Discovery BoxGenesis 31:35-39 
Context31:35 Rachel 1 said to her father, “Don’t be angry, 2 my lord. I cannot stand up 3 in your presence because I am having my period.” 4 So he searched thoroughly, 5 but did not find the idols.
31:36 Jacob became angry 6 and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. 7 “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? 8 31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? 9 Set it here before my relatives and yours, 10 and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! 11
31:38 “I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 31:39 Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. 12 You always made me pay for every missing animal, 13 whether it was taken by day or at night.
1 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “let it not be hot in the eyes of my lord.” This idiom refers to anger, in this case as a result of Rachel’s failure to stand in the presence of her father as a sign of respect.
3 tn Heb “I am unable to rise.”
4 tn Heb “the way of women is to me.” This idiom refers to a woman’s menstrual period.
5 tn The word “thoroughly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
6 tn Heb “it was hot to Jacob.” This idiom refers to anger.
7 tn Heb “and Jacob answered and said to Laban, ‘What is my sin?’” The proper name “Jacob” has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation and the order of the introductory clause and direct discourse rearranged for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “What is my sin that you have hotly pursued after me.” The Hebrew verb translated “pursue hotly” is used elsewhere of soldiers chasing defeated enemies (1 Sam 17:53).
9 tn Heb “what did you find from all the goods of your house?”
10 tn Heb “your relatives.” The word “relatives” has not been repeated in the translation here for stylistic reasons.
11 tn Heb “that they may decide between us two.”
12 tn The imperfect verbal form indicates that this was a customary or typical action.
13 tn Heb “from my hand you exacted it.” The imperfect verbal form again indicates that this was a customary or typical action. The words “for every missing animal” are supplied in the translation for clarity; the following clause in Hebrew, “stolen by day or stolen by night,” probably means “stolen by wild beasts” and refers to the same animals “torn by wild beasts” in the previous clause, although it may refer to animals stolen by people. The translation used here, “missing,” is ambiguous enough to cover either eventuality.
