Genesis 31:7-12

31:7 but your father has humiliated ¹  me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. 31:8 If he said, ²  ‘The speckled animals ³  will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. 31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

31:10 “Once ⁴  during breeding season I saw ⁵  in a dream that the male goats mating with ⁶  the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 31:11 In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe ⁷  that all the male goats mating with ⁸  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

¹ tn This rare verb means “to make a fool of” someone. It involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers (see Exod 8:25).

² tn In the protasis (“if” section) of this conditional clause, the imperfect verbal form has a customary nuance – whatever he would say worked to Jacob’s benefit.

³ tn Heb “speckled” (twice this verse). The word “animals” (after the first occurrence of “speckled”) and “offspring” (after the second) have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The same two terms (“animals” and “offspring”) have been supplied after the two occurrences of “streaked” later in this verse.

³ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator, “and it happened at the time of.”

⁴ tn Heb “in the time of the breeding of the flock I lifted up my eyes and I saw.”

⁵ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.

⁴ tn Heb “lift up (now) your eyes and see.”

⁵ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.