Discovery BoxGenesis 13:9 
Context13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go 1 to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
Genesis 22:17
Context22:17 I will indeed bless you, 2 and I will greatly multiply 3 your descendants 4 so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession 5 of the strongholds 6 of their enemies.
Genesis 24:3
Context24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise 7 by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire 8 a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.
Genesis 26:4
Context26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them 9 all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 10
Genesis 27:45
Context27:45 Stay there 11 until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. 12 Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 13
Genesis 30:33
Context30:33 My integrity will testify for me 14 later on. 15 When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, 16 if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 17
Genesis 31:42
Context31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears 18 – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, 19 and he rebuked you last night.”
Genesis 34:30
Context34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin 20 on me by making me a foul odor 21 among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I 22 am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”
Genesis 48:7
Context48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow 23 – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). 24
Genesis 48:19
Context48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude 25 of nations.”
1 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
2 tn The use of the infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form (either an imperfect or cohortative) emphasizes the certainty of the blessing.
3 tn Here too the infinitive absolute is used for emphasis before the following finite verb (either an imperfect or cohortative).
sn I will greatly multiply. The
4 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
5 tn Or “inherit.”
6 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. To break through the gate complex would be to conquer the city, for the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”).
7 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.
8 tn Heb “because you must not take.”
9 tn Heb “your descendants.”
10 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 22:18). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)
11 tn The words “stay there” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Heb “and I will send and I will take you from there.” The verb “send” has no object in the Hebrew text; one must be supplied in the translation. Either “someone” or “a message” could be supplied, but since in those times a message would require a messenger, “someone” has been used.
13 tn If Jacob stayed, he would be killed and Esau would be forced to run away.
14 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”
15 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”
16 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”
sn Only the wage we agreed on. Jacob would have to be considered completely honest here, for he would have no control over the kind of animals born; and there could be no disagreement over which animals were his wages.
17 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”
18 tn Heb “the fear of Isaac,” that is, the one whom Isaac feared and respected. For further discussion of this title see M. Malul, “More on pahad yitschaq (Gen. 31:42,53) and the Oath by the Thigh,” VT 35 (1985): 192-200.
19 tn Heb “My oppression and the work of my hands God saw.”
20 tn The traditional translation is “troubled me” (KJV, ASV), but the verb refers to personal or national disaster and suggests complete ruin (see Josh 7:25, Judg 11:35, Prov 11:17). The remainder of the verse describes the “trouble” Simeon and Levi had caused.
21 tn In the causative stem the Hebrew verb בָּאַשׁ (ba’ash) means “to cause to stink, to have a foul smell.” In the contexts in which it is used it describes foul smells, stenches, or things that are odious. Jacob senses that the people in the land will find this act terribly repulsive. See P. R. Ackroyd, “The Hebrew Root באשׁ,” JTS 2 (1951): 31-36.
22 tn Jacob speaks in the first person as the head and representative of the entire family.
23 tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”
24 map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.
25 tn Heb “fullness.”
