Genesis 29:18-21

29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with ¹  Rachel, he said, “I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 29:19 Laban replied, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. ²  Stay with me.” 29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. ³  But they seemed like only a few days to him ⁴  because his love for her was so great. ⁵ 

29:21 Finally Jacob said ⁶  to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. ⁷  I want to have marital relations with her.” ⁸ 

Genesis 29:28

29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. ⁹  When Jacob ¹⁰  completed Leah’s bridal week, ¹¹  Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ¹² 

Genesis 30:22-25

30:22 Then God took note of ¹³  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. ¹⁴  30:23 She became pregnant ¹⁵  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ¹⁶  30:24 She named him Joseph, ¹⁷  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

The Flocks of Jacob

30:25 After Rachel had given birth ¹⁸  to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send ¹⁹  me on my way so that I can go ²⁰  home to my own country. ²¹ 

Genesis 35:16-18

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ²²  Rachel went into labor ²³  – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, ²⁴  the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” ²⁵  35:18 With her dying breath, ²⁶  she named him Ben-Oni. ²⁷  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ²⁸ 

Genesis 46:19

46:19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob:

Joseph and Benjamin.

[29:18]  ¹ tn Heb “Jacob loved.”

[29:19]  ² tn Heb “Better my giving her to you than my giving her to another man.”

[29:20]  ³ tn Heb “in exchange for Rachel.”

[29:20]  ⁴ sn But they seemed like only a few days to him. This need not mean that the time passed quickly. More likely it means that the price seemed insignificant when compared to what he was getting in the bargain.

[29:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[29:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Jacob said.”

[29:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”

[29:21]  ⁸ 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).

[29:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[29:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:28]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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.

[30:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “remembered.”

[30:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons

[30:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.

[30:24]  ¹⁷ sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.

[30:25]  ¹⁸ tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.

[30:25]  ¹⁹ tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.

[30:25]  ²⁰ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”

[35:16]  ²² tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”

[35:16]  ²³ tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”

[35:17]  ²⁴ tn The construction uses a Hiphil infinitive, which E. A. Speiser classifies as an elative Hiphil. The contrast is with the previous Piel: there “she had hard labor,” and here, “her labor was at its hardest.” Failure to see this, Speiser notes, has led to redundant translations and misunderstandings (Genesis [AB], 273).

[35:17]  ²⁵ sn Another son. The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph (Gen 30:24): “may he add” another son.

[35:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in the going out of her life, for she was dying.” Rachel named the child with her dying breath.

[35:18]  ²⁷ sn The name Ben-Oni means “son of my suffering.” It is ironic that Rachel’s words to Jacob in Gen 30:1, “Give me children or I’ll die,” take a different turn here, for it was having the child that brought about her death.

[35:18]  ²⁸ tn The disjunctive clause is contrastive.