Genesis 29:10

29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, ¹  and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he ²  went over ³  and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. ⁴ 

Genesis 24:51

24:51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become ⁵  the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.” ⁶ 

Genesis 27:43

27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. ⁷  Run away immediately ⁸  to my brother Laban in Haran.

Genesis 29:5

29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson ⁹  of Nahor?” “We know him,” ¹⁰  they said.

Genesis 29:14-15

29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” ¹¹  So Jacob ¹²  stayed with him for a month. ¹³ 

29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work ¹⁴  for me for nothing because you are my relative? ¹⁵  Tell me what your wages should be.”

Genesis 29:21

29:21 Finally Jacob said ¹⁶  to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. ¹⁷  I want to have marital relations with her.” ¹⁸ 

Genesis 29:24

29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ¹⁹ 

Genesis 29:26

29:26 “It is not our custom here,” ²⁰  Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage ²¹  before the firstborn.

Genesis 29:29

29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ²² 

Genesis 30:27

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ²³  for I have learned by divination ²⁴  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”

Genesis 31:2

31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. ²⁵ 

Genesis 31:47

31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ²⁶  but Jacob called it Galeed. ²⁷ 

Genesis 31:51

31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ²⁸ 

[29:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).

[29:10]  ² tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:10]  ³ tn Heb “drew near, approached.”

[29:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).

[24:51]  ⁵ tn Following the imperatives, the jussive with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[24:51]  ⁶ tn Heb “as the Lord has spoken.”

[27:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “listen to my voice.”

[27:43]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “arise, flee.”

[29:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “son.”

[29:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they said, ‘We know.’” The word “him” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the translation several introductory clauses throughout this section have been placed after the direct discourse they introduce for stylistic reasons as well.

[29:14]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a month of days.”

[29:15]  ²¹ tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.

[29:15]  ²² tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.

[29:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and Jacob said.”

[29:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”

[29:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and I will go in to her.” The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “that I may go in,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire. The verb “go in” in this context refers to sexual intercourse (i.e., the consummation of the marriage).

[29:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.

[29:26]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[29:29]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”

[30:27]  ⁴¹ tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[30:27]  ⁴² 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.

[31:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face that his attitude toward him had changed – Jacob had become persona non grata.

[31:47]  ⁴⁹ sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”

[31:47]  ⁵⁰ sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.

[31:51]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between men and you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.