Genesis 29:14

29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” ¹  So Jacob ²  stayed with him for a month. ³ 

Genesis 29:26

29:26 “It is not our custom here,” ⁴  Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage ⁵  before the firstborn.

Genesis 29:31-35

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ⁶  he enabled her to become pregnant ⁷  while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant ⁸  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ⁹  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ¹⁰  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, ¹¹  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ¹² 

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ¹³  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ¹⁴ 

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. ¹⁵  Then she stopped having children.

[29:14]  ¹ tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12,); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).

[29:14]  ² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:14]  ³ tn Heb “a month of days.”

[29:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘It is not done so in our place.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[29:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.

[29:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”

[29:32]  ⁸ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

[29:32]  ⁹ sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

[29:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

[29:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.

[29:33]  ¹² sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.

[29:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ¹⁴ sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.

[29:35]  ¹⁵ sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.