Discovery BoxGenesis 24:60 
Context24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words: 1
“Our sister, may you become the mother 2 of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds 3 of their enemies.”
Genesis 27:34
Context27:34 When Esau heard 4 his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. 5 He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”
Genesis 42:20
Context42:20 But you must bring 6 your youngest brother to me. Then 7 your words will be verified 8 and you will not die.” They did as he said. 9
1 tn Heb “and said to her.”
2 tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”
sn May you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands. The blessing expresses their prayer that she produce children and start a family line that will greatly increase (cf. Gen 17:16).
3 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.
4 tn The temporal clause is introduced with the temporal indicator and has the infinitive as its verb.
5 tn Heb “and he yelled [with] a great and bitter yell to excess.”
6 tn The imperfect here has an injunctive force.
7 tn After the injunctive imperfect, this imperfect with vav indicates purpose or result.
8 tn The Niphal form of the verb has the sense of “to be faithful; to be sure; to be reliable.” Joseph will test his brothers to see if their words are true.
9 tn Heb “and they did so.”
