Genesis 31:19

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, ¹  Rachel stole the household idols ²  that belonged to her father.

Genesis 31:26-27

31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me ³  and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! ⁴  31:27 Why did you run away secretly ⁵  and deceive me? ⁶  Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? ⁷ 

[31:19]  ¹ tn This disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new scene. In the English translation it may be subordinated to the following clause.

[31:19]  ² tn Or “household gods.” Some translations merely transliterate the Hebrew term תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim) as “teraphim,” which apparently refers to household idols. Some contend that possession of these idols guaranteed the right of inheritance, but it is more likely that they were viewed simply as protective deities. See M. Greenberg, “Another Look at Rachel’s Theft of the Teraphim,” JBL 81 (1962): 239-48.

[31:26]  ³ tn Heb “and you have stolen my heart.” This expression apparently means “to deceive” (see v. 20).

[31:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you have led away my daughters like captives of a sword.”

[31:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why did you hide in order to flee?” The verb “hide” and the infinitive “to flee” form a hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the other the adverb: “flee secretly.”

[31:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “and steal me.”

[31:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “And [why did] you not tell me so I could send you off with joy and with songs, with a tambourine and with a harp?”