Genesis 31:30

31:30 Now I understand that ¹  you have gone away ²  because you longed desperately ³  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ⁴ 

Genesis 31:32

31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! ⁵  In the presence of our relatives ⁶  identify whatever is yours and take it.” ⁷  (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) ⁸ 

[31:30]  ¹ tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[31:30]  ² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.

[31:30]  ³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.

[31:30]  ⁴ 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.

[31:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”

[31:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “brothers.”

[31:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”

[31:32]  ⁸ 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.