Discovery BoxGenesis 22:7 
Context22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, 1 “My father?” “What is it, 2 my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, 3 “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Genesis 25:6
Context25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines 4 and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. 5
Genesis 26:18
Context26:18 Isaac reopened 6 the wells that had been dug 7 back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up 8 after Abraham died. Isaac 9 gave these wells 10 the same names his father had given them. 11
Genesis 48:16
Context48:16 the Angel 12 who has protected me 13
from all harm –
bless these boys.
May my name be named in them, 14
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.
May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”
1 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said.” This is redundant and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “Here I am” (cf. Gen 22:1).
3 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood.’” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here and in the following verse the order of the introductory clauses and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”
5 tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”
6 tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”
7 tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.
8 tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.
9 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”
12 sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.
13 tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).
14 tn Or “be recalled through them.”
