37:9 Then he had another dream, 6 and told it to his brothers. “Look,” 7 he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
1 tn Heb “the place.” The article may indicate simply that the place is definite in the mind of the narrator. However, as the story unfolds the place is transformed into a holy place. See A. P. Ross, “Jacob’s Vision: The Founding of Bethel,” BSac 142 (1985): 224-37.
2 tn Heb “and he spent the night there because the sun had gone down.”
3 tn Heb “he took from the stones of the place,” which here means Jacob took one of the stones (see v. 18).
4 tn Heb “and he put [it at] the place of his head.” The text does not actually say the stone was placed under his head to serve as a pillow, although most interpreters and translators assume this. It is possible the stone served some other purpose. Jacob does not seem to have been a committed monotheist yet (see v. 20-21) so he may have believed it contained some spiritual power. Note that later in the story he anticipates the stone becoming the residence of God (see v. 22). Many cultures throughout the world view certain types of stones as magical and/or sacred. See J. G. Fraser, Folklore in the Old Testament, 231-37.
5 tn Heb “lay down.”
6 tn Heb “And he dreamed yet another dream.”
7 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Look.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons. Both clauses of the dream report begin with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which lends vividness to the report.