Genesis 29:20

29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. ¹  But they seemed like only a few days to him ²  because his love for her was so great. ³ 

Genesis 29:31

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ⁴  he enabled her to become pregnant ⁵  while Rachel remained childless.

Genesis 44:20

44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ⁶  The boy’s ⁷  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ⁸  and his father loves him.’

Genesis 44:27

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 21:15

Laws Concerning Children

21:15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, ¹⁰  and they both ¹¹  bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.

Matthew 6:24

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹²  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ¹³  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 10:37

10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Luke 14:26

14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ¹⁵  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ¹⁶  he cannot be my disciple.

John 12:25

12:25 The one who loves his life ¹⁷  destroys ¹⁸  it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards ¹⁹  it for eternal life.

[29:20]  ¹ tn Heb “in exchange for Rachel.”

[29:20]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[29:31]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”

[44:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a small boy of old age,” meaning that he was born when his father was elderly.

[44:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the boy just mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[44:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “he, only he, to his mother is left.”

[44:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “that two sons my wife bore to me.”

[21:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one whom he loves and one whom he hates.” For the idea of שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) meaning to be rejected or loved less (cf. NRSV “disliked”), see Gen 29:31, 33; Mal 1:2-3. Cf. A. Konkel, NIDOTTE 3:1256-60.

[21:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “both the one whom he loves and the one whom he hates.” On the meaning of the phrase “one whom he loves and one whom he hates” see the note on the word “other” earlier in this verse. The translation has been simplified for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[6:24]  ¹² sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

[6:24]  ¹³ tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[6:24]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

[14:26]  ¹⁵ tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

[14:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “soul.”

[12:25]  ¹⁸ tn Or “loses.” Although the traditional English translation of ἀπολλύει (apolluei) in John 12:25 is “loses,” the contrast with φυλάξει (fulaxei, “keeps” or “guards”) in the second half of the verse favors the meaning “destroy” here.

[12:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “keeps.”