Genesis בראשית Genesis 28:10-32:3 בראשית כ״ח:י׳-ל״ב:ג׳

Jacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran.

He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.

He had a dream; a stairway^*stairway Or “ramp”; others “ladder.” Heb. sullam. was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and messengers of God were going up and down on it.

And standing beside him was יהוה, who said, “I am יהוה, the God of your father Abraham’s [house] and the God of Isaac’s [house]: the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring.

Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.

Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely יהוה is present in this place, and I did not know it!”

Shaken, he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven.”

Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

He named that site Bethel;^*Bethel I.e., “house of God.” but previously the name of the city had been Luz.

Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, protecting me on this journey that I am making, and giving me bread to eat and clothing to wear,

and I return safe to my father’s house— יהוה shall be my God.

And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s abode; and of all that You give me, I will set aside a tithe for You.”

Jacob resumed his journey^*resumed his journey Lit. “lifted up his feet.” and came to the land of the Easterners.

There before his eyes was a well in the open. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for the flocks were watered from that well. The stone on the mouth of the well was large.

When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled from the mouth of the well and the sheep watered; then the stone would be put back in its place on the mouth of the well.

Jacob said to them, “My friends, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”

He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “Yes, we do.”

He continued, “Is he well?” They answered, “Yes, he is; and there is his daughter Rachel, coming with the flock.”

He said, “It is still broad daylight, too early to round up the animals; water the flock and take them to pasture.”

But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are rounded up; then the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well and we water the sheep.”

While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock—for she was its shepherd.

And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle^*uncle Lit. “mother’s brother.” Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban.

Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.

Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

On hearing the news of his sister’s son Jacob, Laban ran to greet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and took him into his house. He told Laban all that had happened,

and Laban said to him, “You are truly my bone and flesh.” When he had stayed with him a month’s time,

Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are a kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

Laban said, “Better that I give her to you than that I should give her to an outsider. Stay with me.”

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.”

And Laban gathered all the people of the place^*people of the place Or “the locals” or “the local dignitaries,” whose presence clearly validated a marriage; Heb. ’anshe ha-maqom. See the Dictionary under ’ish. and made a feast.

When evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and he cohabited with her.—

Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.—

When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?”

Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older.

Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.”

Jacob did so; he waited out the bridal week of the one, and then he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife.—

Laban had given his maidservant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.—

And Jacob cohabited with Rachel also; indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him another seven years.

Seeing that Leah was unloved, יהוה opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

Leah conceived and bore a son, and named him Reuben;^*Reuben Understood as “See a son.” for she declared, “It means: ‘יהוה has seen^*has seen Heb. ra’ah, connected with the first part of “Reuben.” my affliction’; it also means: ‘Now my husband will love me.’”^*will love me Heb. ye’ehabani, connected with the end of “Reuben.”

She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This is because יהוה heard^*heard Heb. shama‘, connected with “Simeon.” that I was unloved and has given me this one also”; so she named him Simeon.

Again she conceived and bore a son and declared, “This time my husband will become attached^*will become attached Heb. yillaweh, connected with “Levi.” to me, for I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi.

She conceived again and bore a son, and declared, “This time I will praise^*I will praise Heb. ’odeh, connected with “Judah.” יהוה.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

When Rachel saw that she had borne Jacob no children, she became envious of her sister; and Rachel said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die.”

Jacob was incensed at Rachel, and said, “Can I take the place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?”

She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children.”

So she gave him her maid Bilhah as concubine, and Jacob cohabited with her.

Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

And Rachel said, “God has vindicated me;^*has vindicated me Heb. dananni, connected with “Dan.” indeed, [God] has heeded my plea and given me a son.” Therefore she named him Dan.

Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

And Rachel said, “A fateful contest I waged^*A fateful contest I waged Heb. naphtule … naphtalti, connected with “Naphtali.” Lit. “A contest of God….” with my sister; yes, and I have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali.

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as concubine.

And when Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son,

Leah said, “What luck!”^*What luck! So the kethib, which reads begad; the qere reads ba’ gad “luck has come”; connected with “Gad.” So she named him Gad.

When Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,

Leah declared, “What fortune!”^*What fortune! Heb. be’oshri, connected with “Asher.” meaning, “Women will deem me fortunate.” So she named him Asher.

Once, at the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben came upon some mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

But she said to her, “Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son’s mandrakes?” Rachel replied, “I promise, he shall lie with you tonight, in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

When Jacob came home from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are to sleep with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.

God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore him a fifth son.

And Leah said, “God has given me my reward^*my reward Heb. sekhari, connected with “Issachar.” for having given my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

When Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son,

Leah said, “God has given me a choice gift;^*has given me a choice gift Heb. zebadani … zebed. this time my husband will exalt me,^*will exalt me Heb. yizbeleni; others “will dwell with me.” for I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.

Last, she bore him a daughter, and named her Dinah.

Now God remembered Rachel; God heeded her and opened her womb.

She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away^*has taken away Heb. ’asaph, connected with “Joseph.” my disgrace.”

So she named him Joseph, which is to say, “May יהוה add^*add Heb. yoseph, connected with “Joseph.” another son for me.”

After Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back to my own homeland.

Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go; for well you know what services I have rendered you.”

But Laban said to him, “If you will indulge me,^*If you will indulge me Lit. “If I have found favor in your eyes.” I have learned by divination that יהוה has blessed me on your account.”

And he continued, “Name the wages due from me, and I will pay you.”

But he said, “You know well how I have served you and how your livestock has fared with me.

For the little you had before I came has grown to much, since יהוה has blessed you wherever I turned. And now, when shall I make provision for my own household?”

He said, “What shall I pay you?” And Jacob said, “Pay me nothing! If you will do this thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flocks:

let me pass through your whole flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted animal—every dark-colored sheep and every spotted and speckled goat. Such shall be my wages.

In the future when you go over my wages, let my honesty toward you testify for me: if there are among my goats any that are not speckled or spotted or any sheep that are not dark-colored, they got there by theft.”

And Laban said, “Very well, let it be as you say.”

But that same day he removed the streaked and spotted he-goats and all the speckled and spotted she-goats—every one that had white on it—and all the dark-colored sheep, and left them in the charge of his sons.

And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.

Jacob then got fresh shoots of poplar, and of almond and plane, and peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white of the shoots.

The rods that he had peeled he set up in front of the goats^*goats Lit. “flocks.” in the troughs, the water receptacles, that the goats came to drink from. Their mating occurred when they came to drink,

and since the goats mated by the rods, the goats brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted young.

But Jacob dealt separately with the sheep; he made these animals face the streaked or wholly dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. And so he produced special flocks for himself, which he did not put with Laban’s flocks.

Moreover, when the sturdier^*sturdier Or “early-breeding.” animals were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they mated by the rods;

but with the feebler^*feebler Or “late-breeding.” animals he would not place them there. Thus the feeble^*feeble Cf. previous note. ones went to Laban and the sturdy to Jacob.

So the man grew exceedingly prosperous, and came to own large flocks, maidservants and menservants, camels and asses.

Now he heard the things that Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from that which was our father’s he has built up all this wealth.”

Jacob also saw that Laban’s manner toward him was not as it had been in the past.

Then יהוה said to Jacob, “Return to your ancestors’ land—where you were born—and I will be with you.”

Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field, where his flock was,

and said to them, “I see that your father’s manner toward me is not as it has been in the past. But the God of my father’s [house] has been with me.

As you know, I have served your father with all my might;

but your father has cheated me, changing my wages time and again.^*time and again Lit. “ten times.” God, however, would not let him do me harm.

If he said thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks would drop speckled young; and if he said thus, ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks would drop streaked young.

God has taken away your father’s livestock and given it to me.

“Once, at the mating time of the flocks, I had a dream in which I saw^*I had a dream in which I saw Lit. “I raised my eyes and saw in a dream, behold.” that the he-goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and mottled.

And in the dream a messenger of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here,’ I answered.

And the messenger said, ‘Note well that all the he-goats which are mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, and mottled; for I have noted all that Laban has been doing to you.

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now, arise and leave this land and return to your native land.’”

Then Rachel and Leah answered him, saying, “Have we still a share in the inheritance of our father’s house?

Surely, he regards us as outsiders, now that he has sold us and has used up our purchase price.

Truly, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, do just as God has told you.”

Thereupon Jacob put his children and wives on camels;

and he drove off all his livestock and all the wealth that he had amassed, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

Meanwhile Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

Jacob kept Laban the Aramean in the dark,^*kept Laban the Aramean in the dark Lit. “stole the mind of Laban the Aramean”; similarly in v. 26. not telling him that he was fleeing,

and fled with all that he had. Soon he was across the Euphrates and heading toward the hill country of Gilead.

On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

So he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days, catching up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

But God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad.”

Laban overtook Jacob. Jacob had pitched his tent on the Height, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead.

And Laban said to Jacob, “What did you mean by keeping me in the dark and carrying off my daughters like captives of the sword?

Why did you flee in secrecy and mislead me and not tell me? I would have sent you off with festive music, with timbrel and lyre.

You did not even let me kiss my sons and daughters^*sons and daughters So NJPS; Heb. levanai we-livnotai, a stock phrase (see, e.g., 46.15; 1 Sam. 30.6; Neh. 5.5) that means “progeny,” thus including grandchildren. good-by! It was a foolish thing for you to do.

I have it in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father’s [house] said to me last night, ‘Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad.’

Very well, you had to leave because you were longing for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?”

Jacob answered Laban, saying, “I was afraid because I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.

But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive! In the presence of our kin, point out what I have of yours and take it.” Jacob, of course, did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them. Leaving Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.

Rachel, meanwhile, had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on them; and Laban rummaged through the tent without finding them.

For she said to her father, “Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot rise before you, for I am in a womanly way.” Thus he searched, but could not find the household idols.

Now Jacob became incensed and took up his grievance with Laban. Jacob spoke up and said to Laban, “What is my crime, what is my guilt that you should pursue me?

You rummaged through all my things; what have you found of all your household objects? Set it here, before my kin and yours, and let them decide between us two.

“These twenty years I have spent in your service, your ewes and she-goats never miscarried, nor did I feast on rams from your flock.

That which was torn by beasts I never brought to you; I myself made good the loss; you exacted it of me, whether snatched by day or snatched by night.

Often,^*Often Lit. “I was.” scorching heat ravaged me by day and frost by night; and sleep fled from my eyes.

Of the twenty years that I spent in your household, I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flocks; and you changed my wages time and again.^*time and again Lit. “ten times.”

Had not the God of my father’s [house]—the God of Abraham and the Fear^*Fear Meaning of Heb. paḥad uncertain. of Isaac—been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But it was my plight and the toil of my hands that God took notice of—and gave judgment on last night.”

Then Laban spoke up and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks; all that you see is mine. Yet what can I do now about my daughters or the children they have borne?

Come, then, let us make a pact, you and I, that there may be a witness between you and me.”

Thereupon Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.

And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a mound; and they partook of a meal there by the mound.

Laban named it Yegar-sahadutha,^*Yegar-sahadutha Aramaic for “the mound (or: stone-heap) of witness.” but Jacob named it Gal-ed.^*Gal-ed Heb. for “the mound (or: stone-heap) of witness,” reflecting the name Gilead, v. 23.

And Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” That is why it was named Gal-ed;

and [it was called] Mizpah, because he said, “May יהוה watch^*watch Heb. yiṣeph, associated with Mizpah. between you and me, when we are out of sight of each other.

If you ill-treat my daughters or take other wives besides my daughters—though no one else^*one else Or “participant,” i.e., one of the witnesses to this agreement, who is thereby authorized to intervene if it is violated; cf. Kimhi, and see the Dictionary under ’ish. be about, remember, it is God who will be witness between you and me.”

And Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this mound and here the pillar which I have set up between you and me:

this mound shall be witness and this pillar shall be witness that I am not to cross to you past this mound, and that you are not to cross to me past this mound and this pillar, with hostile intent.

May the God of Abraham’s [house] and the god of Nahor’s [house]”—their ancestral deities—“judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear^*Fear Meaning of Heb. paḥad uncertain. of his father Isaac’s [house].

Jacob then offered up a sacrifice on the Height, and invited his kinsmen to partake of the meal. After the meal, they spent the night on the Height.

Early in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters^*sons and daughters See note at 31.28. and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward.

Jacob went on his way, and messengers of God encountered him.

When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.^*Mahanaim Connected with Heb. maḥaneh “camp.”