Genesis 13:8

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives.¹

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one² in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh³

Genesis 27:10

27:10 Then you will take⁴ it to your father. Thus he will eat it⁵ and⁶ bless you before he dies.”

Genesis 29:15

29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work⁷ for me for nothing because you are my relative?⁸ Tell me what your wages should be.”

Genesis 31:31

31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!”⁹ Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought¹⁰ you might take your daughters away from me by force.¹¹

Genesis 32:6

32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.”

Genesis 32:12

32:12 But you¹² said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper¹³ and will make¹⁴ your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”¹⁵

Genesis 34:16

34:16 Then we will give¹⁶ you our daughters to marry,¹⁷ and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.

Genesis 37:32

37:32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father¹⁸ and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

Genesis 41:44

41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission¹⁹ no one²⁰ will move his hand or his foot²¹ in all the land of Egypt.”

Genesis 43:28

43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they replied. “He is still alive.” They bowed down in humility.²²

Genesis 45:12

45:12 You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you.²³

Genesis 47:29

47:29 The time²⁴ for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh²⁵ and show me kindness and faithfulness.²⁶ Do not bury me in Egypt,

Genesis 48:2

48:2 When Jacob was told,²⁷ “Your son Joseph has just²⁸ come to you,” Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed.

¹tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.

²tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

³sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

⁴tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.

⁵tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.

⁶tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.

⁷tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.

⁸tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.

⁹tn 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.

¹⁰tn Heb “for I said.”

¹¹tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”

¹²tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

sn Some commentators have thought this final verse of the prayer redundant, but it actually follows the predominant form of a lament in which God is motivated to act. The primary motivation Jacob can offer to God is God’s promise, and so he falls back on that at the end of the prayer.

¹³tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.

¹⁴tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

¹⁵tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

¹⁶tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

¹⁷tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸tn Heb “and they sent the special tunic and they brought [it] to their father.” The text as it stands is problematic. It sounds as if they sent the tunic on ahead and then came and brought it to their father. Some emend the second verb to a Qal form and read “and they came.” In this case, they sent the tunic on ahead.

¹⁹tn Heb “apart from you.”

²⁰tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.

²¹tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.

²²tn Heb “and they bowed low and they bowed down.” The use of synonyms here emphasizes the brothers’ humility.

²³tn Heb “And, look, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth is the one speaking to you.”

²⁴tn Heb “days.”

²⁵sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

²⁶tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”

²⁷tn Heb “and one told and said.” The verbs have no expressed subject and can be translated with the passive voice.

²⁸tn Heb “Look, your son Joseph.”