Joshua 24:15

24:15 If you have no desire ¹  to worship ²  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ³  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ⁴  worshiped ⁵  beyond the Euphrates, ⁶  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ⁷  will worship ⁸  the Lord!”

Genesis 31:19

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, ⁹  Rachel stole the household idols ¹⁰  that belonged to her father.

Genesis 31:30

31:30 Now I understand that ¹¹  you have gone away ¹²  because you longed desperately ¹³  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 31:32

31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! ¹⁵  In the presence of our relatives ¹⁶  identify whatever is yours and take it.” ¹⁷  (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) ¹⁸ 

Genesis 31:53

31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ¹⁹  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ²⁰ 

Genesis 35:4

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession ²¹  and the rings that were in their ears. ²²  Jacob buried them ²³  under the oak ²⁴  near Shechem

[24:15]  ¹ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ² tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ³ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ⁵ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ⁸ tn Or “will serve.”

[31:19]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[31:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[31:30]  ¹² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.

[31:30]  ¹³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.

[31:30]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”

[31:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “brothers.”

[31:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”

[31:32]  ¹⁸ 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.

[31:53]  ¹⁹ tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.

[31:53]  ²⁰ tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.

[35:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “in their hand.”

[35:4]  ²² sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).

[35:4]  ²³ sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.

[35:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “terebinth.”