Genesis 30:39

30:39 When the sheep mated ¹  in front of the branches, they ²  gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.

Genesis 31:8

31:8 If he said, ³  ‘The speckled animals ⁴  will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

Genesis 31:10

31:10 “Once ⁵  during breeding season I saw ⁶  in a dream that the male goats mating with ⁷  the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

[30:39]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb used here can mean “to be in heat” (see v. 38) or “to mate; to conceive; to become pregnant.” The latter nuance makes better sense in this verse, for the next clause describes them giving birth.

[30:39]  ² tn Heb “the sheep.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“they”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:8]  ³ tn In the protasis (“if” section) of this conditional clause, the imperfect verbal form has a customary nuance – whatever he would say worked to Jacob’s benefit.

[31:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “speckled” (twice this verse). The word “animals” (after the first occurrence of “speckled”) and “offspring” (after the second) have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The same two terms (“animals” and “offspring”) have been supplied after the two occurrences of “streaked” later in this verse.

[31:10]  ⁵ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator, “and it happened at the time of.”

[31:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the time of the breeding of the flock I lifted up my eyes and I saw.”

[31:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “going up on,” that is, mounting for intercourse.