Genesis 30:29

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ¹  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ² 

Genesis 30:26

30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ³  Then I’ll depart, ⁴  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ⁵ 

Genesis 31:41

31:41 This was my lot ⁶  for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave ⁷  for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!

[30:29]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:29]  ² tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”

[30:26]  ³ tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.

[30:26]  ⁴ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[30:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”

[31:41]  ⁵ tn Heb “this to me.”

[31:41]  ⁶ tn Heb “served you,” but in this accusatory context the meaning is more “worked like a slave.”