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Genesis 30:1-43

Context

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she 1  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children 2  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious 3  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 4  30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with 5  her so that she can bear 6  children 7  for me 8  and I can have a family through her.” 9 

30:4 So Rachel 10  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with 11  her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant 12  and gave Jacob a son. 13  30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer 14  and given me a son.” That is why 15  she named him Dan. 16 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 17  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” 18  So she named him Naphtali. 19 

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave 20  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 21  30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” 22  So she named him Gad. 23 

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 24  30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, 25  for women 26  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. 27 

30:14 At the time 28  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants 29  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, 30  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” 31  Rachel said, “he may sleep 32  with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep 33  with me because I have paid for your services 34  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations 35  with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention 36  to Leah; she became pregnant 37  and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 38  30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward 39  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” 40  So she named him Issachar. 41 

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 42  30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 43 

30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

30:22 Then God took note of 44  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 45  30:23 She became pregnant 46  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 47  30:24 She named him Joseph, 48  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

The Flocks of Jacob

30:25 After Rachel had given birth 49  to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send 50  me on my way so that I can go 51  home to my own country. 52  30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. 53  Then I’ll depart, 54  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” 55 

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 56  for I have learned by divination 57  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” 58 

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, 59  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 60  30:30 Indeed, 61  you had little before I arrived, 62  but now your possessions have increased many times over. 63  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. 64  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” 65 

30:31 So Laban asked, 66  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 67  Jacob replied, 68  “but if you agree to this one condition, 69  I will continue to care for 70  your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among 71  all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, 72  and the spotted or speckled goats. 73  These animals will be my wages. 74  30:33 My integrity will testify for me 75  later on. 76  When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, 77  if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 78  30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” 79 

30:35 So that day Laban 80  removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 81  of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, 82  while 83  Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 84  30:39 When the sheep mated 85  in front of the branches, they 86  gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face 87  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, 88  Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. 89  So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban 90  and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob 91  became extremely prosperous. He owned 92  large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

Genesis 13:2

Context
13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy 93  in livestock, silver, and gold.) 94 

Genesis 24:35

Context
24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. 95  The Lord 96  has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

Genesis 26:13-14

Context
26:13 The man became wealthy. 97  His influence continued to grow 98  until he became very prominent. 26:14 He had 99  so many sheep 100  and cattle 101  and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous 102  of him.

Genesis 28:15

Context
28:15 I am with you! 103  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

Genesis 31:7-8

Context
31:7 but your father has humiliated 104  me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. 31:8 If he said, 105  ‘The speckled animals 106  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.

Genesis 31:42

Context
31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears 107  – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, 108  and he rebuked you last night.”

Genesis 32:10

Context
32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love 109  you have shown 110  your servant. With only my walking stick 111  I crossed the Jordan, 112  but now I have become two camps.

Genesis 33:11

Context
33:11 Please take my present 113  that was brought to you, for God has been generous 114  to me and I have all I need.” 115  When Jacob urged him, he took it. 116 

Genesis 36:7

Context
36:7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled 117  was not able to support them because of their livestock.

Ecclesiastes 2:7

Context

2:7 I purchased male and female slaves,

and I owned slaves who were born in my house; 118 

I also possessed more livestock – both herds and flocks –

than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem. 119 

Ezekiel 39:10

Context
39:10 They will not need to take 120  wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, 121  declares the sovereign Lord.

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[30:1]  1 tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:1]  2 tn Heb “sons.”

[30:2]  3 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”

[30:2]  4 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”

[30:3]  5 tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  6 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  7 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  8 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  9 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[30:4]  10 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:4]  11 tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:5]  12 tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).

[30:5]  13 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:6]  14 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  15 tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  16 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[30:7]  17 tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:8]  18 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.

[30:8]  19 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”

[30:9]  20 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”

[30:10]  21 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:11]  22 tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”

[30:11]  23 sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[30:12]  24 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:13]  25 tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  26 tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  27 sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.

[30:14]  28 tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  29 sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[30:15]  30 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:15]  31 tn Heb “therefore.”

[30:15]  32 tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.

[30:16]  33 tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.

[30:16]  34 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.

[30:16]  35 tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.

[30:17]  36 tn Heb “listened to.”

[30:17]  37 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).

[30:17]  38 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:18]  39 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  40 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  41 sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.

[30:19]  42 tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:20]  43 sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.

[30:22]  44 tn Heb “remembered.”

[30:22]  45 tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons

[30:23]  46 tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  47 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.

[30:24]  48 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

[30:25]  49 tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.

[30:25]  50 tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.

[30:25]  51 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:25]  52 tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”

[30:26]  53 tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

[30:26]  54 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:26]  55 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

[30:27]  56 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[30:27]  57 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the Lord has blessed me” (cf. NEB). See J. Finkelstein, “An Old Babylonian Herding Contract and Genesis 31:38f.,” JAOS 88 (1968): 34, n. 19.

[30:28]  58 tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”

[30:29]  59 tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:29]  60 tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

[30:30]  61 tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  62 tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  63 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  64 tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  65 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”

[30:31]  66 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:31]  67 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

[30:31]  68 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:31]  69 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

[30:31]  70 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

[30:32]  71 tn Heb “pass through.”

[30:32]  72 tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”

[30:32]  73 tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”

[30:32]  74 tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.

[30:33]  75 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”

[30:33]  76 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”

[30:33]  77 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”

[30:33]  78 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”

[30:34]  79 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.

[30:35]  80 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:35]  81 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”

[30:36]  82 tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”

[30:36]  83 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.

[30:38]  84 sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).

[30:39]  85 tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.

[30:39]  86 tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:40]  87 tn Heb “and he set the faces of.”

[30:41]  88 tn Heb “and at every breeding-heat of the flock.”

[30:42]  89 tn Heb “he did not put [them] in.” The referent of the [understood] direct object, “them,” has been specified as “the branches” in the translation for clarity.

[30:42]  90 tn Heb “were for Laban.”

[30:43]  91 tn Heb “the man”; Jacob’s name has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[30:43]  92 tn Heb “and there were to him.”

[13:2]  93 tn Heb “heavy.”

[13:2]  94 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.

[24:35]  95 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.

[24:35]  96 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:13]  97 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Isaac’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are included.

[26:13]  98 tn Heb “and he went, going and becoming great.” The construction stresses that his growth in possessions and power continued steadily.

[26:14]  99 tn Heb “and there was to him.”

[26:14]  100 tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”

[26:14]  101 tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”

[26:14]  102 tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).

[28:15]  103 tn Heb “Look, I [am] with you.” The clause is a nominal clause; the verb to be supplied could be present (as in the translation) or future, “Look, I [will be] with you” (cf. NEB).

[31:7]  104 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).

[31:8]  105 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.

[31:8]  106 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.

[31:42]  107 tn Heb “the fear of Isaac,” that is, the one whom Isaac feared and respected. For further discussion of this title see M. Malul, “More on pahad yitschaq (Gen. 31:42,53) and the Oath by the Thigh,” VT 35 (1985): 192-200.

[31:42]  108 tn Heb “My oppression and the work of my hands God saw.”

[32:10]  109 tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  110 tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  111 tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  112 tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[33:11]  113 tn Heb “blessing.” It is as if Jacob is trying to repay what he stole from his brother twenty years earlier.

[33:11]  114 tn Or “gracious,” but in the specific sense of prosperity.

[33:11]  115 tn Heb “all.”

[33:11]  116 tn Heb “and he urged him and he took.” The referent of the first pronoun in the sequence (“he”) has been specified as “Jacob” in the translation for clarity.

[36:7]  117 tn Heb “land of their settlements.”

[2:7]  118 tn The phrase “sons of a house” (בְנֵי בַיִת, vÿne vayit) appears to be parallel to “a son of my house” (בֶן־בֵּיתִי, ven-beti) which refers to a person born into slavery from male and female servants in the master’s possession, e.g., Eleazar of Damascus (Gen 15:3). The phrase appears to denote children born from male and female slaves already in his possession, that is, “homeborn slaves” (NASB) or “other slaves who were born in my house” (NIV). Apparently confusing the sense of the phrase with the referent of the phrase in Gen 15:3, NJPS erroneously suggests “stewards” in Eccl 2:7.

[2:7]  119 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[39:10]  120 tn Heb “they will not carry.”

[39:10]  121 tn Heb “loot their looters and plunder their plunderers.”



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