To emphasize his point Laban repeats his question in slightly different form.

Why did you flee secretly…?: for flee see verses 20, 21, and 22. Secretly means “without telling anyone.”

Cheat me translates the verb “stole” as in verse 26, but it is not used in the idiomatic expression as there. The sense is, however, to “deceive,” “dupe,” or “trick.”

So that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs: Laban claims he would have given a farewell party if Jacob had not gone off without telling him. We may restructure this statement to say, for example, “If you had not gone like that, I would have sent you off with…,” or “If you…, I would have given a farewell feast with….” To avoid the contrary-to-fact condition, we may say something like “I wanted to send you off with…, but I could not because you….” In many languages the celebration feast given at the departure of the bride for her husband’s village has a special name. In societies in which husbands move to the bride’s family, a special note may be required. If the note is given only once, it may be better to place it at 24.58.

In some languages the construction sent you away with … is not natural and must be replaced with something like “I would have called in the people who play … and made a feast to send you off in the proper way.”

With mirth and songs: mirth translates a word meaning “gladness,” “rejoicing,” “gaiety.” The word expresses the sort of rejoicing experienced and expressed in a happy celebration. Songs in this context refers to songs or singing accompanied by the tambourine and lyre. Tambourine translates the Hebrew word tof, which is a type of small hand-held drum. Sound is produced by holding the instrument in one hand and striking the skin head with the palm or fingers of the other hand. The lyre is a stringed instrument similar to a harp. For further information and illustrations, see 4.21.

In translation it is often possible to use local equivalent instruments such as bells and guitar. Translators should note that Laban is not calling attention to the nature of these instruments. If no equivalent instruments are known, it may be best to say, for example, “I would have given a farewell feast with lots of fun, and singing with musical instruments.”

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 .

Then the angel of God said to me in the dream: for angel of God see a similar expression in 16.7. Said to me followed by calling Jacob’s name may need to be rendered “called to me” or “called my name.”

And I said is followed by a response and so must often be translated “I answered.” See Good News Translation.

For Here I am see Abraham’s response to the LORD in 22.1.

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 .

Lift up your eyes is the command form of the same expression used in verse 10. See Good News Translation.

All the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled: see verse 10.

For I have seen all that Laban is doing to you: this statement suggests that God has arranged for the animals to breed in this fashion so that Jacob will receive the wages Laban has withheld from him. In this way Jacob’s trick in chapter 30, in which the striped branches are placed before the mating animals, is now explained as God’s intervention to make the trick work for Jacob.

In some languages it will be necessary to adjust the final sentence of verse 12 to show its relation to the rest of that verse. For example, we may need to say “I have caused them to mate that way because I have seen how Laban has cheated you.” Note Good News Translation “I am making this happen because….”

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 .

Interpreters recognize that verse 13 does not fit well in its present position in the Hebrew text. However, most translations keep it at this position. The information in verse 13 refers back to the events recorded in 28.18-22.

I am the God of Bethel: God of Bethel may be a title; however, the Septuagint and the ancient Targum translate “The God who appeared to you at Bethel.” See Good News Translation. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which rates the Hebrew as a {B}, recommends translating as “the God of Bethel.” Modern versions are divided. For example, New English Bible follows the Septuagint, but Revised English Bible follows the Hebrew text. New Revised Standard Version follows Revised Standard Version and adds a note, “Hebrew uncertain.” To clarify the phrase of Bethel, the Handbook recommends following Good News Translation, and for those translations that use footnotes, to add the Revised Standard Version form in a note.

Anointed a pillar: see the wording used in 28.18. For vow see 28.20.

The remainder of verse 13 repeats the command given to Jacob in Gen 31.3.

Now arise, go forth from this land: for comments on arise in this context, see 13.17. Go forth means to “depart from,” “leave,” “go back.”

Land of your birth is literally “land of your kindred.” The same Hebrew word is rendered “kindred” in verse 3 and may be translated the same way here as it was there. In some languages there is a common term or expression for the place where a person was born or the place that is regarded as the home of a clan, and this may be appropriate in this context; for example, “go back to your own country” or “… to the place where you belong.”

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 .

Verses 41-42 explain how Jacob made certain that his animals were stronger and healthier than those that belonged to Laban. See the note on trick 3 in verse 37.

Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding: stronger of the flock refers to the animals that are robust, sturdy, healthy. In some languages these are called “the fat animals.”

Laid the rods in the runnels: see verse 38.

Before the eyes of the flock: that is, so they could see the striped branches.

That they might breed among the rods: see the similar expression in verse 39.

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 verses 14-16 Jacob’s wives respond to his speech.

Then Rachel and Leah answered him: this statement may give the impression that both women are speaking in unison, with one voice. If this is a problem for the translator’s language, it may be necessary to adjust this introductory sentence to say, for example, “Rachel and Leah spoke to Jacob and one of them asked [said] ….”

Is there any portion or inheritance…?: this question is rhetorical and a way of saying “There is nothing we can inherit….” See Good News Translation. Portion or inheritance is a construction in which two nouns are joined by a conjunction, but which has a single meaning, “inheritance.” The thought is that at their marriage to Jacob Rachel and Leah received all the inheritance they could expect from their father. Two examples of the way this may be expressed in translation are “There is nothing more that we-two can get when our father dies” and “Our father doesn’t want to give us anything when he dies.”

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 .

But for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there: feebler of the flock refers to the animals that are not robust and healthy. They are sometimes described in English as weak, scrawny, or thin. Translators will want to use a term that contrasts with that used in verse 41. Did not lay them means he did not lay the striped branches in the drinking troughs.

So the feebler were Laban’s: the thin, weak animals would tend to produce offspring like their parents and be unaffected by the striped branches. These would remain in Laban’s flocks.

And the stronger Jacob’s: on the other hand the healthier animals would produce offspring of mixed colors and these belonged to Jacob.

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 .

Are we not regarded by him as foreigners?: this question expects a positive answer. Note that Good News Translation renders the question as a statement. Foreigners here means “foreign women,” “outsiders,” “aliens.” The reason they may be looked upon as foreigners is possibly that they have married Jacob, who comes from a foreign land and worships a foreign God, even though he is Laban’s nephew. Another way of understanding the expression regarded … as foreigners is “he treats us as if we were outsiders, not members of his family.” New Jerusalem Bible and Speiser translate the keyword as “outsiders,” while Revised English Bible has “strangers.” One translation expresses this as “women of another tribe”; another says “He now treats us as if we-two were not his children, we-two are just strangers.”

For he has sold us: Speiser says that “sell” used in regard to marriage was the term used in documents from that period and area. Part of the bride price was kept for the woman as her dowry. However, the text does not say that Jacob gave property or money as a bride payment. He gave fourteen years of service in exchange for his two wives. It is probably the case that Rachel and Leah considered the profit Laban made through Jacob’s service as their true bride payment. Instead of giving them some of the money earned from Jacob’s long years of service, Laban used it for himself.

He has been using up the money given for us: using up is literally “he has eaten up our silver.” This money would represent the income produced by Jacob’s ability to increase the flocks. In some languages this thought is expressed very much as in the literal Hebrew; for example, “Our father has eaten the money paid for us” or “Our father has eaten the wealth Jacob paid him to marry us.” In other cases everyday expressions are used, such as “the money he got as a price for us, he has spent it all.”

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 .