Genesis 30:26
New International Version
Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

New Living Translation
Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”

English Standard Version
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.”

Berean Standard Bible
Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.”

King James Bible
Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

New King James Version
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”

New American Standard Bible
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.”

NASB 1995
“Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.”

NASB 1977
“Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.”

Amplified Bible
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the work which I have done for you.”

Christian Standard Bible
Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you.”

American Standard Version
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.

Contemporary English Version
You know how hard I've worked for you, so let me take my wives and children and leave."

English Revised Version
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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Give me my wives and my children for whom I've worked, and let me go. You know how much work I've done for you."

Good News Translation
Give me my wives and children that I have earned by working for you, and I will leave. You know how well I have served you."

International Standard Version
Give me my wives and children for whom I've served you. Then I'll leave, since you're aware of my service to you."

Majority Standard Bible
Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.”

NET Bible
Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I'll depart, because you know how hard I've worked for you."

New Heart English Bible
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service I have given you."

Webster's Bible Translation
Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

World English Bible
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
give up my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and I go; for you have known my service which I have served you.”

Young's Literal Translation
give up my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and I go; for thou -- thou hast known my service which I have served thee.'

Smith's Literal Translation
Give my wives and my children, for whom I served thee, and I will go forth; for thou knewest ray work which I served thee.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served you, so that I may depart. You know the servitude with which I have served you.”

New American Bible
Give me my wives and my children for whom I served you and let me go, for you know the service that I rendered you.”

New Revised Standard Version
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service which I have rendered you.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Give to me my wives and the children of your service for them, and I shall go, because you know the work that I have done for you.”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
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.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Restore my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart, for thou knowest the service wherewith I have served thee.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jacob Prospers
25Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland. 26Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.” 27But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.”…

Cross References
Genesis 31:41
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!

Genesis 31:38-40
I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock. / I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night. / As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

Genesis 31:6-7
You know that I have served your father with all my strength. / And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.

Genesis 31:14-16
And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house? / Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us. / Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

Genesis 31:18
and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.

Genesis 31:32
If you find your gods with anyone here, he shall not live! In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself if anything is yours, and take it back.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

Genesis 31:43
But Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these sons are my sons, and these flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne?

Genesis 31:55
Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.

Exodus 21:2
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.

Deuteronomy 15:12-14
If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free. / And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. / You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

1 Samuel 18:25-27
Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines. / When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived, / David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.

1 Samuel 25:10-11
But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters. / Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

2 Samuel 19:17
along with a thousand men of Benjamin, as well as Ziba the steward of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed down to the Jordan before the king

Nehemiah 5:8
and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

Job 7:1-2
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? / Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.


Treasury of Scripture

Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go: for you know my service which I have done you.

my wives.

Genesis 29:19,20,30
And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me…

Genesis 31:26,31,41
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? …

Hosea 12:12
And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.

for thou.

Genesis 30:29,30
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me…

Genesis 31:6,38-40
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father…

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Children Depart I've Rendered Servant Served Service Thou Way Wherewith Wives Work
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Children Depart I've Rendered Servant Served Service Thou Way Wherewith Wives Work
Genesis 30
1. Rachel, in grief for her barrenness, gives Bilhah her maid unto Jacob.
5. Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali.
9. Leah gives Zilpah her maid, who bears Gad and Asher.
14. Reuben finds mandrakes,
15. with which Leah buys her husband's company of Rachel.
17. Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
22. Rachel bears Joseph.
25. Jacob desires to depart.
27. Laban detains him on a new agreement.
37. Jacob's policy, whereby he becomes rich.














Give me
The phrase "Give me" reflects a direct and assertive request from Jacob to Laban. In the Hebrew text, the verb used here is "נָתַן" (natan), which means to give, grant, or bestow. This request signifies Jacob's rightful claim to his family, emphasizing his role as a husband and father. It also highlights the cultural and legal practices of the time, where a servant or worker could claim what was due to them after fulfilling their obligations.

my wives and my children
Jacob refers to "my wives and my children," underscoring the personal and familial bonds that have been established. The Hebrew word for wives, "נָשִׁים" (nashim), and children, "יְלָדִים" (yeladim), indicate the importance of family in the ancient Near Eastern context. This phrase emphasizes the patriarchal structure of the family, where the husband and father is the head and protector of the household. It also reflects the fulfillment of God's promise to Jacob to multiply his descendants.

for whom I have served you
The phrase "for whom I have served you" highlights Jacob's years of labor under Laban. The Hebrew root "עָבַד" (avad) means to work or serve, and it conveys the idea of dedicated and often arduous labor. Jacob's service was not merely a contractual obligation but a deeply personal endeavor, as it was directly tied to his love for Rachel and Leah and his desire to build a family. This service also reflects the broader biblical theme of servanthood and faithfulness.

and let me go
"Let me go" is a plea for freedom and autonomy. The Hebrew verb "שָׁלַח" (shalach) means to send away or release. Jacob's request to be released from Laban's service signifies a desire for independence and the ability to return to his homeland. This phrase resonates with the biblical theme of liberation and the pursuit of God's promises, as Jacob seeks to fulfill his destiny and the covenantal promises made to his forefathers.

for you know
The phrase "for you know" appeals to Laban's awareness and acknowledgment of Jacob's hard work. The Hebrew word "יָדַע" (yada) means to know or recognize, suggesting that Laban is fully aware of Jacob's contributions and the fairness of his request. This appeal to Laban's knowledge serves as a moral and ethical argument, reinforcing the justice of Jacob's claim.

how hard I have worked for you
Finally, "how hard I have worked for you" emphasizes the intensity and dedication of Jacob's labor. The Hebrew word "עָבַד" (avad) is again used here, but the context adds a sense of toil and perseverance. Jacob's hard work is a testament to his character and integrity, reflecting the biblical principle that diligent labor is honorable and worthy of reward. This phrase also serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness in blessing the work of His people, even in challenging circumstances.

Verse 26. - Give me (suffer me to take) my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go (literally, and I will go): for thou knowest my service which I have done thee - implying that he had faithfully implemented his engagement, and that Laban was aware of the justness of his demand to be released from further servitude.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Give
תְּנָ֞ה (tə·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

[me]
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

my wives
נָשַׁ֣י (nā·šay)
Noun - feminine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

and
וְאֶת־ (wə·’eṯ-)
Conjunctive waw | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

children,
יְלָדַ֗י (yə·lā·ḏay)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3206: Something born, a lad, offspring

for whom
אֲשֶׁ֨ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

I have served you,
עָבַ֧דְתִּי (‘ā·ḇaḏ·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

and I will go on my way.
וְאֵלֵ֑כָה (wə·’ê·lê·ḵāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

You
אַתָּ֣ה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

know
יָדַ֔עְתָּ (yā·ḏa‘·tā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

how
אֲשֶׁ֥ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

hard I have worked
עֲבֹדָתִ֖י (‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5656: Work of any kind

for you.”
עֲבַדְתִּֽיךָ׃ (‘ă·ḇaḏ·tî·ḵā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave


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OT Law: Genesis 30:26 Give me my wives and my children (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 30:25
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