Genesis 31:23-35

31:23 So he took his relatives ¹  with him and pursued Jacob ²  for seven days. ³  He caught up with ⁴  him in the hill country of Gilead. 31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, ⁵  “Be careful ⁶  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” ⁷ 

31:25 Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. ⁸  31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me ⁹  and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! ¹⁰  31:27 Why did you run away secretly ¹¹  and deceive me? ¹²  Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? ¹³  31:28 You didn’t even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren ¹⁴  good-bye. You have acted foolishly! 31:29 I have ¹⁵  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ¹⁶  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ¹⁷  31:30 Now I understand that ¹⁸  you have gone away ¹⁹  because you longed desperately ²⁰  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ²¹ 

31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” ²²  Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought ²³  you might take your daughters away from me by force. ²⁴  31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! ²⁵  In the presence of our relatives ²⁶  identify whatever is yours and take it.” ²⁷  (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) ²⁸ 

31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. ²⁹  Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. ³⁰  31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle ³¹  and sat on them.) ³²  Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. ³³  31:35 Rachel ³⁴  said to her father, “Don’t be angry, ³⁵  my lord. I cannot stand up ³⁶  in your presence because I am having my period.” ³⁷  So he searched thoroughly, ³⁸  but did not find the idols.

[31:23]  ¹ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[31:23]  ² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[31:23]  ³ tn Heb “and he pursued after him a journey of seven days.”

[31:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “drew close to.”

[31:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “said to him.”

[31:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “lest you speak with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 29, is uncertain. Since Laban proceeded to speak to Jacob at length, it cannot mean to maintain silence. Nor does it seem to be a prohibition against criticism (see vv. 26-30). Most likely it refers to a formal pronouncement, whether it be a blessing or a curse. Laban was to avoid saying anything to Jacob that would be intended to enhance him or to harm him.

[31:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban pitched with his brothers in the hill country of Gilead.” The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb in both clauses) indicates synchronism of action.

[31:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “and you have stolen my heart.” This expression apparently means “to deceive” (see v. 20).

[31:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you have led away my daughters like captives of a sword.”

[31:27]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and steal me.”

[31:27]  ¹⁹ 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?”

[31:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “my sons and my daughters.” Here “sons” refers to “grandsons,” and has been translated “grandchildren” since at least one granddaughter, Dinah, was involved. The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:29]  ²⁵ tn Heb “there is to my hand.”

[31:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.

[31:30]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[31:30]  ³⁰ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.

[31:30]  ³¹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.

[31:30]  ³² sn Yet why did you steal my gods? This last sentence is dropped into the speech rather suddenly. See C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings,” VT 30 (1980): 192-207, and G. W. Coats, “Self-Abasement and Insult Formulas,” JBL 91 (1972): 90-92.

[31:31]  ³³ tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:31]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for I said.”

[31:31]  ³⁵ tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”

[31:32]  ³⁷ tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”

[31:32]  ³⁸ tn Heb “brothers.”

[31:32]  ³⁹ tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”

[31:32]  ⁴⁰ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, it has been placed in parentheses in the translation.

[31:33]  ⁴¹ tn No direct object is specified for the verb “find” in the Hebrew text. The words “the idols” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[31:33]  ⁴² tn Heb “and he went out from the tent of Leah and went into the tent of Rachel.”

[31:34]  ⁴⁵ tn The “camel’s saddle” was probably some sort of basket-saddle, a cushioned saddle with a basket bound on. Cf. NAB “inside a camel cushion.”

[31:34]  ⁴⁶ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides another parenthetical statement necessary to the storyline.

[31:34]  ⁴⁷ tn The word “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[31:35]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[31:35]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.

[31:35]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”

[31:35]  ⁵² tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.

[31:35]  ⁵³ tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.