And Laban overtook Jacob: this information has been given in the summary statement in verse 23. To translate as Revised Standard Version does is to repeat what was said there. If this verse is not placed before verse 24, it is better to treat the Hebrew connective as introducing a time clause, by saying “When Laban overtook Jacob….” This requires handling the next connective as introducing the main clause. In this case we may translate “When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tents in….” Note that Good News Translation prefers to omit Laban overtook Jacob as redundant, since it has already been said in verse 23.

For pitched his tent see 12.8. In the Hebrew tent is singular but the sense is collective; the sense may be better expressed as “set up his camp.”

In the hill country is literally “in the hill [mountain].” The text does not name this hill or high ground. Some interpreters assume that the name has been dropped. Some think it is Mount Mizpah and others that it is Gilead. Speiser, who translates “the Height,” says “ ‘The mountain’ was used as a place name of one of the high elevations in the Gilead range.” If this is so, “the mountain” parallels the use of “the river” meaning the Euphrates river. Since there is no way of knowing for certain the name that was associated with this mountain, it is best to translate “on a mountain [or, hill],” as in Good News Translation.

And Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead: the Hebrew says literally “and Laban had pitched with his brothers….” A variant form of the text has “his tent” in place of “his brothers.” However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project regards the Hebrew as an {A} reading and assumes “his tent” is to be understood. We may, accordingly, follow either Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation.

A translation that can be recommended for the whole verse is Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, which says “Laban overtook Jacob in the hills of Gilead, where Jacob had camped. Laban also camped there with his kinsmen.”

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 .