Genesis 20:13

20:13 When God made me wander ¹  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ²  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

Genesis 34:19

34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked ³  because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah ⁴  badly. (Now he was more important ⁵  than anyone in his father’s household.) ⁶ 

Genesis 45:23

45:23 To his father he sent the following: ⁷  ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, food, and provisions for his father’s journey.

Genesis 48:15-17

48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked –

the God who has been my shepherd ⁸ 

all my life long to this day,

48:16 the Angel ⁹  who has protected me ¹⁰ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ¹¹ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. ¹²  So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

Genesis 50:8

50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

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¹ 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.”

² tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”

³ tn Heb “doing the thing.”

⁴ tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The Hebrew verb כָּבֵד (kaved), translated “was…important,” has the primary meaning “to be heavy,” but here carries a secondary sense of “to be important” (that is, “heavy” in honor or respect).

⁶ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).

⁷ tn Heb “according to this.”

⁸ tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.

⁹ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

¹⁰ tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

¹¹ tn Or “be recalled through them.”

¹² tn Heb “it was bad in his eyes.”