29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. 1 When Jacob 2 completed Leah’s bridal week, 3 Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 4 29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 5 29:30 Jacob 6 had marital relations 7 with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban 8 for seven more years. 9
29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, 10 he enabled her to become pregnant 11 while Rachel remained childless.
1 tn Heb “and Jacob did so.” The words “as Laban said” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “the seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as Leah to avoid confusion with Rachel, mentioned later in the verse.
4 tn Heb “and he gave to him Rachel his daughter for him for a wife.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”
6 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “went in also to Rachel.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse, i.e., the consummation of the marriage.
8 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “and he loved also Rachel, more than Leah, and he served with him still seven other years.”
10 tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.
11 tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”