It is in my power to do you harm: no doubt Laban’s men were well armed and outnumbered Jacob’s servants; so they could easily defeat them in a fight. The Hebrew construction says literally “It is according to the power of my hand.” See Good News Translation. Bible en français courant says “I have the means of….” We may also say “If I wish I can…” or “I am strong enough to….” You in do you harm is plural and refers to Jacob and all those with him. Laban uses harm as a general term without saying what kind of harm he means. If the language of translation requires something more concrete, we may say, for example, “to attack you.”

But the God of your father: the connective translated as but by Revised Standard Version marks a strong contrast between Laban’s threat and God’s intervention. God is ʾelohim and your is again plural in the Hebrew text but singular in the Septuagint and in the Samaritan Pentateuch. The plural form seems to have been repeated from the previous line (“do you [plural] harm”) but your should be translated here as singular, since Laban is referring to the father of Jacob.

Spoke to me last night: in verse 24 God spoke to Laban “in a dream by night.” It may be advisable to repeat “in a dream” here in verse 29 to avoid giving the impression that Laban refers to a different event.

Take heed … bad: see verse 24.

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 .