Genesis 24:31-33

24:31 Laban said to him, ¹  “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! ²  Why are you standing out here when I have prepared ³  the house and a place for the camels?”

24:32 So Abraham’s servant ⁴  went to the house and unloaded ⁵  the camels. Straw and feed were given ⁶  to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. ⁷  24:33 When food was served, ⁸  he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” ⁹  “Tell us,” Laban said. ¹⁰ 

[24:31]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:31]  ² sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the Lord. Already the author is laying the foundation for subsequent events in the narrative, where Laban’s greed becomes his dominant characteristic.

[24:31]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.

[24:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:32]  ⁵ tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).

[24:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.

[24:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”

[24:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”

[24:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “my words.”

[24:33]  ¹⁰ tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”