Genesis 21:27

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ¹ 

Genesis 29:6

29:6 “Is he well?” ²  Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. ³  Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”

Genesis 29:9

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. ⁴ 

Genesis 31:19

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, ⁵  Rachel stole the household idols ⁶  that belonged to her father.

Genesis 38:13

38:13 Tamar was told, ⁷  “Look, your father-in-law is going up ⁸  to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

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¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

² tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”

³ tn Heb “peace.”

⁴ tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”

⁵ tn This disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new scene. In the English translation it may be subordinated to the following clause.

⁶ tn Or “household gods.” Some translations merely transliterate the Hebrew term תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim) as “teraphim,” which apparently refers to household idols. Some contend that possession of these idols guaranteed the right of inheritance, but it is more likely that they were viewed simply as protective deities. See M. Greenberg, “Another Look at Rachel’s Theft of the Teraphim,” JBL 81 (1962): 239-48.

⁷ tn Heb “And it was told to Tamar, saying.”

⁸ tn The active participle indicates the action was in progress or about to begin.