12:12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram,
then Israel worked 1 to acquire a wife;
he tended sheep to pay for her.
12:13 The Lord brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet,
and due to a prophet 2 Israel 3 was preserved alive. 4
1 tn Heb “served” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “earned a wife.”
2 tn Heb “by a prophet” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “was protected”; NASB “was kept.” The verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to watch, guard, keep, protect”) is repeated in 12:13-14 HT (12:12-13 ET). This repetition creates parallels between Jacob’s sojourn in Aram and Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness. Jacob “tended = kept” (שָׁמַר) sheep in Aram, and Israel was “preserved = kept” (נִשְׁמָר, nishmar) by Moses in the wilderness.