Genesis 29:17

29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, ¹  but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) ² 

Genesis 29:25-32

29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! ³  So Jacob ⁴  said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! ⁵  Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked ⁶  me?” 29:26 “It is not our custom here,” ⁷  Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage ⁸  before the firstborn. 29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. ⁹  Then we will give you the younger one ¹⁰  too, in exchange for seven more years of work.” ¹¹ 

29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. ¹²  When Jacob ¹³  completed Leah’s bridal week, ¹⁴  Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ¹⁵  29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ¹⁶  29:30 Jacob ¹⁷  had marital relations ¹⁸  with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban ¹⁹  for seven more years. ²⁰ 

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ²¹  he enabled her to become pregnant ²²  while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant ²³  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ²⁴  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ²⁵  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 30:19

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. ²⁶ 

Genesis 31:4

31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah ²⁷  to come to the field ²⁸  where his flocks were. ²⁹ 

Genesis 33:2

33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ³⁰ 

Genesis 35:23

35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

Genesis 46:15

46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all. ³¹ 

Genesis 49:31

49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah.

Ruth 4:11

4:11 All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May ³²  you prosper ³³  in Ephrathah and become famous ³⁴  in Bethlehem. ³⁵ 

[29:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.

[29:17]  ² tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”

[29:25]  ³ tn Heb “and it happened in the morning that look, it was Leah.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[29:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:25]  ⁵ tn Heb What is this you have done to me?” The use of the pronoun “this” is enclitic, adding emphasis to the question: “What in the world have you done to me?”

[29:25]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around, comes around. See J. A. Diamond, “The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem,” VT 34 (1984): 211-13.

[29:26]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[29:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.

[29:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this other one.”

[29:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”

[29:28]  ¹² tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.

[29:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”

[29:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “went in also to Rachel.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.

[29:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”

[29:31]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”

[29:32]  ²³ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

[29:32]  ²⁴ sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

[29:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

[30:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[31:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “sent and called for Rachel and for Leah.” Jacob did not go in person, but probably sent a servant with a message for his wives to meet him in the field.

[31:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the field.” The word is an adverbial accusative, indicating that this is where Jacob wanted them to meet him. The words “to come to” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to his flock.”

[33:2]  ³⁰ sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[46:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “all the lives of his sons and his daughters, thirty-three.”

[4:11]  ³² tn Following the jussive, the imperative with prefixed vav indicates purpose or result.

[4:11]  ³³ tn The phrase וַעֲשֵׂה־חַיִל (va’aseh-khayil, literally, “do strength”) has been variously translated: (1) financial prosperity: “may you become rich” (TEV), “may you be a rich man” (CEV), “may you achieve wealth” (NASB), “may you prosper” (NKJV, NJPS); (2) social prominence: “may you become powerful” (NCV), “may you have standing” (NIV), “may you be great” (NLT), “may you do well” (NAB); (3) reproductive fertility: “may you produce children” (NRSV); and (4) social activity: “may you do a worthy deed” (REB).

[4:11]  ³⁴ tc Heb “and call a name.” This statement appears to be elliptical. Usually the person named and the name itself follow this expression. Perhaps וּקְרָא־שֵׁם (uqÿra’-shem) should be emended to וְיִקָּרֵא־שֵׁם (vÿyiqqare’-shem), “and your name will be called out,” that is, “perpetuated” (see Gen 48:16, cf. also Ruth 4:14b). The omission of the suffix with “name” could be explained as virtual haplography (note the letter bet [ב], which is similar to kaf [כ], at the beginning of the next word). The same explanation could account for the omission of the prefixed yod (י) on the verb “call” (yod [י] and vav [ו] are similar in appearance). Whether one reads the imperative (the form in the MT) or the jussive (the emended form), the construction indicates purpose or result following the earlier jussive “may he make.”

[4:11]  ³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.