14:13 A fugitive 1 came and told Abram the Hebrew. 2 Now Abram was living by the oaks 3 of Mamre the Amorite, the brother 4 of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty 5 with Abram.) 6
20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver 12 to your ‘brother.’ 13 This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” 14
24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah 15 with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). 16
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 18 she quickly summoned 19 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 20
35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once 30 to Bethel 31 and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 32
1 tn Heb “the fugitive.” The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.
2 sn E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103) suggests that part of this chapter came from an outside source since it refers to Abram the Hebrew. That is not impossible, given that the narrator likely utilized traditions and genealogies that had been collected and transmitted over the years. The meaning of the word “Hebrew” has proved elusive. It may be related to the verb “to cross over,” perhaps meaning “immigrant.” Or it might be derived from the name of Abram’s ancestor Eber (see Gen 11:14-16).
3 tn Or “terebinths.”
4 tn Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”
5 tn Heb “possessors of a treaty with.” Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words “all these” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.
6 tn This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “and she, even she.”
9 tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”
10 tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”
11 tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”
12 sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).
13 sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).
14 tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).
15 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out!” Using the participle introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator dramatically transports the audience back into the event and invites them to see Rebekah through the servant’s eyes.
16 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out – [she] who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham – and her jug [was] on her shoulder.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
17 tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).
18 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
19 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
20 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
21 tn Heb “Arise! Go!” The first of the two imperatives is adverbial and stresses the immediacy of the departure.
22 tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.
23 tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”
24 tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”
25 tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”
26 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 tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Heb “to whom are you?”
29 tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”
30 tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
31 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
32 sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).
33 tn Heb “let not our hand be upon him.”
34 tn Heb “listened.”
35 tn Heb “Look, his brother came out.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through the midwife’s eyes. The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
36 tn Heb “How you have made a breach for yourself!” The Hebrew verb translated “make a breach” frequently occurs, as here, with a cognate accusative. The event provided the meaningful name Perez, “he who breaks through.”
37 sn The name Perez means “he who breaks through,” referring to Perez reaching out his hand at birth before his brother was born. The naming signified the completion of Tamar’s struggle and also depicted the destiny of the tribe of Perez who later became dominant (Gen 46:12 and Num 26:20). Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, thinking they could thwart God’s plan that the elder brothers should serve the younger. God demonstrated that principle through these births in Judah’s own family, affirming that the elder will serve the younger, and that Joseph’s leadership could not so easily be set aside. See J. Goldin, “The Youngest Son; or, Where Does Genesis 38 Belong?” JBL 96 (1977): 27-44.
38 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
39 tn Heb “release to you.” After the jussive this perfect verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) probably indicates logical consequence, as well as temporal sequence.
40 sn Several Jewish commentators suggest that the expression your other brother refers to Joseph. This would mean that Jacob prophesied unwittingly. However, it is much more likely that Simeon is the referent of the phrase “your other brother” (see Gen 42:24).
41 tn Heb “if I am bereaved I am bereaved.” With this fatalistic sounding statement Jacob resolves himself to the possibility of losing both Benjamin and Simeon.