25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled 4 hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. 5
26:34 When 9 Esau was forty years old, 10 he married 11 Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left 15 his father’s 16 presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 17
27:34 When Esau heard 18 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 19 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”
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.”
33:1 Jacob looked up 27 and saw that Esau was coming 28 along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.
33:8 Esau 29 then asked, “What did you intend 30 by sending all these herds to meet me?” 31 Jacob 32 replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.”
33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” 33 “Why do that?” Jacob replied. 34 “My lord has already been kind enough to me.” 35
36:2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: 38 Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter 39 of Zibeon the Hivite,
36:13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons 40 of Esau’s wife Basemath.
36:40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,
1 tn The disjunctive clause describes an important circumstance accompanying the birth. Whereas Esau was passive at birth, Jacob was active.
2 tn Heb “And he called his name Jacob.” Some ancient witnesses read “they called his name Jacob” (see v. 25). In either case the subject is indefinite.
sn The name Jacob is a play on the Hebrew word for “heel” (עָקֵב, ’aqev). The name (since it is a verb) probably means something like “may he protect,” that is, as a rearguard, dogging the heels. It did not have a negative connotation until Esau redefined it. This name was probably chosen because of the immediate association with the incident of grabbing the heel. After receiving such an oracle, the parents would have preserved in memory almost every detail of the unusual births.
3 tn Heb “the son of sixty years.”
4 tn Heb “knowing.”
5 tn The disjunctive clause juxtaposes Jacob with Esau and draws attention to the striking contrasts. In contrast to Esau, a man of the field, Jacob was civilized, as the phrase “living in tents” signifies. Whereas Esau was a skillful hunter, Jacob was calm and even-tempered (תָּם, tam), which normally has the idea of “blameless.”
6 tn Heb “Swear to me today.”
7 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.
9 tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator (“and it happened”), making this clause subordinate to the next.
10 tn Heb “the son of forty years.”
11 tn Heb “took as a wife.”
12 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.
13 tn Heb “Are you this one, Esau, my son, or not?” On the use of the interrogative particle here, see BDB 210 s.v. הֲ.
14 tn Heb “and he blessed him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” (Isaac) and “him” (Jacob) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite form of the verb makes the construction emphatic.
16 tn Heb “the presence of Isaac his father.” The repetition of the proper name (“Isaac”) was
17 tn Heb “and Esau his brother came from his hunt.”
18 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
19 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
20 tn Heb “took for a wife.”
21 sn Your servant. The narrative recounts Jacob’s groveling in fear before Esau as he calls his brother his “lord,” as if to minimize what had been done twenty years ago.
22 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.
23 tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
24 tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”
25 tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”
26 tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”
28 tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
29 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Heb “Who to you?”
31 tn Heb “all this camp which I met.”
32 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 tn The cohortative verbal form here indicates a polite offer of help.
34 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why this?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
35 tn Heb “I am finding favor in the eyes of my lord.”
36 tn Heb “and Isaac expired and died and he was gathered to his people.” In the ancient Israelite view he joined his deceased ancestors in Sheol, the land of the dead.
37 tn Heb “old and full of years.”
38 tn Heb “from the daughters of Canaan.”
39 tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
40 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
41 tn Or perhaps “territories”; Heb “dwelling places.”