Kejadian 30:3

30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ¹  her so that she can bear ²  children ³  for me ⁴  and I can have a family through her.” ⁵ 

Kejadian 31:40

31:40 I was consumed by scorching heat ⁶  during the day and by piercing cold ⁷  at night, and I went without sleep. ⁸ 

Kejadian 31:49

31:49 It was also called Mizpah ⁹  because he said, “May the Lord watch ¹⁰  between us ¹¹  when we are out of sight of one another. ¹² 

[30:3]  ¹ tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:3]  ² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.

[30:3]  ³ tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.

[30:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).

[31:40]  ⁶ tn Or “by drought.”

[31:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “frost, ice,” though when contrasted with the חֹרֶב (khorev, “drought, parching heat”) of the day, “piercing cold” is more appropriate as a contrast.

[31:40]  ⁸ tn Heb “and my sleep fled from my eyes.”

[31:49]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

[31:49]  ¹⁰ sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

[31:49]  ¹¹ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:49]  ¹² tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”