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Text -- Genesis 29:4-35 (NET)
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Context
29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers , where are you from?” They replied , “We’re from Haran .”
29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban , the grandson of Nahor ?” “We know him,” they said .
29:6 “Is he well ?” Jacob asked . They replied , “He is well . Now look , here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep .”
29:7 Then Jacob said , “Since it is still the middle of the day , it is not time for the flocks to be gathered . You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.”
29:8 “We can’t ,” they said , “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well . Then we water the sheep .”
29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep , for she was tending them .
29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel , the daughter of his uncle Laban , and the sheep of his uncle Laban , he went over and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban .
29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly .
29:12 When Jacob explained to Rachel that he was a relative of her father and the son of Rebekah , she ran and told her father .
29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob , his sister’s son , he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house . Jacob told Laban how he was related to him.
29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood .” So Jacob stayed with him for a month .
29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob , “Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative ? Tell me what your wages should be.”
29:16 (Now Laban had two daughters ; the older one was named Leah , and the younger one Rachel .
29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender , but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance .)
29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel , he said , “I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel .”
29:19 Laban replied , “I’d rather give her to you than to another man . Stay with me .”
29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel . But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.
29:21 Finally Jacob said to Laban , “Give me my wife , for my time of service is up . I want to have marital relations with her.”
29:22 So Laban invited all the people of that place and prepared a feast .
29:23 In the evening he brought his daughter Leah to Jacob, and Jacob had marital relations with her.
29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant .)
29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah ! So Jacob said to Laban , “What in the world have you done to me! Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel ? Why have you tricked me?”
29:26 “It is not our custom here ,” Laban replied , “to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn .
29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week . Then we will give you the younger one too , in exchange for seven more years of work .”
29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. When Jacob completed Leah’s bridal week , Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife .
29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant .)
29:30 Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well . He loved Rachel more than Leah , so he worked for Laban for seven more years .
The Family of Jacob
29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved , he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless .
29:32 So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son . She named him Reuben , for she said , “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition . Surely my husband will love me now .”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son . She said , “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved , he gave me this one too .” So she named him Simeon .
29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son . She said , “Now this time my husband will show me affection , because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi .
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son . She said , “This time I will praise the Lord .” That is why she named him Judah . Then she stopped having children .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Gen 29:5; Gen 29:5; Gen 29:6; Gen 29:6; Gen 29:7; Gen 29:7; Gen 29:7; Gen 29:8; Gen 29:9; Gen 29:10; Gen 29:10; Gen 29:10; Gen 29:10; Gen 29:11; Gen 29:12; Gen 29:12; Gen 29:13; Gen 29:13; Gen 29:14; Gen 29:14; Gen 29:14; Gen 29:15; Gen 29:15; Gen 29:16; Gen 29:17; Gen 29:17; Gen 29:18; Gen 29:19; Gen 29:20; Gen 29:20; Gen 29:20; Gen 29:21; Gen 29:21; Gen 29:21; Gen 29:22; Gen 29:23; Gen 29:23; Gen 29:23; Gen 29:23; Gen 29:23; Gen 29:24; Gen 29:25; Gen 29:25; Gen 29:25; Gen 29:25; Gen 29:26; Gen 29:26; Gen 29:27; Gen 29:27; Gen 29:27; Gen 29:27; Gen 29:27; Gen 29:28; Gen 29:28; Gen 29:28; Gen 29:28; Gen 29:29; Gen 29:30; Gen 29:30; Gen 29:30; Gen 29:30; Gen 29:31; Gen 29:31; Gen 29:32; Gen 29:32; Gen 29:32; Gen 29:32; Gen 29:33; Gen 29:33; Gen 29:34; Gen 29:34; Gen 29:35
NET Notes: Gen 29:5 Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:7 Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someo...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:8 The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.
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NET Notes: Gen 29:10 Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repeti...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:11 Heb “and he lifted up his voice and wept.” The idiom calls deliberate attention to the fact that Jacob wept out loud.
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NET Notes: Gen 29:13 Heb “and he told to Laban all these things.” This might mean Jacob told Laban how he happened to be there, but Laban’s response (see...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:15 Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.
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NET Notes: Gen 29:16 Heb “and to Laban [there were] two daughters.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a prepositional phrase) provid...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:20 Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
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NET Notes: Gen 29:21 Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,”...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:23 Heb “went in to her.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the ...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:24 Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical t...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:25 The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:26 Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and ...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:27 In exchange for seven more years of work. See C. H. Gordon, “The Story of Jacob and Laban in the Light of the Nuzi Tablets,” BASOR 66 (193...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:28 Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified i...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:29 Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”
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NET Notes: Gen 29:30 Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”
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NET Notes: Gen 29:32 Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playin...
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NET Notes: Gen 29:34 The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb ...
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