But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night: But translates the common connective. It serves here to introduce an unexpected development. Languages have many ways of expressing this kind of contrast. Came to Laban may need to be rendered, for example, “God appeared” or “God spoke to Laban.” For Aramean see 25.20.
In verse 23 the text says that Laban caught up with Jacob in Gilead. However, the warning dream mentioned in this verse probably occurred before Laban actually met Jacob. Therefore it may be necessary to make the time connection between these two events clear by saying, for example, “But before Laban spoke to Jacob, God appeared to him in a dream.” Good News Translation does something similar by saying in verse 24 “In a dream that night,” in which “that night” refers to the night Laban caught up with Jacob but had not yet spoken to him.
In some languages a better way of making the time connection clear is to reverse the order of verses 24 and 25 so that the events are described as they happened. A translation that follows this approach says “Jacob had made his camp on a hill … and Laban came with his men and they set up camp in that hilly place too. That night God came to Laban in a dream and said….”
Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob: Take heed translates an expression meaning “watch out,” “be on guard,” “be careful.” If taken literally say not a word would prevent Laban from speaking to Jacob. However, this caution is qualified by either good or bad. This expression is idiomatic. It was used by Laban and his father in 24.50. The strict sense is “Don’t say anything at all.” But what is to be understood is that Laban should not say anything harmful. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “Don’t speak brusquely to Jacob,” Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Be careful not to threaten Jacob.” Many translations use expressions like “strong talk” or “cross talk” in this context.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .