29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work 4 for me for nothing because you are my relative? 5 Tell me what your wages should be.”
39:11 One day 9 he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants 10 were there in the house.
1 tn The verb is usually translated “and sanctified it.” The Piel verb קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) means “to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it.” On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God.
2 tn Heb “God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “for on it he ceased from all his work which God created to make.” The last infinitive construct and the verb before it form a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the modifier – “which God creatively made,” or “which God made in his creating.”
4 tn The verb is the perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; the nuance in the question is deliberative.
5 tn Heb “my brother.” The term “brother” is used in a loose sense; actually Jacob was Laban’s nephew.
6 tn Heb “fulfill the period of seven of this one.” The referent of “this one” has been specified in the translation as “my older daughter” for clarity.
sn Bridal week. An ancient Hebrew marriage ceremony included an entire week of festivities (cf. Judg 14:12).
7 tn Heb “this other one.”
8 tn Heb “and we will give to you also this one in exchange for labor which you will work with me, still seven other years.”
sn In exchange for seven more years of work. See C. H. Gordon, “The Story of Jacob and Laban in the Light of the Nuzi Tablets,” BASOR 66 (1937): 25-27; and J. Van Seters, “Jacob’s Marriages and Ancient Near Eastern Customs: A Reassessment,” HTR 62 (1969): 377-95.
9 tn Heb “and it was about this day.”
10 tn Heb “the men of the house.”