Genesis 28:18

28:18 Early ¹  in the morning Jacob ²  took the stone he had placed near his head ³  and set it up as a sacred stone. ⁴  Then he poured oil on top of it.

Genesis 28:22

28:22 Then this stone ⁵  that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely ⁶  give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” ⁷ 

Genesis 31:18

31:18 He took ⁸  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ⁹ 

Genesis 31:37

31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? ¹⁰  Set it here before my relatives and yours, ¹¹  and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! ¹² 

Genesis 35:14

35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. ¹³  He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 43:34

43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ¹⁵  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ¹⁶ 

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¹ tn Heb “and he got up early…and he took.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn See the note on this phrase in v. 11.

⁴ 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 Lord “stood.” (In Hebrew the word translated “sacred stone” is derived from the verb translated “erected” in v. 12 and “stood” in v. 13. Since the top of the stairway reached the heavens where the Lord stood, Jacob poured oil on the top of the stone. See C. F. Graesser, “Standing Stones in Ancient Palestine,” BA 35 (1972): 34-63; and E. Stockton, “Sacred Pillars in the Bible,” ABR 20 (1972): 16-32.

⁵ tn The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/subject) is used to highlight the statement.

⁶ tn The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb for emphasis.

⁷ tn Heb “and all which you give to me I will surely give a tenth of it to you.” The disjunctive clause structure (conjunction + noun/object) highlights this statement as well.

⁸ tn Heb “drove,” but this is subject to misunderstanding in contemporary English.

⁹ tn Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to go to Isaac his father to the land of Canaan.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “what did you find from all the goods of your house?”

¹¹ tn Heb “your relatives.” The word “relatives” has not been repeated in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

¹² tn Heb “that they may decide between us two.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.