Genesis 30:31

Summary

Laban asks Jacob what he should give him, and Jacob answers that he wants nothing given outright — instead, if Laban agrees to one condition, Jacob will continue tending and guarding Laban's flock. The verse sets up the payment arrangement that follows in the next verses.

Key words

• mah ("what?", H4100) — interrogative pronoun opening Laban's question, expecting a specific answer about wages or goods.
• me'umah ("anything", H3972) — feminine singular noun used after the negation lo' ("not", H3808); together they form "not anything," i.e., a total refusal of a direct gift.
• 'im ("if", H0518A) — conditional particle introducing Jacob's counter-proposal; it subordinates the following clause (ta'aseh-li hadavar hazzeh, "you do this thing for me") as the condition for what follows.
• 'ashuvah ("I will return", H7725J) — 1st person form of the verb "to return/again," standing first in a sequence of three verbs with no connecting vav between them and the next.
• 'er'eh ("I will tend", H7462B) and 'eshmor ("I will protect/keep", H8104H) — both imperfect 1st-person forms, describing ongoing future action; they follow 'ashuvah asyndetically (without "and"), listing Jacob's continued activities.

What the text says

The passage is built as two short speeches joined by the narrative va-yomer ("and he said", H0559), repeated for each speaker. Laban's question is minimal: mah 'etten-lakh, "what will I give to you," using the imperfect 'etten to mark an action not yet decided. Jacob's reply begins with a flat negation, lo'-titten-li me'umah, "you will not give me anything," using the same verb natan ("to give," H5414) now negated, which creates a rhetorical contrast with Laban's opening question.

The conditional clause introduced by 'im sets the terms: only if Laban does "this thing" will Jacob proceed. What follows is a chain of three first-person imperfect/cohortative verbs — 'ashuvah, 'er'eh, 'eshmor — placed one after another without conjunctions. This asyndetic sequence describes a continuous set of actions (returning to work, pasturing, guarding) rather than three separate steps joined by "and."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew presents 'ashuvah as an independent verb ("I will return/again"), followed separately by 'er'eh ("I will tend") and 'eshmor ("I will guard"), with no conjunction linking the first two. The LXX collapses this into two actions, translating 'ashuvah as the adverb πάλιν ("again") attached to a single verb ποιμανῶ ("I will pasture"), then adds καὶ φυλάξω ("and I will guard"). The Vulgate follows a similar pattern: iterum pascam, et custodiam — "again I will pasture, and I will guard" — also treating the Hebrew's first verb as an adverbial "again" rather than as a separate action, and inserting et ("and") before the final verb, where the Hebrew has no conjunction.