Kejadian 31:25-32

31:25 Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. ¹  31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me ²  and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! ³  31:27 Why did you run away secretly ⁴  and deceive me? ⁵  Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? ⁶  31:28 You didn’t even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren ⁷  good-bye. You have acted foolishly! 31:29 I have ⁸  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ⁹  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ¹⁰  31:30 Now I understand that ¹¹  you have gone away ¹²  because you longed desperately ¹³  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ¹⁴ 

31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” ¹⁵  Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought ¹⁶  you might take your daughters away from me by force. ¹⁷  31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! ¹⁸  In the presence of our relatives ¹⁹  identify whatever is yours and take it.” ²⁰  (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) ²¹ 

[31:25]  ¹ tn Heb “and Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban pitched with his brothers in the hill country of Gilead.” The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb in both clauses) indicates synchronism of action.

[31:26]  ² tn Heb “and you have stolen my heart.” This expression apparently means “to deceive” (see v. 20).

[31:26]  ³ tn Heb “and you have led away my daughters like captives of a sword.”

[31:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Why did you hide in order to flee?” The verb “hide” and the infinitive “to flee” form a hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the other the adverb: “flee secretly.”

[31:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and steal me.”

[31:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “And [why did] you not tell me so I could send you off with joy and with songs, with a tambourine and with a harp?”

[31:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “my sons and my daughters.” Here “sons” refers to “grandsons,” and has been translated “grandchildren” since at least one granddaughter, Dinah, was involved. The order has been reversed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “there is to my hand.”

[31:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “watch yourself,” which is a warning to be on guard against doing something that is inappropriate.

[31:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from speaking with Jacob from good to evil.” The precise meaning of the expression, which occurs only here and in v. 24, is uncertain. See the note on the same phrase in v. 24.

[31:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and now.” The words “I understand that” have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[31:30]  ¹² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the certainty of the action.

[31:30]  ¹³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of emotion involved.

[31:30]  ¹⁴ sn Yet why did you steal my gods? This last sentence is dropped into the speech rather suddenly. See C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings,” VT 30 (1980): 192-207, and G. W. Coats, “Self-Abasement and Insult Formulas,” JBL 91 (1972): 90-92.

[31:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘Because I was afraid.’” This statement is a not a response to the question about Laban’s household gods that immediately precedes, but to the earlier question about Jacob’s motivation for leaving so quickly and secretly (see v. 27). For this reason the words “I left secretly” are supplied in the translation to indicate the connection to Laban’s earlier question in v. 27. Additionally the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for I said.”

[31:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lest you steal your daughters from with me.”

[31:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “With whomever you find your gods, he will not live.”

[31:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[31:32]  ²⁰ tn Heb “recognize for yourself what is with me and take for yourself.”

[31:32]  ²¹ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced here by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides supplemental material that is important to the story. Since this material is parenthetical in nature, it has been placed in parentheses in the translation.