Genesis 31:39-41

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 31:39 tn The imperfect verbal form indicates that this was a customary or typical action.
2. Genesis 31:39 tn Heb “from my hand you exacted it.” The imperfect verbal form again indicates that this was a customary or typical action. The words “for every missing animal” are supplied in the translation for clarity; the following clause in Hebrew, “stolen by day or stolen by night,” probably means “stolen by wild beasts” and refers to the same animals “torn by wild beasts” in the previous clause, although it may refer to animals stolen by people. The translation used here, “missing,” is ambiguous enough to cover either eventuality.
3. Genesis 31:40 tn Or “by drought.”
4. Genesis 31:40 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.
5. Genesis 31:40 tn Heb “and my sleep fled from my eyes.”
6. Genesis 31:41 tn Heb “this to me.”
7. Genesis 31:41 tn Heb “served you,” but in this accusatory context the meaning is more “worked like a slave.”