Footnotes

1. Genesis 29:14 tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13; see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).
2. Genesis 29:14 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. Genesis 29:14 tn Heb “a month of days.”
4. Genesis 29:15 tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.
5. Genesis 29:15 tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.
6. Genesis 29:16 tn Heb “and to Laban [there were] two daughters.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a prepositional phrase) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, vv. 16-17 have been set in parentheses in the translation.
7. Genesis 29:17 tn Heb “and the eyes of Leah were tender.” The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a conjunction and a noun) continues the parenthesis begun in v. 16. It is not clear what is meant by “tender” (or “delicate”) eyes. The expression may mean she had appealing eyes (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT), though some suggest that they were plain, not having the brightness normally expected. Either way, she did not measure up to her gorgeous sister.
8. Genesis 29:17 tn Heb “and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.”
9. Genesis 29:18 tn Heb “Jacob loved.”
10. Genesis 29:19 tn Heb “Better my giving her to you than my giving her to another man.”
11. Genesis 29:20 tn Heb “in exchange for Rachel.”
12. Genesis 29:20 sn But they seemed like only a few days to him. This need not mean that the time passed quickly. More likely it means that the price seemed insignificant when compared to what he was getting in the bargain.
13. Genesis 29:20 tn Heb “because of his love for her.” The words “was so great” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
14. Genesis 29:21 tn Heb “and Jacob said.”
15. Genesis 29:21 tn Heb “my days are fulfilled.”
16. Genesis 29:21 tn Heb “I want to approach.” The verb בּוֹא (boʾ) with the preposition אֶל (ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations. The verb is a cohortative; it may be subordinated to the preceding request, “so that I may sleep with,” or it may be an independent clause expressing his desire.
17. Genesis 29:22 tn Heb “men.”
18. Genesis 29:23 tn Heb “and it happened in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her.”sn His daughter Leah. Laban’s deception of Jacob by giving him the older daughter instead of the younger was God’s way of disciplining the deceiver who tricked his older brother. D. Kidner says this account is “the very embodiment of anti-climax, and this moment a miniature of man’s disillusion, experienced from Eden onwards” (Genesis [TOTC], 160). G. von Rad notes, “That Laban secretly gave the unloved Leah to the man in love was, to be sure, a monstrous blow, a masterpiece of shameless treachery…It was certainly a move by which he won for himself far and wide the coarsest laughter” (Genesis [OTL], 291).
19. Genesis 29:23 tn Heb “to him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20. Genesis 29:23 tn Heb “came to” or “approached,” a euphemism for sexual relations. See note at v. 21.
21. Genesis 29:24 tn Heb “and Laban gave to her Zilpah his female servant, to Leah his daughter [for] a servant.” This clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
22. Genesis 29:25 tn Heb “and it happened in the morning that look, it was Leah.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.
23. Genesis 29:25 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24. Genesis 29:25 tn Heb What is this you have done to me?” The use of the pronoun “this” is enclitic, adding emphasis to the question: “What in the world have you done to me?”
25. Genesis 29:25 sn The Hebrew verb translated tricked here (רָמָה, ramah) is cognate to the noun used in Gen 27:35 to describe Jacob’s deception of Esau. Jacob is discovering that what goes around, comes around. See J. A. Diamond, “The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem,” VT 34 (1984): 211-13.
26. Genesis 29:26 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘It is not done so in our place.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
27. Genesis 29:26 tn Heb “to give the younger.” The words “daughter” and “in marriage” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
28. Genesis 29:27 tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.sn Bridal week. An ancient Hebrew marriage ceremony included an entire week of festivities (cf. Judg 14:12).
29. Genesis 29:27 tn Heb “this other one.”
30. Genesis 29:27 tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”sn In exchange for seven more years of work. See C. H. Gordon, “The Story of Jacob and Laban in the Light of the Nuzi Tablets,” BASOR 66 (1937): 25-27; and J. Van Seters, “Jacob’s Marriages and Ancient Near Eastern Customs: A Reassessment,” HTR 62 (1969): 377-95.
31. Genesis 29:28 tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
32. Genesis 29:28 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33. Genesis 29:28 tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.
34. Genesis 29:28 tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35. Genesis 29:29 tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”
36. Genesis 29:30 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37. Genesis 29:30 tn Heb “came to” or “approached,” a euphemism for sexual relations. See note at v. 21.
38. Genesis 29:30 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.