Genesis 22:2

22:2 God ¹  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ²  – and go to the land of Moriah! ³  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ⁴  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ⁵  you.”

Genesis 24:27

24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love ⁶  for my master! The Lord has led me ⁷  to the house ⁸  of my master’s relatives!” ⁹ 

Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ¹⁰  I will eat it so that I may bless you ¹¹  before I die.”

Genesis 29:32

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹²  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ¹³  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ¹⁴  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 32:10

32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ¹⁵  you have shown ¹⁶  your servant. With only my walking stick ¹⁷  I crossed the Jordan, ¹⁸  but now I have become two camps.

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

² sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

³ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

⁴ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

⁵ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

⁶ tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”

⁷ tn Heb “As for me – in the way the Lord led me.”

⁸ tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.

⁹ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁰ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

¹¹ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

¹² tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

¹³ sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the Lord has “looked” with pity on her oppressed condition. See further S. R. Driver, Genesis, 273.

¹⁵ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

¹⁶ tn Heb “you have done with.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

¹⁸ tn Heb “this Jordan.”