While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:22]  ⁶ sn The instruction God gives to creation is properly a fuller expression of the statement just made (“God blessed them”), that he enriched them with the ability to reproduce. It is not saying that these were rational creatures who heard and obeyed the word; rather, it stresses that fruitfulness in the animal world is a result of the divine decree and not of some pagan cultic ritual for fruitfulness. The repeated emphasis of “be fruitful – multiply – fill” adds to this abundance God has given to life. The meaning is underscored by the similar sounds: בָּרָךְ (barakh) with בָּרָא (bara’), and פָּרָה (parah) with רָבָה (ravah).

[2:3]  ⁶ tn The verb is usually translated “and sanctified it.” The Piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) means “to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it.” On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God.

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “for on it he ceased from all his work which God created to make.” The last infinitive construct and the verb before it form a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the modifier – “which God creatively made,” or “which God made in his creating.”

[25:11]  ⁷ sn God blessed Isaac. The Hebrew verb “bless” in this passage must include all the gifts that God granted to Isaac. But fertility was not one of them, at least not for twenty years, because Rebekah was barren as well (see v. 21).

[25:11]  ⁸ sn Beer Lahai Roi. See the note on this place name in Gen 24:62.

[28:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”

[30:30]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ¹² tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[31:55]  ¹⁰ sn Beginning with 31:55, the verse numbers in the English Bible through 32:32 differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 31:55 ET = 32:1 HT, 32:1 ET = 32:2 HT, etc., through 32:32 ET = 32:33 HT. From 33:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[31:55]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”

[31:55]  ¹² tn Heb “his sons.”

[31:55]  ¹³ tn Heb “to his place.”

[32:29]  ¹¹ sn Tell me your name. In primitive thought to know the name of a deity or supernatural being would enable one to use it for magical manipulation or power (A. S. Herbert, Genesis 12-50 [TBC], 108). For a thorough structural analysis of the passage discussing the plays on the names and the request of Jacob, see R. Barthes, “The Struggle with the Angel: Textual Analysis of Genesis 32:23-33,” Structural Analysis and Biblical Exegesis (PTMS), 21-33.

[32:29]  ¹² tn The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.

[32:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:29]  ¹⁴ tn The verb here means that the Lord endowed Jacob with success; he would be successful in everything he did, including meeting Esau.

[32:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:3]  ¹² tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

[48:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.

[49:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “All these.”

[49:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”

[1:28]  ¹⁵ tn As in v. 22 the verb “bless” here means “to endow with the capacity to reproduce and be fruitful,” as the following context indicates. As in v. 22, the statement directly precedes the command “be fruitful and multiply.” The verb carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); Gen 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).

[1:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and God said.” For stylistic reasons “God” has not been repeated here in the translation.

[1:28]  ¹⁷ tn Elsewhere the Hebrew verb translated “subdue” means “to enslave” (2 Chr 28:10; Neh 5:5; Jer 34:11, 16), “to conquer,” (Num 32:22, 29; Josh 18:1; 2 Sam 8:11; 1 Chr 22:18; Zech 9:13; and probably Mic 7:19), and “to assault sexually” (Esth 7:8). None of these nuances adequately meets the demands of this context, for humankind is not viewed as having an adversarial relationship with the world. The general meaning of the verb appears to be “to bring under one’s control for one’s advantage.” In Gen 1:28 one might paraphrase it as follows: “harness its potential and use its resources for your benefit.” In an ancient Israelite context this would suggest cultivating its fields, mining its mineral riches, using its trees for construction, and domesticating its animals.

[1:28]  ¹⁸ sn The several imperatives addressed to both males and females together (plural imperative forms) actually form two commands: reproduce and rule. God’s word is not merely a form of blessing, but is now addressed to them personally; this is a distinct emphasis with the creation of human beings. But with the blessing comes the ability to be fruitful and to rule. In procreation they will share in the divine work of creating human life and passing on the divine image (see 5:1-3); in ruling they will serve as God’s vice-regents on earth. They together, the human race collectively, have the responsibility of seeing to the welfare of that which is put under them and the privilege of using it for their benefit.

[39:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ¹⁸ sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ²⁰ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.