31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, 9 “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich 10 at our father’s expense!” 11
1:1 From Paul, 22 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
2 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
3 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
4 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
5 tn Or “kindness.”
6 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
7 tn Heb “see.”
8 tn Heb “between me and you.”
9 tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”
10 sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).
11 tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”
12 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
13 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
14 tn Heb “went out to go.”
15 tn It is commonly assumed that this word is explained by the two verbal actions that follow. The word (נְבָלָה, nÿvalah) is rather commonly used of sins of unchastity (cf., e.g., Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 2 Sam 13:12) which would fit the reference to adultery. However, the word is singular and not likely to cover both actions that follow. The word is also used of the greedy act of Achan (Josh 7:15) which threatened Israel with destruction and the churlish behavior of Nabal (1 Sam 25:25) which threatened him and his household with destruction. The word is also used of foolish talk in Isa 9:17 (9:16 HT) and Isa 32:6. It is possible that this refers to a separate act, one that would have brought the death penalty from Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., the preaching of rebellion in conformity with the message of the false prophets in Jerusalem and other nations (cf. 27:9, 13). Hence it is possible that the translation should read: “This will happen because of their vile conduct. They have propagated rebellion. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. They have spoken lies while claiming my authority.”
16 tn Heb “prophesying lies in my name.” For an explanation of this idiom see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.
17 tn Heb “Oracle of the
18 tn Heb “do according to all the word which.”
19 tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”
20 tn Grk “as.”
21 tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.
22 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.