Kejadian 31:55

31:55 (32:1) ¹  Early in the morning Laban kissed ²  his grandchildren ³  and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. ⁴ 

Kejadian 32:5

32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ⁵  this message ⁶  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Kejadian 32:7

32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels.

Kejadian 32:9

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, ⁷  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ⁸  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ⁹ 

Kejadian 32:11

32:11 Rescue me, ¹⁰  I pray, from the hand ¹¹  of my brother Esau, ¹²  for I am afraid he will come ¹³  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ¹⁴ 

Kejadian 32:26

32:26 Then the man ¹⁵  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” ¹⁶  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, ¹⁷  “unless you bless me.” ¹⁸ 

[31:55]  ¹ sn Beginning with 31:55, the verse numbers in the English Bible through 32:32 differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 31:55 ET = 32:1 HT, 32:1 ET = 32:2 HT, etc., through 32:32 ET = 32:33 HT. From 33:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[31:55]  ² tn Heb “and Laban got up early in the morning and he kissed.”

[31:55]  ³ tn Heb “his sons.”

[31:55]  ⁴ tn Heb “to his place.”

[32:5]  ⁵ tn 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.

[32:5]  ⁶ tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “said.”

[32:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “the one who said.”

[32:9]  ⁹ tn 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.

[32:11]  ¹⁰ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  ¹¹ tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  ¹² tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  ¹⁴ sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

[32:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”

[32:26]  ¹⁷ tn 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.

[32:26]  ¹⁸ sn Jacob wrestled with a man thinking him to be a mere man, and on that basis was equal to the task. But when it had gone on long enough, the night visitor touched Jacob and crippled him. Jacob’s request for a blessing can only mean that he now knew that his opponent was supernatural. Contrary to many allegorical interpretations of the passage that make fighting equivalent to prayer, this passage shows that Jacob stopped fighting, and then asked for a blessing.