16 August 2022 draft-bible
4. brothers. Hebrew ʾaḥai. Reading ‘relatives’, I think, puts an overly specific meaning on Jacob’s greeting. The friendly use of ‘brother’ with people are not literally one’s brothers does not necessarily imply that those people are relatives. It is worth noting here that NHEB reads ‘brothers’.
6. Is he well? Hebrew, šalom lo.
7. He is. Hebrew, šalom.
7. it is still high day. Literally, ‘the day is still large’.
7. livestock. Hebrew miqne, a term broader than ‘cattle’, if by cattle one means bovines.
7. to be gathered. A niphʿal infinitive.
12. relative. Literally, ‘brother’, though in the broader context of Genesis Laban is in fact Jacob’s uncle.
14. And he stayed. So, literally, the Hebrew.
14. a full month. Hebrew ‘month of days’.
17. tender. Hebrew rak, but it is unclear whether this speaks of some attribute that would generally be seen as attractive (‘soft’ eyes, for example) or some defect (‘weak’ eyes).
17. beautiful in form. Hebrew yᵉfat toʾar. The WEB comes nearer to the meaning of the phrase than the ASV’s mere ‘beautiful’.
17. beautiful in appearance. Hebrew yᵉfat marʾeh. It seems desirable to bring out the close parallel between this phrase and the preceding yᵉfat toʾar.
21. go in to her. A biblical euphemism for sexual relations.
24. slave. Hebrew šifḥah. The social position implied by this phrase is significantly below a mere household assistant. In verse 24 in general, I have tried to more closely follow the structure of the Hebrew wording.
27. Fulfill the week. i.e. complete the usual wedding festivities for Leah. Driver illustrates the idea by referencing Judges 14:12 and Tobit 11:19, both of which make reference to week-long wedding celebrations (Genesis, 10th ed., 1916 [1904]).
29. slave. As in verse 24.
30. The poorly-named International Standard Version, as found in July 2022 on biblehub.com, has a surprising translation of this verse. “Jacob also married Rachel, since he loved her. He served Laban another full seven years’ work for Rachel.” Somehow, there is no mention here of Jacob’s love for Leah being ‘more than [his love for] Leah’ (Hebrew milleʾah). The word ‘full’ also shows up in the ISV translation for no obvious reason – perhaps there is some proposed emendation underlying the translation, or perhaps the translators have simply mistaken milleʾah, ‘more than Leah’, for some version of maleʾ, ‘full’.
31. infertile. On ‘infertile’ as opposed to barren, see the note on 25:21.
32. has seen my affliction. In the Hebrew, ‘my affliction’ is preceded by the preposition b-, which suggests a ‘seeing’ that is more than the casual glance that might be implied by the English ‘look at’. Between ‘looked at’ (WEB) and ‘looked upon’ (ASV), looked upon would be a better choice.
33. Simeon. Hebrew šimʿon, which in Hebrew looks as if it comes from the Hebrew verb ‘heard’ (š-m-ʿ ).
34. Levi. Hebrew lewi, to which compare “will be joined”, yillawe.
35. Judah. Hebrew Yehudah, which this verse relates to the verb y-d-h, ‘praise’.
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