¹ tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.

² tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

³ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

⁴ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. It carries forward the tone of instruction initiated by the command to “go…and get” in the preceding verse.

⁵ tn The form is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the future nuance of the preceding verbs of instruction, but by switching the subject to Jacob, indicates the expected result of the subterfuge.

⁶ tn Heb “so that.” The conjunction indicates purpose or result.

⁷ tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.

⁸ tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.

⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn Heb “for I said.”

¹¹ tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”

¹² tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

sn Some commentators have thought this final verse of the prayer redundant, but it actually follows the predominant form of a lament in which God is motivated to act. The primary motivation Jacob can offer to God is God’s promise, and so he falls back on that at the end of the prayer.

¹³ tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.

¹⁴ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

¹⁵ tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

¹⁶ tn The perfect verbal form with the vav (ו) consecutive introduces the apodosis of the conditional sentence.

¹⁷ tn The words “to marry” (and the words “as wives” in the following clause) are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Heb “and they sent the special tunic and they brought [it] to their father.” The text as it stands is problematic. It sounds as if they sent the tunic on ahead and then came and brought it to their father. Some emend the second verb to a Qal form and read “and they came.” In this case, they sent the tunic on ahead.

¹⁹ tn Heb “apart from you.”

²⁰ tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.

²¹ tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.

²² tn Heb “and they bowed low and they bowed down.” The use of synonyms here emphasizes the brothers’ humility.

²³ tn Heb “And, look, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth is the one speaking to you.”

²⁴ tn Heb “days.”

²⁵ sn On the expression put your hand under my thigh see Gen 24:2.

²⁶ tn Or “deal with me in faithful love.”

²⁷ tn Heb “and one told and said.” The verbs have no expressed subject and can be translated with the passive voice.

²⁸ tn Heb “Look, your son Joseph.”