Genesis 18:8

18:8 Abraham ¹  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ²  before them. They ate while ³  he was standing near them under a tree.

Genesis 27:41

27:41 So Esau hated ⁴  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ⁵  Esau said privately, ⁶  “The time ⁷  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ⁸  my brother Jacob!”

Genesis 28:11

28:11 He reached a certain place ⁹  where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. ¹⁰  He took one of the stones ¹¹  and placed it near his head. ¹²  Then he fell asleep ¹³  in that place

Genesis 28:18

28:18 Early ¹⁴  in the morning Jacob ¹⁵  took the stone he had placed near his head ¹⁶  and set it up as a sacred stone. ¹⁷  Then he poured oil on top of it.

Genesis 32:32

32:32 That is why to this day ¹⁸  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ¹⁹  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Genesis 35:4

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession ²⁰  and the rings that were in their ears. ²¹  Jacob buried them ²²  under the oak ²³  near Shechem

Genesis 48:10

48:10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing ²⁴  because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph ²⁵  brought his sons ²⁶  near to him, and his father ²⁷  kissed them and embraced them.

Genesis 50:13

50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.

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¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

³ tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.

⁴ tn Or “bore a grudge against” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). The Hebrew verb שָׂטַם (satam) describes persistent hatred.

⁵ tn Heb “because of the blessing which his father blessed him.”

⁶ tn Heb “said in his heart.” The expression may mean “said to himself.” Even if this is the case, v. 42 makes it clear that he must have shared his intentions with someone, because the news reached Rebekah.

⁷ tn Heb “days.”

⁸ tn The cohortative here expresses Esau’s determined resolve to kill Jacob.

⁹ tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”

¹¹ tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).

¹² tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.

¹³ tn Heb “lay down.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.

¹⁷ tn Heb “standing stone.”

sn Sacred stone. Such a stone could be used as a boundary marker, a burial stone, or as a shrine. Here the stone is intended to be a reminder of the stairway that was “erected” and on which the Lord “stood.” (In Hebrew the word translated “sacred stone” is derived from the verb translated “erected” in v. 12 and “stood” in v. 13. Since the top of the stairway reached the heavens where the Lord stood, Jacob poured oil on the top of the stone. See C. F. Graesser, “Standing Stones in Ancient Palestine,” BA 35 (1972): 34-63; and E. Stockton, “Sacred Pillars in the Bible,” ABR 20 (1972): 16-32.

¹⁸ sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

¹⁹ tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.

²⁰ tn Heb “in their hand.”

²¹ sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).

²² sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.

²³ tn Or “terebinth.”

²⁴ tn Heb “heavy.”

sn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story. The weakness of Israel’s sight is one of several connections between this chapter and Gen 27. Here there are two sons, and it appears that the younger is being blessed over the older by a blind old man. While it was by Jacob’s deception in chap. 27, here it is with Jacob’s full knowledge.

²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.