Footnotes

1. Genesis 30:23 tn Or “conceived.”
2. Genesis 30:23 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
3. Genesis 30:24 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yosef) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף, ʾasaf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
4. Genesis 30:25 tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.
5. Genesis 30:25 tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.sn For Jacob to ask to leave would mean that seven more years had passed. Thus all Jacob’s children were born within the range of seven years of each other, with Joseph coming right at the end of the seven years.
6. Genesis 30:25 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
7. Genesis 30:25 tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”