¹ tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.

² tn Heb “and make you fruitful and multiply you.” See Gen 17:6, 20 for similar terminology.

³ tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here indicates consequence. The collocation הָיָה + preposition לְ (hayah + lÿ) means “become.”

⁴ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

⁵ tn This is the same Hebrew word translated “ground” in the preceding verse.

⁶ tn The verb is singular in the Hebrew; Jacob is addressed as the representative of his descendants.

⁷ tn Theoretically the Niphal stem can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Jacob were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in other formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless (i.e., pronounce blessings upon) themselves/one another.” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 28:14 predicts that Jacob will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae (see Gen 12:2 and 18:18 as well, where Abram/Abraham receives this promise). For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

⁸ tn Heb “and they will pronounce blessings by you, all the families of the earth, and by your offspring.”