Laban says nothing in reply to Jacob, but goes immediately from tent to tent and searches through the camp baggage.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent: Laban begins the search in Jacob’s tent, since Jacob himself is probably the number one suspect in Laban’s eyes. In translation it may be necessary to state the purpose for going into the tents; for example, “So Laban began to search in Jacob’s tent, then in Leah’s tent, and in the tent of the two women servants, but he did not find his household gods.”

… and into … and into …: verse 33 summarizes the search of three tents. If we assume the narrator gives the tents in order of the search, this is Jacob, Leah, the maids. The final sentence, however, says And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered Rachel’s. It is probable that Leah’s tent is mentioned here rather than the maids’, as the latter are only secondary characters in the story. Nevertheless, if translators find this a problem, it is possible to make an adjustment by saying, for example, “When he had searched those tents he went into Rachel’s” or “he went from those tents and into….” For another model see 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 .