Genesis 29:32

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ²  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ³  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 29:1

The Marriages of Jacob

29:1 So Jacob moved on ⁴  and came to the land of the eastern people. ⁵ 

Genesis 17:17

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed ⁶  as he said to himself, ⁷  “Can ⁸  a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? ⁹  Can Sarah ¹⁰  bear a child at the age of ninety?” ¹¹ 

Job 37:24

37:24 Therefore people fear him,

for he does not regard all the wise in heart.” ¹² 

[29:32]  ¹ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

[29:32]  ² sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

[29:32]  ³ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

[29:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.

[29:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”

[17:17]  ⁷ sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.

[17:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”

[17:17]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.

[17:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”

[17:17]  ¹¹ sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).

[17:17]  ¹² tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”

[37:24]  ¹⁰ sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.