As in verse 42 the divine subject is given as the God of … three times. Note, however, that Good News Translation does not have the third element the God of their father. This expression is lacking in some Hebrew manuscripts and in the Septuagint. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports Good News Translation‘s omission. Abraham is the grandfather of Jacob and Nahor the grandfather of Laban. Consequently Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “May the God of your [Jacob’s] grandfather Abraham and he [the God] of my grandfather Nahor decide between us.”

Judge between us: for judge see 16.5. In this context the sense may be “give a decision in the case of trouble between us” or “make sure that we-two keep the agreement we have made.” The verb judge in the Hebrew text is plural. It appears that the text treats the two God of … as distinct. This is supported by Josh 24.2: “Your fathers lived of old beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor; and they served other gods.”

So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac: So, which signals a consequence, may be better replaced by a word like “Then,” pointing to a subsequent action taken by Jacob. For swore see 14.22; 21.23, 24. See Good News Translation “solemnly vowed.” For Fear of … Isaac see verse 42.

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 .

Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain: this is the first use of the word for sacrifice in Genesis. In 8.20; 22.2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13, we encountered the expression “burnt offering,” which referred to animals that were killed and burned up completely. In this verse the animal is killed and burned, but some of the meat is kept for eating. The sacrifice and the eating of the meat from the sacrificial animal unites Jacob and Laban, as well as their kinsmen, with God in a ritual act and so affirms and seals the agreement.

In languages that do not have a suitable expression for this kind of sacrifice, it is most often necessary to use a descriptive expression such as “slaughter an animal and burn part of it as a gift for God.” This lengthy expression may be placed in a note and a shorter form used in the translation.

Called his kinsmen … and they ate: the text his kinsmen means the relatives of Jacob, but it does not make clear who is referred to. Because of the context of making a treaty that applies to the whole passage, we take the view here that they refers to Jacob, Laban, and all their kinsmen. A translation that brings this out clearly says “Jacob killed a small goat as an offering, and he called all his relations to come and eat that meat. Jacob cooked the meat, then they all ate there beside the stones.”

And they ate bread and tarried all night: bread is often used in Hebrew as a part for the whole, with the meaning of “food” or “a meal.” The meat from the sacrifice was eaten with bread. The fuller sense of bread here is “a meal.” See Good News Translation. Tarried translates a verb meaning “to pass the night”; the same verb was used in 19.2, where Lot urged the two angels “to spend the night” at his house. See also 28.11. Eating and staying all night are not intended to be two expressions for one event but describe two separate actions. Accordingly Good News Translation is a good model: “After they had eaten….”

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 .

That which was torn by wild beasts: Speiser cites a paragraph from the code of Hammurabi (about 2000 B.C.): “If there occurs in the fold an act of god, or a lion takes a life, the shepherd shall clear himself before the deity. The owner of the fold must then accept the loss incurred.” Exo 22.13 says “If it [an animal] is torn by beasts, let him [the shepherd] bring it as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been torn.” Jacob claims that in such cases he did not bring the remains of the animal to Laban but rather replaced the killed animal from one of his own. Torn by wild beasts may be rendered, for example, “killed by a wild animal.”

I did not bring it to you may need to be filled out to say, for example, “I did not bring the body of the dead animal for you to see,” “I did not tell you and put the blame on that wild animal,” “I did not bring the remains so you could see how it was killed,” or “… that a wild animal had killed it.”

I bore the loss means “I replaced the dead animal with a live one of my own.”

Of my hand you required it: Laban did not live up to the requirements of the law (the current Code of Hammurabi or the later Mosaic law). Instead he imposed his own rules upon his son-in-law. For translation see Good News Translation. Or it can be “you made me replace it” or “… pay for it.”

Whether stolen by day or stolen by night: according to Exo 22.10 if the animal disappeared and there is no witness, as would likely be the case of an animal stolen at night, the shepherd could take an oath that he had not stolen the animal. In that case the owner had to accept the loss. We may translate, for example, “Whenever an animal was stolen in broad daylight or even at night, you made me replace it” or “… made me pay for it.”

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 .

In the Hebrew Bible verse 55 is the first verse of chapter 32. The Handbook places it here to keep in line with the verse numbering of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The Hebrew chapter and verse numbers will be included within square brackets for those translators who need to follow that alternative system.

Early in the morning Laban arose: arose probably means he got up from sleeping. However, it may also have been used here to mean that he got ready to leave.

Kissed his grandchildren and his daughters: in verse 28 Laban complained to Jacob that he had been denied this pleasure when Jacob fled. In some languages it is necessary to express a transition that moves Laban from where he got up to the place where he kissed them. For example, it may be necessary to say “Early the next morning Laban got up and went to his grandchildren and daughters and kissed them good-bye.”

Blessed them: here the verb occurs as part of the farewell ceremony. This word is sometimes used when people meet each other and when they part. For its use as a greeting, see 1 Sam 13.10; 25.14. In the context of verse 55, blessed them is a parting gesture that we may translate as “said farewell to them” or “told them good-bye.” In 32.29 when Jacob’s opponent takes leave of him before daylight, it will be said “there he blessed him.”

Then he departed and returned home: the text mentions only Laban as the principal character, but the sense is “Laban and his men.”

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 .

Thus I was; by day the heat consumed me: Revised Standard Version‘s sentence structure is awkward. See Good News Translation. Consumed translates the Hebrew, which means “ate” or “devoured.” Jacob means that he suffered from the daytime heat. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy also uses a figurative expression: “By day I was dying from the heat and by night I was dying from the cold.”

And the cold by night: this phrase is elliptic; that is, the verb consumed serves for both day and night. Cold is literally “frost” and refers to the formation of dew, which freezes at 0 degrees Celsius, 32 degrees Fahrenheit. It is usually not advisable to use a long descriptive phrase to speak of the cold. Since heat and cold are relative terms, a pair of opposites is normally adequate.

And my sleep fled from my eyes: this expression is figurative. Note how Good News Translation translates it nonfiguratively.

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 .

These twenty years I have been in your house: Jacob reminds Laban again of the many years of service he gave him. See verse 38. The repetition is rhetorical and it emphasizes Jacob’s anger. We may translate “For twenty long years I was part of your family” or “For twenty years I was member of your family.” Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible relate this statement closely to what Jacob has just been saying: “It was like that for the whole twenty years I was with you.” We may also say “For twenty long years in your family you have treated me like that.” This is further emphasized in some translations by adding “It was always the same; it never changed.”

I served you fourteen years for your two daughters: for served see 29.18, 30. For your two daughters must often be expressed as “to be allowed to marry your two daughters” or “so I could marry … daughters.”

And six years for your flock: the expression for your … makes this clause parallel to the previous clause. The verb served is the verb for both clauses. For your flock means “I worked six years for these animals, which you gave me as my pay” or “in order to get animals for myself from your flocks.” See the agreement reached with Laban in 30.31 and 32.

Changed my wages ten times: see Gen 31.7. The meaning may be expressed as “all the time you kept changing my pay.” This statement and the following verse are of special significance. As Westermann says, “In the ears of the listeners this was a very serious accusation. From the Book of the Covenant, through the Deuteronomic law to the prophets and into the New Testament, it was a particularly serious crime for the employer not to allow the employee to receive the wages due him (immediately after the work). It is here that Laban’s real culpability lies.”

In the Hebrew this statement is introduced by the common Hebrew connective, but its force in this context is more than a mere coordination or addition. A more adequate rendering than Revised Standard Version is something like “What is more” or “To make matters worse.” See also Good News Translation.

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 .