Genesis 29:32

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ²  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ³  Surely my husband will love me now.”

Genesis 30:31

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁴  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁵  Jacob replied, ⁶  “but if you agree to this one condition, ⁷  I will continue to care for ⁸  your flocks and protect them:

Genesis 34:22

34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand ⁹  that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.

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¹ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

² sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

³ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the Lord has “looked” with pity on her oppressed condition. See further S. R. Driver, Genesis, 273.

⁴ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.

⁶ tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”

⁸ tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”

⁹ tn Heb “when every one of our males is circumcised.”