hath looked upon my affliction (rââh be'onyî); for now my husband will love me.

33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because Yahveh hath heard (sham'a) that I am hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Shime'ôn.

34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined (yillâveh) unto me, because I have borne him three sons: therefore was his name called Lêvy.

35 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she said, This time will I praise Yahveh (ûdeh ethYahveh): therefore she called his name Yehûdâh; and she left bearing.

XXX. 11 And when Râ'hêl saw that she bare Ya'aqôb no children, Râ'hêl envied her sister; and she said unto Ya'aqôb, Give me children, or else I die.

3 And she said, Behold my maid Bil'hâh, go in unto her; that she may bear upon my knees, and I also obtain children by her.

may

4 And she gave him Bil'hâh her handmaid to wife: and Ya'aqôb went in unto her.

5 And Bil'hâh conceived, and bare Ya'aqôb a son.

6 And Ra'hêl said, Elôhîm hath judged me (dânanny), and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dân.

1 In the existing text of chap. xxx. we see clearly what we have already stated with reference to the narrative of Abrâhâm's sacrifice. The Jehovist, while composing his book, had before him an older document which had been already published, in which God was called Elóhîm. He has followed it step by step, and has partly borrowed the narrative, for it can be recognised with certainty in certain passages which we have printed in italics.

7 And Bil'hâh Râ'hêl's handmaid conceived again, and bare Ya'aqôb a second son.

8 And Ra'hêl said, With mighty wrestlings of Elôhîm have I wrestled (naphtûly) with my sister, and have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtály.

9 When Lêâh saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpâh her handmaid, and gave her to Ya'aqôb to wife. 10 And Zilpâh Lêâh's handmaid bare Ya'aqôb a son. 11 And Lêâh said, Fortunate (bâgâd)! and she called his name Gâd.

12 And Zilpâh Lêâh's handmaid bare Ya'aqôb a second son.

13 And Lêâh said, Happy am I (beâshry)! for the daughters will call me happy: and she called his name Ashêr.

14 And Reûbên went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Lêâh. Then Râ'hêl said to Lêâh, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Râ'hêl said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to-night for thy son's mandrakes.

16 And Ya'aqôb came from the field in the evening, and Lêâh went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for I have surely hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.

17 And Elôhim hearkened unto Lêâh, and she conceived, and bare Ya'aqôb a fifth son.

18 And Lêâh said, Elôhîm hath endowed me with a

good dowry (shekâry), because I gave my handmaid to husband and she called his name Yissâchâr.

my

:

19 And Lêâh conceived again, and bare a sixth son

to Ya'aqôb.

20 And Lêâh said, Elôhim hath endowed me with a good dowry; now will my husband live with me (yizbelêny), because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zebulûn.

22 And Elôhîm remembered Ra'hêl, and Elohim hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

23 And she conceived, and bare a son: and said, Elôhim hath taken away my reproach:

24 And she called his name Yôsêph, saying, Yahveh add (yôsêph) to me another son.

25 And it came to pass, when Râ'hêl had borne Yôsêph, that Ya'aqôb said unto Lâbân, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service wherewith I have served thee.

27 And Lâbân said unto him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have divined that Yahveh hath blessed me for thy sake.

28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle hath fared with me.

30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it hath increased unto a multitude; and Yahveh hath blessed thee whithersoever I turned: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Ya'aqôb said, Thou shalt not give me aught: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it.

32 I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

33 So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when thou shalt come concerning my hire that is before thee every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.

34 And Lâbân said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons;

36 And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Ya'aqôb: and Ya'aqôb fed the rest of Lâbân's flocks.

40 And Ya'aqôb separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the black in the flock of Lâbân; and he put his own droves apart, and put them not unto Lâbân's flock.

43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maidservants and slaves, and camels and

asses.

XXIX.

YA'AQÔB LEAVES LÂBÂN.1

XXXI. 1 And he heard the words of Lâbân's sons, saying, Ya'aqôb hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.

2 And Ya'aqôb beheld the countenance of Lâbân, and, behold, it was not toward him as beforetime.

3 [And Yahveh said to Ya'aqôb, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.2]

4 And Ya'aqôb sent and called Râ'hêl and Lêâh to the field unto his flock.

5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as beforetime; but the God of my father hath been with me.

6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but Elôhîm suffered him not to hurt me.

8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages;

1 In this portion the Jehovist has again followed the same older writer that he did in chap. xxx. of the present text, in whose document God was called Elôhim. He has reproduced it so accurately that his peculiar mode of expression can only be detected in verse 3, in the first part of verse 13, the second part of verse 23, and vv. 48-50. These would seem to be the only additions this writer has made to the text which he borrowed and inserted bodily into his book.

2 The verses which I have pointed out as being the only ones which are in the style of the Jehovist, and as having been added by him to the older text reproduced by him, are in brackets.