1tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.” 2tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes. 3sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable. 4tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 5tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause. 6tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 7tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.” 8tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 9tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.” 10tn Heb “and the female servants drew near, they and their children and they bowed down.” 11tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 12tn Heb “Who to you?” 13tn Heb “all this camp which I met.” 14tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 15tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons. 16tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence. 17tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here. 18tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”sn This is an allusion to the preceding episode (32:22-31) in which Jacob saw the face of God and realized his prayer was answered. 19tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier. 20tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity. 21tn Heb “all.” 22tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity. 23tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 24tn Heb “let us travel and let us go.” The two cohortatives are used in combination with the sense, “let’s travel along, get going, be on our way.” 25tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 26tn Heb “weak.” 27tn Heb “and the sheep and the cattle nursing [are] upon me.” 28tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.” 29tn The cohortative verbal form here indicates a polite offer of help. 30tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why this?’” 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. 31tn Heb “I am finding favor in the eyes of my lord.” 32tn Heb “returned on his way.” 33tn The disjunctive clause contrasts Jacob’s action with Esau’s. 34sn But Jacob traveled to Succoth. There are several reasons why Jacob chose not to go to Mt. Seir after Esau. First, as he said, his herds and children probably could not keep up with the warriors. Second, he probably did not fully trust his brother. The current friendliness could change, and he could lose everything. And third, God did tell him to return to his land, not Seir. But Jacob is still not able to deal truthfully, probably because of fear of Esau. 35tn Heb “why he called.” One could understand “Jacob” as the subject of the verb, but it is more likely that the subject is indefinite, in which case the verb is better translated as passive. 36sn The name Succoth means “shelters,” an appropriate name in light of the shelters Jacob built there for his livestock. 37tn Heb “in front of.” 38tn The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence. 39tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (q˙sitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. REB, which renders the term as “sheep”). 40tn Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.
1tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”
2tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
3sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.
4tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.
6tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
8tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9tn The Hebrew verb means “to be gracious; to show favor”; here it carries the nuance “to give graciously.”
10tn Heb “and the female servants drew near, they and their children and they bowed down.”
11tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12tn Heb “Who to you?”
13tn Heb “all this camp which I met.”
14tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15tn Heb “and Jacob said, ‘No, please.’” The words “take them” have been supplied in the translation for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
16tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, expressing a contingent future nuance in the “then” section of the conditional sentence.
17tn The verbal form is the preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive, indicating result here.
18tn Heb “for therefore I have seen your face like seeing the face of God and you have accepted me.”
sn This is an allusion to the preceding episode (32:22-31) in which Jacob saw the face of God and realized his prayer was answered.
19tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.
20tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.
21tn Heb “all.”
22tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.
23tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24tn Heb “let us travel and let us go.” The two cohortatives are used in combination with the sense, “let’s travel along, get going, be on our way.”
25tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26tn Heb “weak.”
27tn Heb “and the sheep and the cattle nursing [are] upon me.”
28tn Heb “and I, I will move along according to my leisure at the foot of the property which is before me and at the foot of the children.”
29tn The cohortative verbal form here indicates a polite offer of help.
30tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why this?’” 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.
31tn Heb “I am finding favor in the eyes of my lord.”
32tn Heb “returned on his way.”
33tn The disjunctive clause contrasts Jacob’s action with Esau’s.
34sn But Jacob traveled to Succoth. There are several reasons why Jacob chose not to go to Mt. Seir after Esau. First, as he said, his herds and children probably could not keep up with the warriors. Second, he probably did not fully trust his brother. The current friendliness could change, and he could lose everything. And third, God did tell him to return to his land, not Seir. But Jacob is still not able to deal truthfully, probably because of fear of Esau.
35tn Heb “why he called.” One could understand “Jacob” as the subject of the verb, but it is more likely that the subject is indefinite, in which case the verb is better translated as passive.
36sn The name Succoth means “shelters,” an appropriate name in light of the shelters Jacob built there for his livestock.
37tn Heb “in front of.”
38tn The words “he bought it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 19 is one long sentence.
39tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (q˙sitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown. (However, cf. REB, which renders the term as “sheep”).
40tn Heb “God, the God of Israel.” Rather than translating the name, a number of modern translations merely transliterate it from the Hebrew as “El Elohe Israel” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB). It is not entirely clear how the name should be interpreted grammatically. One option is to supply an equative verb, as in the translation: “The God of Israel [is] God.” Another interpretive option is “the God of Israel [is] strong [or “mighty”].” Buying the land and settling down for a while was a momentous step for the patriarch, so the commemorative naming of the altar is significant.