The Three Names Jacob Called

Reference · Word notes · GEN 48:16

הַ/מַּלְאָךְ֩ · hamal'akh · lemma mal'âk · H4397

• The article is the single letter הַ prefixed to the word. Before a guttural it cannot be doubled, so the vowel lengthens and it appears as הָ or הֶ (→ Appendix C-9)
• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — It is absolute because no noun is bound behind it. The next word, הַגֹּאֵל, is not a possessor hanging on this noun but a participial phrase qualifying the same referent from behind. Had it been construct, it would read "the messenger of …" and the following word would be its possessor.

הַ/גֹּאֵ֨ל · hagoel · lemma gâ'al · H1350

• The article is the single letter הַ prefixed to the word. Before a guttural it cannot be doubled, so the vowel lengthens and it appears as הָ or הֶ (→ Appendix C-9)
• Qal — the basic active stem, with nothing added to the root (→ Appendix C-2)
• Participle — it has no tense. It points to an action in progress or continuing, and can stand as a noun (→ Appendix C-3)
• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — It shares its consonants with the noun גֹּאֵל (redeemer), but here it takes the object אֹתִי (me) directly, so it is a participle used as a verb. With the article it becomes "the One who is redeeming me." The argument that this is an act in progress and not a title comes out of this form.

יְבָרֵךְ֮ · yevarekh · lemma bârak · H1288

• Piel — the intensive and transitive stem; the middle consonant is doubled (dagesh) (→ Appendix C-2)
• Imperfect — the conjugation that views an action as not completed. Person is marked at the front of the word. It serves future, repeated and modal senses, and does not narrate what has passed (→ Appendix C-3)
• 3rd person singular · masculine — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — The prefix יְ marks third person masculine singular. The middle consonant ר is a guttural and cannot be doubled, so the preceding vowel merely lengthened; the stem is Piel. Jacob named three subjects (Elohim twice, the malakh) and this one predicate answers them in the singular.

Bearing on the gospel — Because goel is a participle and not a noun, redemption is not a title He carries about with Him but something that actually happened to Jacob.

Reference · Word notes · LEV 25:49

מִ/שְּׁאֵ֧ר · misheer · lemma she'êr · H7607

• בְּ (in), כְּ (like), לְ (to) and מִ (from) do not stand alone but attach to the front of the word (→ Appendix C-9)
• Construct — it forms one unit with the word after it. It loses its stress and its vowels shorten; a pronominal suffix also puts a noun in the construct (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — It is construct because it is bound with the following בְּשָׂרוֹ into the single unit "the flesh of his flesh." A construct hands its stress over to the word behind it.

בְּשָׂר֛/וֹ · besaro · lemma bâśâr · H1320

• Construct — it forms one unit with the word after it. It loses its stress and its vowels shorten; a pronominal suffix also puts a noun in the construct (→ Appendix C-8)
• A pronominal suffix attaches to the end of a word to mark possession or object. With a suffix attached the noun before it stands in the construct (→ Appendix C-10)
• In this verse — The pronominal suffix וֹ is attached, which automatically puts the noun in the construct. Joined with the preceding שְׁאֵר it becomes sheer basar, the legal term for the condition of blood relation.

הִשִּׂ֥יגָה · hissiga · lemma nâśag · H5381

• Hiphil — causative ("to cause to"); the prefix הִ and the stem vowel i (ִי) are its marks (→ Appendix C-2)
• Perfect — the conjugation that views an action as completed. Person, gender and number are marked at the end of the word (→ Appendix C-3)
• 3rd person singular · feminine — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — It is feminine singular because the subject is יָדוֹ (his hand), and in Hebrew יָד is a feminine noun. The perfect third feminine singular ending is ־ָה. Being Hiphil, it means "to make the hand reach" — that is, that his means extend far enough to pay.

Bearing on the gospel — That the right to redeem is nailed down in two conditions means that not just anyone may die in another's place. He must be no stranger but flesh of the same flesh, and he must be able to pay. These two conditions are themselves the reason for the incarnation.

Reference · Word notes · HEB 2:14

σαρκὸς · sarkos · lemma sarx · G4561

• Genitive — of. Source, belonging, material. Some verbs take a genitive object (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — It is genitive because the verb κοινωνέω takes its object in the genitive. The thing one shares in comes in the genitive.

αἵματος · haimatos · lemma aima · G129

• Genitive — of. Source, belonging, material. Some verbs take a genitive object (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — A genitive standing alongside the preceding σαρκός and governed by the same verb.

κεκοινώνηκεν · kekoinoneken · lemma koinōneō · G2841

• Perfect — the conjugation that views an action as completed. Person, gender and number are marked at the end of the word (→ Appendix C-3)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 3rd person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — Being perfect, it means that the state of sharing in flesh and blood continues to the present. The prefix κε- is the reduplication that announces the perfect.

μετέσχεν · meteschen · lemma metechō · G3348

• Second aorist — an aorist formed by a change in the stem itself rather than in the ending (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 3rd person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — It divides as μετ + έ + σχ + εν. The έ is the augment that marks past time and σχ is the second-aorist stem of ἔχω. Unlike the perfect verb before it, this is aorist, so His entering that state is stated as an event at one point.

Bearing on the gospel — On the children's side the tense is perfect, on His side aorist. He entered at one point into a condition that is always ours; without this the substitution does not stand.

Reference · Word notes · GEN 31:13

אָנֹכִ֤י · anokhi · lemma 'ânôkı̂y · H595

• A Hebrew verb already carries person in its ending, so a sentence stands without a subject pronoun. When one is written anyway, it is emphatic (→ Appendix C-10)
• In this verse — A Hebrew verb carries person in its ending, so a sentence stands without a subject pronoun. That anokhi is set in front anyway is emphasis — "I, and no other."

הָ/אֵל֙ · hael · lemma 'êl · H410

• The article is the single letter הַ prefixed to the word. Before a guttural it cannot be doubled, so the vowel lengthens and it appears as הָ or הֶ (→ Appendix C-9)
• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — It is absolute because the following בֵּית אֵל is not a possessor but a place name in apposition. The article lengthened to הָ because the following consonant א is a guttural and cannot be doubled.

Bearing on the gospel — The One introduced as a messenger uses the first-person anokhi and says, "I am the God." God does not withdraw behind a deputy when He meets a man.

Reference · Word notes · GEN 32:31

אֱלֹהִים֙ · Elohim · lemma 'ĕlôhı̂ym · H430

• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — The form is plural (the ending ־ִים) but here it stands as the object and points to the one being Jacob saw. That this word takes a plural form for a singular referent in Hebrew is bound up with the argument of chapter 4 of this study.

פָּנִ֣ים · panim · lemma pânı̂ym · H6440

• Common — a form that makes no distinction of gender (→ Appendix C-8)
• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — This word appears in Hebrew only ever in the plural. There is no separate singular, so the plural does not mean that the faces are many.

פָּנִ֔ים · panim · lemma pânı̂ym · H6440

• Common — a form that makes no distinction of gender (→ Appendix C-8)
• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — This word appears in Hebrew only ever in the plural. There is no separate singular, so the plural does not mean that the faces are many.

נַפְשִֽׁ/י · naphshi · lemma nephesh · H5315

• Common — a form that makes no distinction of gender (→ Appendix C-8)
• Construct — it forms one unit with the word after it. It loses its stress and its vowels shorten; a pronominal suffix also puts a noun in the construct (→ Appendix C-8)
• A pronominal suffix attaches to the end of a word to mark possession or object. With a suffix attached the noun before it stands in the construct (→ Appendix C-10)
• In this verse — The pronominal suffix ־ִי (my) is attached, which puts it in the construct. What was delivered is named as Jacob's nephesh.

Bearing on the gospel — The statement is that the nephesh was delivered even after seeing face to face. A way stands open in which facing God does not end in death for a man, and that way is the goel this study takes up later.

Reference · Word notes · GEN 49:10

שֵׁ֨בֶט֙ · shevet · lemma shêbeṭ · H7626

• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — It stands free in the absolute as the subject of the sentence. The following מִיהוּדָה is a prepositional phrase, not a possessor bound to this noun.

וּ/מְחֹקֵ֖ק · umehoqeq · lemma châqaq · H2710

• The conjunction is likewise a single prefixed letter, וְ, which becomes וּ before certain consonants (→ Appendix C-9)
• Poel — the source code m stands for Poel, used by verbs whose root consonants repeat; the participle prefix is מְ (→ Appendix C-2)
• Participle — it has no tense. It points to an action in progress or continuing, and can stand as a noun (→ Appendix C-3)
• Absolute — the free-standing form, with no noun hung on behind it (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — The stem letter m in the source parsing is Poel in the OSHB coding. The participle prefix מְ is its mark, and the root is חקק (to engrave). Hence the rendering "the staff of the one who engraves the law."

שִׁיל֔וֹ · Shilo · lemma shı̂ylôh · H7886

• A proper noun carries no gender, number or state marking. That is why its parsing is a single term (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — It is tagged as a proper noun, but the manuscript tradition divides at this word. The Septuagint reads it as שֶׁלּוֹ (that which belongs to him) rather than a name. Treated in Appendix A.

Bearing on the gospel — The time the rule stays with Judah is bound by ad (until). The promise is not a vague hope but a statement with a boundary in time.

Reference · Word notes · REV 5:9

ἠγόρασας · egorasas · lemma agorazō · G59

• Aorist — the tense that views an event as a single point. Augment + σα ending (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 2nd person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — The opening ἠ is the augment merged with the stem's first vowel ἀ and lengthened (ἀ + ε → η). ־σας is the first aorist active second person singular ending.

ἐσφάγης · esphages · lemma sphazō · G4969

• Second aorist — an aorist formed by a change in the stem itself rather than in the ending (→ Appendix C-13)
• Passive — the subject is acted upon (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 2nd person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — Augment ἐ + stem σφαγ + passive ending ־ης. The second aorist passive attaches the ending straight to the stem without ־θη־. It is second person singular, so it is speech addressed directly to the Lamb.

αἵματί · haimati · lemma aima · G129

• Dative — to, by, with. Means and recipient (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — Being dative it marks means or price. It is the means in "You purchased with Your blood."

Bearing on the gospel — Agorazo is the verb for paying a price in a market, and the price is named in the dative as "Your blood." Redemption is not a declaration but a payment.

Reference · Word notes · JOH 3:3

γεννηθῇ · gennethe · lemma gennaō · G1080

• Aorist — the tense that views an event as a single point. Augment + σα ending (→ Appendix C-13)
• Passive — the subject is acted upon (→ Appendix C-13)
• Subjunctive — condition, purpose, exhortation. It stands in ἐάν and ἵνα clauses and takes no augment (→ Appendix C-13)
• 3rd person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — ־θη־ is the passive marker, and because it is subjunctive the ending vowel lengthened to ῇ. It hangs on the ἐὰν μή clause, so it gives the condition "unless one is born." Being passive, one does not bring oneself to birth but is brought to it.

ἄνωθεν · anothen · lemma anōthen · G509

• In this verse — The word carries both "from above" and "again." Nicodemus taking it as "again" in the following verse is due to this double sense.

βασιλείαν · basileian · lemma basileia · G932

• Accusative — the object (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — Being accusative it is the object of the preceding infinitive ἰδεῖν (to see). This word is what the statement "cannot even see" is about.

Bearing on the gospel — Gennethe is aorist passive subjunctive. There is nothing active on the part of the one born, so the new birth is not something achieved but something received.

Reference · Word notes · 1PE 1:23

ἀναγεγεννημένοι · anagegennemenoi · lemma anagennaō · G313

• Perfect — the conjugation that views an action as completed. Person, gender and number are marked at the end of the word (→ Appendix C-3)
• Passive — the subject is acted upon (→ Appendix C-13)
• Participle — it has no tense. It points to an action in progress or continuing, and can stand as a noun (→ Appendix C-3)
• Nominative — the subject (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — ἀνα (again) + reduplicated γε + stem + the perfect passive participle ending ־μένοι. Being a perfect participle, the being born again is finished and that standing is held now; being passive, it is something received.

σπορᾶς · sporas · lemma spora · G4701

• Genitive — of. Source, belonging, material. Some verbs take a genitive object (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — A genitive after the preposition ἐκ, marking source. It points to what one was born of.

λόγου · logou · lemma logos · G3056

• Genitive — of. Source, belonging, material. Some verbs take a genitive object (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — A genitive governed by the same ἐκ as the preceding σπορᾶς. The two words set side by side point to that seed being the Logos.

μένοντος · menontos · lemma menō · G3306

• Present — an action in progress. It shows the manner of the action rather than its time (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Participle — it has no tense. It points to an action in progress or continuing, and can stand as a noun (→ Appendix C-3)
• Genitive — of. Source, belonging, material. Some verbs take a genitive object (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — A present participle, genitive masculine singular. Its case, gender and number agree with λόγου, so the form itself names the Logos as what this participle qualifies.

Bearing on the gospel — A perfect passive participle: it happened once and holds to the present, and the one who brought it about is not the one born. And that seed is the word, and that word remains first.

Reference · Word notes · MAT 11:12

βιάζεται · biazetai · lemma biazō · G971

• Present — an action in progress. It shows the manner of the action rather than its time (→ Appendix C-13)
• Passive — the subject is acted upon (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 3rd person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — Present passive indicative. But in Greek the middle and the passive are identical in form in the present, so this tag is the source parsing's judgment, and some commentators read it as middle. Treated in Appendix A.

βιασταὶ · biastai · lemma biastēs · G973

• Nominative — the subject (→ Appendix C-12)
• In this verse — Nominative plural, hence the subject of the following verb ἁρπάζουσιν.

ἁρπάζουσιν · harpazousin · lemma harpazō · G726

• Present — an action in progress. It shows the manner of the action rather than its time (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 3rd person plural — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — ־ουσιν is the present active third person plural ending. Unlike the passive verb before it this verb is active, and those who take hold are stated to be men.

Bearing on the gospel — The voice of this verse is disputed, so no weight may be laid here. There is one thing to take: taking hold comes after being born.

Reference · Word notes · GEN 49:18

לִֽ/ישׁוּעָתְ/ךָ֖ · lishuatkha · lemma yeshû‛âh · H3444

• בְּ (in), כְּ (like), לְ (to) and מִ (from) do not stand alone but attach to the front of the word (→ Appendix C-9)
• Construct — it forms one unit with the word after it. It loses its stress and its vowels shorten; a pronominal suffix also puts a noun in the construct (→ Appendix C-8)
• A pronominal suffix attaches to the end of a word to mark possession or object. With a suffix attached the noun before it stands in the construct (→ Appendix C-10)
• In this verse — The preposition לְ stands in front and the second person masculine singular suffix ךָ behind, with the noun caught between. Because a suffix is attached it is construct, and what is waited for is nailed down as "Your Yeshuah."

קִוִּ֥יתִי · qiwwiti · lemma qâvâh · H6960

• Piel — the intensive and transitive stem; the middle consonant is doubled (dagesh) (→ Appendix C-2)
• Perfect — the conjugation that views an action as completed. Person, gender and number are marked at the end of the word (→ Appendix C-3)
• 1st person singular · no distinction of gender — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — The middle consonant ו is doubled, which shows it to be Piel. In this root the Piel means not simple waiting but waiting that holds on as one draws a cord. The ending ־ִיתִי is perfect first person singular, so it becomes a matter spanning the whole of Jacob's life.

יְהוָֽה · YHWH · lemma yehôvâh · H3068

• A proper noun carries no gender, number or state marking. That is why its parsing is a single term (→ Appendix C-8)
• In this verse — Being a proper noun it carries no form marking. It stands at the head of the sentence as an address.

Bearing on the gospel — Qawah is Piel perfect, and its object carries the suffix "Your." What is waited for is not a concept but a Person, and Jacob confesses what has not yet come as already complete.

Reference · Word notes · JOH 15:10

τηρήσητε · teresete · lemma tēreō · G5083

• Aorist — the tense that views an event as a single point. Augment + σα ending (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Subjunctive — condition, purpose, exhortation. It stands in ἐάν and ἵνα clauses and takes no augment (→ Appendix C-13)
• 2nd person plural — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — Aorist subjunctive, standing in an ἐάν clause. The subjunctive takes no augment, so the sense is not past but conditional.

μενεῖτε · meneite · lemma menō · G3306

• Future — what will be. A σ is inserted after the stem (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 2nd person plural — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — Future indicative. Because the stem ends in the liquid ν the future marker σ drops and a contracted form remains. It takes up the result of the conditional clause as future.

τετήρηκα · tetereka · lemma tēreō · G5083

• Perfect — the conjugation that views an action as completed. Person, gender and number are marked at the end of the word (→ Appendix C-3)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 1st person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — The prefix τε is the reduplication that announces the perfect. Being perfect, His keeping is finished and its result is held now.

μένω · meno · lemma menō · G3306

• Present — an action in progress. It shows the manner of the action rather than its time (→ Appendix C-13)
• Active — the subject acts (→ Appendix C-13)
• Indicative — it states a fact (→ Appendix C-13)
• 1st person singular — the verb marks the person, gender and number of its own subject, so it is clear who acts even with no subject pronoun (→ Appendix C-4~C-6)
• In this verse — Present indicative first person singular. Paired with the perfect before it (τετήρηκα), it sets what is finished and what continues now in one sentence.

Bearing on the gospel — The verb on His side is perfect (tetereka) and ours is future (meneite). We do not keep first and so remain; we remain on what He has already done.