25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, 1 and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.
27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 2
28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 3
28:16 Then Jacob woke up 4 and thought, 5 “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!”
30:4 So Rachel 8 gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with 9 her.
30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave 10 her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, 14 “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 15
32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead 24 to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region 25 of Edom.
34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet 31 the young women 32 of the land.
35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) 33 in the land of Canaan. 34
35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
42:1 When Jacob heard 37 there was grain in Egypt, he 38 said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” 39
45:25 So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 40
46:28 Jacob 41 sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen. 42 So they came to the land of Goshen.
1 sn Jacob cooked some stew. There are some significant words and wordplays in this story that help clarify the points of the story. The verb “cook” is זִיד (zid), which sounds like the word for “hunter” (צַיִד, tsayid). This is deliberate, for the hunter becomes the hunted in this story. The word זִיד means “to cook, to boil,” but by the sound play with צַיִד it comes to mean “set a trap by cooking.” The usage of the word shows that it can also have the connotation of acting presumptuously (as in boiling over). This too may be a comment on the scene. For further discussion of the rhetorical devices in the Jacob narratives, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
2 tn Heb “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth [skinned] man.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
4 tn Heb “woke up from his sleep.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “said.”
6 tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”
7 tn Heb “peace.”
8 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
10 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”
11 tn Heb “listened to.”
12 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).
13 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.
14 tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”
16 tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “and there were to him.”
18 tn Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face that his attitude toward him had changed – Jacob had become persona non grata.
19 tn Heb “sent and called for Rachel and for Leah.” Jacob did not go in person, but probably sent a servant with a message for his wives to meet him in the field.
20 tn Heb “the field.” The word is an adverbial accusative, indicating that this is where Jacob wanted them to meet him. The words “to come to” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
21 tn Heb “to his flock.”
22 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”
23 sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.
24 tn Heb “before him.”
25 tn Heb “field.”
26 sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.
27 tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
28 tn Or “because.”
29 sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.
30 tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”
sn I have survived. It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live (Gen 48:16; Exod 19:21, 24:10; and Judg 6:11, 22). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11. Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.
31 tn Heb “went out to see.” The verb “to see,” followed by the preposition בְּ (bÿ), here has the idea of “look over.” The young girl wanted to meet these women and see what they were like.
32 tn Heb “daughters.”
33 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
34 tn Heb “and Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan – it is Bethel – he and all the people who were with him.”
35 tn Heb “standing stone.”
36 tn Or perhaps “it is known as” (cf. NEB).
37 tn Heb “saw.”
38 tn Heb “Jacob.” Here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
39 sn Why are you looking at each other? The point of Jacob’s question is that his sons should be going to get grain rather than sitting around doing nothing. Jacob, as the patriarch, still makes the decisions for the whole clan.
40 tn Heb “and they entered the land of Canaan to their father.”
41 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 tn Heb “to direct before him to Goshen.”
43 tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.