Genesis 30:25

Summary

The verse marks a narrative transition: after Rachel gives birth to Joseph, Jacob asks Laban to release him so he can return to his own place and land. It combines a temporal clause with Jacob's direct speech requesting departure.

Key words

• va-y.Hi ("and it was", H1961/H9001) — narrative vav + qal verb, the standard formula opening a new narrative unit ("and it came to pass").
• ka.'a.Sher ("just as", H9004/H0834D) — preposition + relative particle, forming a temporal comparison ("as/when") that links the birth of Joseph to what follows.
• Yal.dah ("she had borne", H3205) — qal perfect, third person feminine, marking a completed action prior to Jacob's speech.
• sha.le.Che.ni ("send me off", H7971G + H9030) — piel imperative with 1st person suffix "me"; the piel stem intensifies the sending, and the imperative form makes this a direct command/request to Laban.
• me.ko.Mi ("my place", H4725 + H9020) — construct noun with possessive suffix, paired with 'ar.Tzi ("my land", H0776G + H9020) in the next phrase, both marking Jacob's own territory as distinct from Laban's.

What the text says

The verse opens with the formula va-y.Hi ka.'a.Sher ("and it was, just as"), a construction that sets a temporal frame: the action that follows (Jacob's request) occurs after the event described in the subordinate clause — Rachel's bearing of Joseph. The perfect verb Yal.dah ("she had borne", H3205) indicates this childbirth is already completed at the moment Jacob speaks, establishing sequence rather than simultaneity.

The main clause introduces Jacob's speech with the narrative verb va-yo.mer ("and he said", H0559), followed by the imperative sha.le.Che.ni ("send me off", H7971G), a piel form that carries a sense of active release or dispatch, intensified by the stem. The attached suffix -ni ("me", H9030) makes the object of the sending explicit. The following cohortative-like form 'E.le.Khah ("let me go", H1980G) expresses Jacob's own intended action, distinct from the imperative directed at Laban — Laban is asked to release him, and Jacob states what he himself will then do.

The final phrase pairs two construct nouns with matching first-person suffixes, me.ko.Mi ("my place", H4725) and 'ar.Tzi ("my land", H0776G), joined by the conjunction u- ("and", H9002). This doubling emphasizes the destination as Jacob's own, in contrast to the household of Laban where he has been residing.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders sha.le.Che.ni with the imperative Ἀπόστειλόν με ("send me away"), matching the Hebrew imperative closely. The Vulgate, however, reads Dimitte me ut revertar in patriam ("let me go that I may return to my homeland"), using "return" (revertar) where the Hebrew has 'E.le.Khah ("let me go", H1980G), a form that does not itself carry the sense of returning, only of going. The Vulgate also collapses "my place" and "my land" into a single phrase "patriam... et ad terram meam," while the Hebrew and LXX preserve two distinct terms, me.ko.Mi ("my place") and 'ar.Tzi ("my land").