19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went 3 to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
28:16 Then Jacob woke up 7 and thought, 8 “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!”
41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place 16 you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” 17
1 tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).
2 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
3 tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
5 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
6 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
7 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “said.”
9 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”
10 sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.
11 sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.
12 tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Or “because.”
14 sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.
15 tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”
sn I have survived. It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live (Gen 48:16; Exod 19:21, 24:10; and Judg 6:11, 22). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11. Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.
16 tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”
17 sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.