Genesis 29:25

29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! ¹  So Jacob ²  said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! ³  Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked ⁴  me?”

Genesis 30:30

30:30 Indeed, ⁵  you had little before I arrived, ⁶  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁷  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁸  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁹ 

[29:25]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:25]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[30:30]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[30:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “before me.”

[30:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”

[30:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “at my foot.”

[30:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”