Rachel’s deception of her father now gives the narrator the opportunity to ridicule Laban’s idols.

Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you: the Hebrew expression is idiomatic: “Let [it] not burn in the eyes of my lord.” My lord is ʾadoni, a form of address used by an inferior addressing a superior. Note Good News Translation “sir.” If an equivalent form of address is not available, we may say, for example, “my father.”

Cannot rise: that is, “because I cannot stand up, sir.” The assumption is that Rachel should not remain seated in the presence of her father, who is standing as he searches through her belongings. If in the culture of the translation it is not understood why she would be expected to stand up, a note may be added, or we may adjust the text to say, for example, “Please do not be angry, sir, that I cannot stand up to show you respect” or “Please … cannot stand up as is the polite custom.”

The way of women is upon me translates the Hebrew literally. The situation is a daughter speaking to her father, and so she avoids a direct reference to her menstrual condition. In a similar manner Bible en français courant says “I am indisposed,” Revised English Bible have “The common lot of woman is upon me.” More direct is Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Today I have my menstrual period.” See also Good News Translation. Translators should consider the social context and use the form that is both appropriate and natural; in many languages this is simply “I am sick.”

It should not be forgotten that this scene has a strong comic element in which something (the idols) so highly regarded by Laban is here being sat upon by a woman who, in the Levitical view, is taboo and unclean (Lev 15.19-20). For similar ridicule of idols see Judges 17 and Isa 44.9-20.

It should also be noted how the narrator has used Rachel’s own humor and deceit to relieve the tension that was created concerning her in verse 32.

So he searched, but did not find the household gods: this is best taken as a conclusion to the baggage inspection episode. It is well handled by Revised English Bible “So for all his searching, Laban did not find the household gods.” We may also translate, for example, “Well, he searched everywhere, and in the end he never found his household gods.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .