“Yes, 13 my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, 14 she quickly summoned 15 her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 16
28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. 17 As he blessed him, 18 Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 19
28:18 Early 20 in the morning Jacob 21 took the stone he had placed near his head 22 and set it up as a sacred stone. 23 Then he poured oil on top of it.
30:31 So Laban asked, 32 “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 33 Jacob replied, 34 “but if you agree to this one condition, 35 I will continue to care for 36 your flocks and protect them:
30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible.
31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. 41 Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 42
31:36 Jacob became angry 43 and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. 44 “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? 45
32:9 Then Jacob prayed, 48 “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said 49 to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 50
35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once 67 to Bethel 68 and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 69
46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all. 73
49:24 But his bow will remain steady,
and his hands 79 will be skillful;
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of 80 the Shepherd, the Rock 81 of Israel,
50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you 82 and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give 83 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
1 tn The rare term לָעַט (la’at), translated “feed,” is used in later Hebrew for feeding animals (see Jastrow, 714). If this nuance was attached to the word in the biblical period, then it may depict Esau in a negative light, comparing him to a hungry animal. Famished Esau comes in from the hunt, only to enter the trap. He can only point at the red stew and ask Jacob to feed him.
2 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so is given a passive translation.
3 sn Esau’s descendants would eventually be called Edom. Edom was the place where they lived, so-named probably because of the reddish nature of the hills. The writer can use the word “red” to describe the stew that Esau gasped for to convey the nature of Esau and his descendants. They were a lusty, passionate, and profane people who lived for the moment. Again, the wordplay is meant to capture the “omen in the nomen.”
4 tn Heb “get up and sit.” This may mean simply “sit up,” or it may indicate that he was to get up from his couch and sit at a table.
5 tn Heb “so that your soul may bless me.” These words, though not reported by Rebekah to Jacob (see v. 7) accurately reflect what Isaac actually said to Esau (see v. 4). Perhaps Jacob knew more than Rebekah realized, but it is more likely that this was an idiom for sincere blessing with which Jacob was familiar. At any rate, his use of the precise wording was a nice, convincing touch.
6 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “Bring near to me and I will eat of the wild game, my son.” Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
8 tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The presence of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as subject emphasizes Isaac’s heartfelt desire to do this. The conjunction indicates that the ritual meal must be first eaten before the formal blessing may be given.
9 tn Heb “and he brought”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “and he drank”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “and he smelled the smell”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “see.”
14 tn Heb “and the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah.”
15 tn Heb “she sent and called for.”
16 tn Heb “is consoling himself with respect to you to kill you.” The only way Esau had of dealing with his anger at the moment was to plan to kill his brother after the death of Isaac.
17 tn Heb “to take for himself from there a wife.”
18 tn The infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffix form a temporal clause.
19 tn Heb “you must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.”
20 tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”
21 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.
23 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
24 tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.
25 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “the day is great.”
27 tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.
28 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).
29 tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 tn Heb “drew near, approached.”
31 tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).
32 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.
34 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
35 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”
36 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”
37 tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”
38 tn Heb “brothers.”
39 tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”
40 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, it has been placed in parentheses in the translation.
41 tn No direct object is specified for the verb “find” in the Hebrew text. The words “the idols” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.
42 tn Heb “and he went out from the tent of Leah and went into the tent of Rachel.”
43 tn Heb “it was hot to Jacob.” This idiom refers to anger.
44 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘What is my sin?’” The proper name “Jacob” has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation and the order of the introductory clause and direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
45 tn Heb “What is my sin that you have hotly pursued after me.” The Hebrew verb translated “pursue hotly” is used elsewhere of soldiers chasing defeated enemies (1 Sam 17:53).
46 tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.
47 tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.
48 tn Heb “said.”
49 tn Heb “the one who said.”
50 tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.
51 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.
52 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.
53 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
54 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
55 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
56 tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”
57 tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.
58 tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.
59 tn Heb “all.”
60 tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.
61 tn Heb “doing the thing.”
62 tn Heb “Jacob’s daughter.” The proper name “Dinah” is supplied in the translation for clarity.
63 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).
64 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause explains why the community would respond to him (see vv. 20-24).
65 tn Heb “a man his sword.”
66 tn Heb “and they came upon the city, [which was] secure.” In this case “secure” means the city was caught unprepared and at peace, not expecting an attack.
67 tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
68 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
69 sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).
70 tn Heb “and Jacob set up a sacred pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a sacred pillar of stone” (see the notes on the term “sacred stone” in Gen 28:18). This passage stands parallel to Gen 28:18-19, where Jacob set up a sacred stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel. Some commentators see these as two traditions referring to the same event, but it is more likely that Jacob reconsecrated the place in fulfillment of the vow he had made here earlier. In support of this is the fact that the present narrative alludes to and is built on the previous one.
71 tn The verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “to pour out, to make libations,” and the noun נֶסֶךְ (nesekh) is a “drink-offering,” usually of wine or of blood. The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out,” often of anointing oil, but of other elements as well.
72 tn Heb “and they spoke to him all the words of Joseph which he had spoke to them.”
73 tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”
74 tn Heb “the days of.”
75 tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.
76 tn Heb “the days of.”
77 tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.
78 tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
79 tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”
80 tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”
81 tn Or “Stone.”
82 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”
83 tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.