And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger: the older daughter reports to her younger sister.

Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us … tonight also: she goes on to propose that the same be done again as in verse 32. The urgency of their plight is brought out in the swift succession of events: tonight also. In many languages the repetition of proposal and action is marked by the frequent use of words like also, “a second time” or “again”: “let’s get him drunk again tonight…” (Good News Translation).

The younger sister is instructed by the older one, then you go in and lie with him. Many translations express this as “then you go and sleep with him too” or “you can sleep with him as I did.” The purpose is repeated from verse 32: that we may preserve offspring through our father.

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 .