translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”


text: Heb “before him.”


text: Heb “field.”


text: Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.


text: The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.”


text: Heb “and he said, ‘If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.” The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’ amar ) here represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “he thought.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “the surviving camp will be for escape.” The word “escape” is a feminine noun. The term most often refers to refugees from war.


text: Heb “said.”


text: Heb “the one who said.”


text: Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.


text: Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49 ).


text: Heb “you have done with.”


text: Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל ( maqel ), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.


text: Heb “this Jordan.”


text: The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.


text: The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”


text: Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”


text: Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”


text: 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.


text: 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 .


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


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


text: Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he took from that which was going into his hand,” meaning that he took some of what belonged to him.


text: Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”


text: Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.


text: Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “to whom are you?”


text: Heb “and to whom are these before you?”


text: The form is the perfect tense with the vav ( ו ) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.


text: The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”


text: Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”


text: Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “And he commanded also the second, also the third, also all the ones going after the herds, saying: ‘According to this word you will speak when you find him.’”


text: Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”


text: Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל ( maqel ), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”


text: Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.


text: Heb “with a gift going before me.”


text: Heb “I will see his face.”


text: Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.


text: Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”


text: The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.


text: Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.


text: The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד ( yeled ) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah ( Gen 30:21 ). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later ( Gen 35:16-19 ).


text: Heb “and he sent across what he had.”


text: Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Or “injured”; traditionally “touched.” The Hebrew verb translated “struck” has the primary meanings “to touch; to reach; to strike.” It can, however, carry the connotation “to harm; to molest; to injure.” God’s “touch” cripples Jacob – it would be comparable to a devastating blow.


text: Heb “dawn has arisen.”


text: Heb “and he said, ‘I will not let you go.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and he said to him.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.


text: Heb “and he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: The verb here means that the Lord endowed Jacob with success; he would be successful in everything he did, including meeting Esau.


text: The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Or “because.”


text: Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.” sn I have survived . It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live ( Gen 48:16 ; Exod 19:21, 24:10 ; and Judg 6:11, 22 ). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11 . Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.


text: Heb “shone.”


text: The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.


text: Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25 .