Genesis 49:12

49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk. ¹ 

Genesis 30:37

30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible.

Genesis 30:35

30:35 So that day Laban ²  removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care ³  of his sons.

[49:12]  ¹ tn Some translate these as comparatives, “darker than wine…whiter than milk,” and so a reference to his appearance (so NEB, NIV, NRSV). But if it is in the age of abundance, symbolized by wine and milk, then the dark (i.e., red or perhaps dull) eyes would be from drinking wine, and the white teeth from drinking milk.

[30:35]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:35]  ³ tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”