Genesis 29:30

29:30 Jacob ¹  had marital relations ²  with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban ³  for seven more years. ⁴ 

Genesis 30:22-24

30:22 Then God took note of ⁵  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. ⁶  30:23 She became pregnant ⁷  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ⁸  30:24 She named him Joseph, ⁹  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

Genesis 37:3

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons ¹⁰  because he was a son born to him late in life, ¹¹  and he made a special ¹²  tunic for him.

Malachi 3:17

3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. ¹³  I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.

[29:30]  ¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:30]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”

[30:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “remembered.”

[30:22]  ⁶ 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 Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons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]  ⁷ tn Or “conceived.”

[30:23]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[37:3]  ¹⁰ tn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information vital to the story. It explains in part the brothers’ animosity toward Joseph.

[37:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a son of old age was he to him.” This expression means “a son born to him when he [i.e., Jacob] was old.”

[37:3]  ¹² tn It is not clear what this tunic was like, because the meaning of the Hebrew word that describes it is uncertain. The idea that it was a coat of many colors comes from the Greek translation of the OT. An examination of cognate terms in Semitic suggests it was either a coat or tunic with long sleeves (cf. NEB, NRSV), or a tunic that was richly embroidered (cf. NIV). It set Joseph apart as the favored one.

[3:17]  ¹³ sn The Hebrew word סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah, “special property”) is a technical term referring to all the recipients of God’s redemptive grace, especially Israel (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18). The Lord says here that he will not forget even one individual in the day of judgment and reward.