Genesis 4:2

4:2 Then she gave birth ¹  to his brother Abel. ²  Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. ³ 

Genesis 11:28

11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, ⁴  while his father Terah was still alive. ⁵ 

Genesis 29:9

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. ⁶ 

Genesis 29:31

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ⁷  he enabled her to become pregnant ⁸  while Rachel remained childless.

Genesis 31:19

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, ⁹  Rachel stole the household idols ¹⁰  that belonged to her father.

Genesis 32:21

32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him ¹¹  while he spent that night in the camp. ¹² 

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¹ tn Heb “And she again gave birth.”

² sn The name Abel is not defined here in the text, but the tone is ominous. Abel’s name, the Hebrew word הֶבֶל (hevel), means “breath, vapor, vanity,” foreshadowing Abel’s untimely and premature death.

³ tn Heb “and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.” The designations of the two occupations are expressed with active participles, רֹעֵה (ro’eh, “shepherd”) and עֹבֵד (’oved, “worker”). Abel is occupied with sheep, whereas Cain is living under the curse, cultivating the ground.

⁴ sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium b.c.

⁵ tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”

⁶ tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”

¹² tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.