12:4 So Abram left, 1 just as the Lord had told him to do, 2 and Lot went with him. (Now 3 Abram was 75 years old 4 when he departed from Haran.)
24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with 5 the man. So Abraham’s servant 6 took Rebekah and left.
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 7 his father’s 8 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 9
31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” 10 Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought 11 you might take your daughters away from me by force. 12
31:55 (32:1) 13 Early in the morning Laban kissed 14 his grandchildren 15 and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. 16
33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near 17 the city.
1 sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).
2 tn Heb “just as the
3 tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + implied “to be” verb) is parenthetical, telling the age of Abram when he left Haran.
4 tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”
sn Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (Gen 11:26). Terah was 205 when he died in Haran (11:32). Abram left Haran at the age of 75 after his father died. Abram was born when Terah was 130. Abram was not the firstborn – he is placed first in the list of three because of his importance. The same is true of the list in Gen 10:1 (Shem, Ham and Japheth). Ham was the youngest son (9:24). Japheth was the older brother of Shem (10:21), so the birth order of Noah’s sons was Japheth, Shem, and Ham.
5 tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”
6 tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
8 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
9 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
10 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
11 tn Heb “for I said.”
12 tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”
13 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.
14 tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”
15 tn Heb “his sons.”
16 tn Heb “to his place.”
17 tn Heb “in front of.”
18 tn Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.
19 sn For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” VT 2 (1952): 85-87.
20 tn Heb “do not be stirred up in the way.” The verb means “stir up.” Some understand the Hebrew verb רָגָז (ragaz, “to stir up”) as a reference to quarreling (see Prov 29:9, where it has this connotation), but in Exod 15:14 and other passages it means “to fear.” This might refer to a fear of robbers, but more likely it is an assuring word that they need not be fearful about returning to Egypt. They might have thought that once Jacob was in Egypt, Joseph would take his revenge on them.