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Laban Pursues Jacob
Genesis 31:22–42 — Laban Pursues Jacob. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
22On the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had fled.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haš·šə·lî·šî bay·yō·wm lə·lā·ḇān way·yug·gaḏ kî ya·‘ă·qōḇ ḇā·raḥ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-it-was-told to-Laban on-the-day the-third that fled Jacob.” Hebrew puts the report before its content and holds back the verb of flight to the very end — bā·raḥ, “he bolted,” the same root that named Jacob's whole escape (v. 20–21). The notice reaches Laban only on the third day, by which the narrator quietly measures the head start Jacob's craft had bought.
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The heart is the seat of the understanding in Scripture. To steal the heart of anyone is to act without his knowledge.
That he heard of it no sooner must be ascribed to the great distance which Laban had put between his and Jacob’s flocks, Genesis 30:36 , and to the care and art which Jacob used to prevent a sooner discovery.
No sooner did the news reach Laban than he set out in pursuit, and he being not encumbered, advanced rapidly; whereas Jacob, with a young family and numerous flocks, had to march slowly
As Laban was not told till the third day after the flight, though he pursued the fugitives with his brethren, i.e., his nearest relations, he did not overtake Jacob for seven days, by which time he had reached the mountains of Gilead
23So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yiq·qaḥ ’eṯ- ’e·ḥāw ‘im·mōw way·yir·dōp̄ ’a·ḥă·rāw de·reḵ šiḇ·‘aṯ yā·mîm way·yaḏ·bêq ’ō·ṯōw bə·har hag·gil·‘āḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-took his-brethren with-him and-pursued after-him a-way-of seven days, and-he-overtook him in-the-mount-of the-Gilead.” The Hebrew idiom derek shiḇʻaṯ yāmîm is literally “a road of seven days” — distance reckoned as time. The verb rādaph (“pursue”) is the hunter's word, “to run after with hostile intent.”
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As Jacob, who had no relatives with him except his sons, applies this term in Genesis 31:46 to his followers, it is, probably, an honourable way of describing retainers, who were freemen and of a higher class than men-servants.
Jacob must have travelled six days before Laban set out with his brethren from Haran; so that this was, as Ben Gerson conjectures, the thirteenth day of Jacob's travel
Jacob was encumbered with his flocks and herds and household, and that Laban, travelling without encumbrance in pursuit, overtook him in ten days from his flight.
This mount was about two hundred and fifty miles from Haran; so that Jacob travelled twenty-five miles each day, and Laban, in pursuing him, thirty-seven.
24But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hal·lā·yə·lāh ’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yā·ḇō ’el- lā·ḇān hā·’ă·ram·mî ba·ḥă·lōm way·yō·mer lōw hiš·šā·mer lə·ḵā pen- tə·ḏab·bêr ‘im- ya·‘ă·qōḇ miṭ·ṭō·wḇ ‘aḏ- rā‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-God came to-Laban the-Aramean in-a-dream-of the-night, and-said to-him: Guard-yourself lest you-speak with-Jacob from-good to-bad.” The night-clause stands first, then Elohim; the warning itself is a single clipped imperative, hiš·šā·mer lᵉḵā — “take heed for yourself.”
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Heb., from good to bad: a proverbial expression, rightly translated in the Authorised Version, but conveying the idea of a more absolute prohibition than the phrase used in Genesis 24:50 .
the historian wished to characterize the interposition which arrested Laban in his wrath as supernatural (Quarry) - came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night
The safety of good men is very much owing to the hold God has on the consciences of bad men, and the access he has to them.
it was the will of God he should go onward towards Canaan's land; and therefore Laban should not attempt to persuade him to return, with a promise of good things, or of what great things he would do for him; nor threaten him with evil things
25Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there as well.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ tā·qa‘ ’eṯ- ’ā·ho·lōw bā·hār hag·gil·‘āḏ lā·ḇān ’eṯ- way·yaś·śêḡ ya·‘ă·qōḇ wə·lā·ḇān ’e·ḥāw tā·qa‘ ’eṯ- bə·har
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Laban overtook Jacob; and-Jacob had-driven-in his-tent in-the-mount, and-Laban with-his-brethren drove-in in-the-mount-of the-Gilead.” The same verb, tāqaʻ (“drive a peg, fix by striking”), is used of both encampments — the two rivals planting their stakes on the one hill.
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now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead; both on the same mount; one perhaps at the bottom, and the other at the top
The opposing camps were lodged on hill-tops over against each other. Perhaps Mizpah, mentioned in Genesis 31:49 , was the name that is here missing.
Laban intimates that he would have dismissed him honorably and affectionately, and therefore, that his flight was needless and unkind; and finally charges him with stealing his gods.
26Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lā·ḇān way·yō·mer lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ meh ‘ā·śî·ṯā wat·tiḡ·nōḇ ’eṯ- lə·ḇā·ḇî bə·nō·ṯay wat·tə·na·hêḡ ’eṯ- kiš·ḇu·yō·wṯ ḥā·reḇ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Laban said to-Jacob: What have-you-done, that you-have-stolen my-heart and-driven-off my-daughters like-captives-of the-sword?” The accusation opens with the same outraged “What hast thou done?” God put to Cain (Genesis 4:10), and the verb is literally “you stole my heart” — the very phrase the narrator used of Jacob in v. 20.
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Laban reproaches Jacob, first, for carrying away his daughters secretly, which was an affront to them ( Genesis 31:26 ) and an injury to his own feelings ( Genesis 31:28 ); secondly, he tells him that he should have punished him but for the Divine warning; lastly, he accuses him of stealing his teraphim.
"Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's; and Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Syrian"
"Like sword-booty;" i.e., like prisoners of war ( 2 Kings 6:22 ) carried away unwillingly and by force.
A false accusation; for they freely consented, Genesis 31:14-16 .
27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lām·māh liḇ·rō·aḥ naḥ·bê·ṯā wat·tiḡ·nōḇ ’ō·ṯî wə·lō- hig·gaḏ·tā lî wā·’ă·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵā bə·śim·ḥāh ū·ḇə·ši·rîm bə·ṯōp̄ ū·ḇə·ḵin·nō·wr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Why did-you-hide-yourself to-flee, and-steal me, and-not tell to-me? — that I-would-have-sent-you-away with-joy and-with-songs, with-tambourine and-with-harp.” The Hebrew stacks an infinitive on a verb, “you hid-yourself to flee,” and again says simply “you stole me.” The festive send-off Laban claims he would have given is a four-fold flourish of celebration.
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Not as Rebekah was sent away out of the same family above one hundred and twenty years before, with prayers and blessings, but with sport and merriment; which was a sign that religion was much decayed in the family.
pretending that he would have given him leave to depart; and not only have dismissed him from his house and service in an honourable way, but very cheerfully and pleasantly
Heb. didst steal me ; cf. Genesis 31:20 . sent thee away ] The same word as in Genesis 12:20 , “And they brought him on the way.” The suggestion of a musical accompaniment is rhetorical.
"So I might have conducted thee with mirth and songs, with tabret and harp," i.e., have sent thee away with a parting feast.
28But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·lō nə·ṭaš·ta·nî lə·naš·šêq lə·ḇā·nay wə·liḇ·nō·ṯāy ‘at·tāh ‘ă·śōw his·kal·tā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-not did-you-allow-me to-kiss my-sons and-my-daughters; now you-have-acted-foolishly in-doing-so.” The first verb, nāṭash, is harsh — “you cast me off, abandoned me” to no farewell kiss; and Laban's “sons” are in fact his grandsons.
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My sons. —That is, my grandsons.
by his sons he means his grandsons, and so the Targum of Jonathan, my daughters' sons; and by his daughters Rachel and Leah, and Dinah his granddaughter
To kiss my sons and my daughters, as was usual at the parting of friends. See Poole on " Genesis 29:11 " . But indeed Jacob took the wisest course for the security of his person and estate, especially having the direction and protection of God in it.
עשׂו: an old form of the infinitive for עשׂות as in Genesis 48:11 ; Genesis 50:20 .
29I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yeš- la·‘ă·śō·wṯ lə·’êl yā·ḏî ‘im·mā·ḵem rā‘ ’e·meš wê·lō·hê ’ă·ḇî·ḵem ’ā·mar ’ê·lay lê·mōr hiš·šā·mer lə·ḵā mid·dab·bêr ‘im- ya·‘ă·qōḇ miṭ·ṭō·wḇ ‘aḏ- rā‘
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“There-is to-the-power of-my-hand to-do with-you harm; but-the-God of-your-father last-night said to-me, saying: Guard-yourself from-speaking with-Jacob from-good to-bad.” The opening idiom is cryptic — literally “there is to-El my-hand,” the power lies in my hand — and the warning is quoted back word-for-word from v. 24.
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but Keil and Knobel wish to translate, “My hand is for God.” This comes to the same thing in an impious way, as the sense would be,” My hand is an El, a god, for me,” and enables me to do what I will.
He was an idolater and therefore would not acknowledge the God of Jacob for his God.
he owns himself under the restraint of God’s power; he durst not injure one whom he saw to be the particular care of Heaven.
ידי לאל ישׁ: "there is to God my hand" ( Micah 2:1 ; cf. Deuteronomy 28:32 ; Nehemiah 5:5 ), i.e., my hand serves me as God ( Habakkuk 1:11 ; Job 12:6 ), a proverbial expression for "the power lies in my hand."
30Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·‘at·tāh hā·lōḵ hā·laḵ·tā kî- niḵ·sōp̄ niḵ·sap̄·tāh ’ā·ḇî·ḵā lə·ḇêṯ lām·māh ḡā·naḇ·tā ’eṯ- ’ĕ·lō·hāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-now, going you-have-gone, for longing you-longed for-the-house-of your-father — but-why have-you-stolen my-gods?” Two infinitive-absolute pairings hammer the point: “going you have gone,” “longing you have longed.” The accusation that has been circling lands at last: “my gods.”
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Foolish man! to call those his gods that could be stolen! Could he expect protection from them that could neither resist nor discover their invaders? Happy are they who have the Lord for their God. Enemies may steal our goods, but not our God.
Laban could not be so senseless as to take those for true gods which could be stolen away; but he called them gods, because they were the means or representations whereby he worshipped his gods.
The meaning is this: even if thy secret departure can be explained, thy stealing of my gods cannot.
by which it appears that Laban was some way or other guilty of idolatry in the use of these images; looking upon them as types, or representations of God
31“I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî yā·rê·ṯî ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·ya·‘an kî ’ā·mar·tî pen- way·yō·mer lə·lā·ḇān bə·nō·w·ṯe·ḵā mê·‘im·mî tiḡ·zōl ’eṯ-
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Jacob answered and-said to-Laban: Because I-was-afraid; for I-said, Lest you-tear-away your-daughters from-with-me.” Jacob answers only the first charge. The verb of fear, yārē’, leads; the verb he dreaded, gāzal, is the violent “to strip off, tear away by force.”
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Jacob clears himself by giving the true reason why he went away unknown to Laban; he feared lest Laban should by force take away his daughters, and so oblige him to continue in his service.
the verb signifies to strip off as skin from flesh ( vide Micah 3:2 ), and hence to forcibly remove - thy daughters from me
Jacob gives the true reason for his flight; after which, indignant at the charge of theft, he returns, in his anger, as rash an answer about the teraphim as Joseph’s brethren subsequently did about the stolen cup ( Genesis 44:9 ).
The first, Jacob met by pleading his fear lest Laban should take away his daughters (keep them back by force).
32If 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.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
tim·ṣā ’eṯ- ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ‘im ’ă·šer lō yiḥ·yeh ne·ḡeḏ ’a·ḥê·nū hak·ker- lə·ḵā māh ‘im·mā·ḏî wə·qaḥ- lāḵ ya·‘ă·qōḇ wə·lō- yā·ḏa‘ kî rā·ḥêl gə·nā·ḇā·ṯam
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“With-whomever you-find your-gods, he-shall-not live. Before our-brethren examine for-yourself what is-with-me, and-take to-you.” — “For Jacob did-not know that Rachel had-stolen them.” Jacob's oath is reckless; the narrator's quiet aside (“Jacob knew not”) hangs over it like a sword.
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Let him not live; I give my consent that he shall die by the hands of justice. A rash and inconsiderate sentence.
With whomsoever thou findest thy gods let him not live—Conscious of his own innocence and little suspecting the misdeed of his favorite wife, Jacob boldly challenged a search and denounced the heaviest penalty on the culprit.
for Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them; the images or gods; or he would have been more careful of his expression, in love and tenderness to his most beloved wife.
But Jacob knew nothing of the theft; hence he declared, that with whomsoever he might find the gods he should be put to death, and told Laban to make the strictest search among all the things that he had with him.
33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lā·ḇān way·yā·ḇō ya·‘ă·qōḇ bə·’ō·hel lê·’āh ū·ḇə·’ō·hel ū·ḇə·’ō·hel šə·tê hā·’ă·mā·hōṯ mā·ṣā wə·lō way·yê·ṣê lê·’āh mê·’ō·hel way·yā·ḇō rā·ḥêl bə·’ō·hel
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Laban went into-the-tent of-Jacob, and-into-the-tent-of Leah, and-into-the-tent-of the-two maidservants — but he-found-not. And-he-went-out from-the-tent-of Leah and-entered the-tent-of Rachel.” The word ’ōhel, “tent,” tolls five times, tracing Laban's fruitless circuit from tent to tent.
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the clause affords an interesting glimpse into the manners of the times, showing that not only husbands and wives, but also wives among themselves, possessed separate establishments
and into Leah's tent; and not Leah's tent next, whom next to Jacob he might suspect of taking them, out of veneration to them, because her tent lay next
The men and women’s tents were distinct and separate. See Genesis 18:2 24:67 .
Laban looked through all the tents, but did not find his teraphim; for Rachel had put them in the saddle of her camel and was sitting upon them
34Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·rā·ḥêl lā·qə·ḥāh ’eṯ- hat·tə·rā·p̄îm wat·tə·śi·mêm bə·ḵar hag·gā·māl wat·tê·šeḇ ‘ă·lê·hem lā·ḇān ’eṯ- way·maš·šêš kāl- hā·’ō·hel mā·ṣā wə·lō
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Rachel had-taken the-teraphim and-put-them in-the-saddle of-the-camel and-sat upon-them; and-Laban felt-through all the-tent and-found-not.” The teraphim are now named outright; Rachel sits on the very gods Laban hunts, and his verb of searching, māshash, is literally “to grope, feel with the hands.”
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Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them—The common pack saddle is often used as a seat or a cushion, against which a person squatted on the floor may lean.
as the teraphim seem to have had heads shaped like those of a man, and dwarf bodies, they would easily be crammed under it.
the camel's furniture was not stramenta cameli (Vulgate), "the camel's straw" (Luther), but the camel's saddle (LXX., Onkelos, Syriac, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, and others)
and sat upon them; the images, which, if she had the veneration for, as some suggest, she would never have used in such a manner
35Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched but could not find the household idols.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wat·tō·mer ’el- ’ā·ḇî·hā ’ă·ḏō·nî ’al- yi·ḥar bə·‘ê·nê kî lō·w ’ū·ḵal lā·qūm mip·pā·ne·ḵā kî- ḏe·reḵ nā·šîm lî way·ḥap·pêś wə·lō mā·ṣā ’eṯ- hat·tə·rā·p̄îm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-she-said to-her-father: Let-it-not-burn in-the-eyes of-my-lord that I-cannot rise-up before-you, for the-way of-women is-upon-me. And-he-searched but-found-not the-teraphim.” Rachel's excuse uses the same “burn” of anger (chārâh) Jacob will use of himself in v. 36; the “way of women” is the periphrasis for menstruation.
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"covering theft by subtlety and untruth" (Kalisch), and thus proving herself a time daughter of Laban, as well as showing with how much imperfection her religious character was tainted
menstruous women were anciently esteemed polluted, and to pollute the things which they touched or sat upon, as you may see by Leviticus 15:19-22 ; which law, though it were not yet given and written, yet that, as well as divers other ceremonial rites, might be enjoined by God, and observed by sober heathens at that time
The fact that Laban passed over Rachel's seat because of her pretended condition, does not presuppose the Levitical law in Leviticus 15:19 .
nor do we find that he searched the flock for any of his cattle there, knowing full well Jacob's honesty and integrity.
36Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yi·ḥar way·yā·reḇ bə·lā·ḇān way·ya·‘an mah- piš·‘î ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yō·mer lə·lā·ḇān mah ḥaṭ·ṭā·ṯî kî ḏā·laq·tā ’a·ḥă·rāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-it-burned to-Jacob, and-he-contended with-Laban; and-Jacob answered and-said to-Laban: What is-my-trespass, what is-my-sin, that you-have-hotly-pursued after-me?” Now the fire (chārâh) is Jacob's; the verb rîb is the language of a formal dispute — a lawsuit; and “hotly pursued” is literally “burned after,” a rare, almost poetic word.
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The intensity of Jacob s feeling imparts to his language a rythmical movement, and leads to the selection of poetical forms of expression
Acute sensibility and elevated self-consciousness give to Jacob's words a rhythmical movement and a poetical form. Hence such expressions as אחרי דּלק "hotly pursued," which is only met with in 1 Samuel 17:53
Naturally he regarded the accusation about the teraphim as a mere device for searching his goods, and when nothing was found gave free vent to his indignation.
Recrimination on his part was natural in the circumstances, and, as usual, when passion is high, the charges took a wide range.
37You have searched all my goods! Have you found anything that belongs to you? Put it here before my brothers and yours, that they may judge between the two of us.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- miš·šaš·tā ’eṯ- kāl- kê·lay mah- mā·ṣā·ṯā mik·kōl kə·lê- ḇê·ṯe·ḵā śîm kōh ne·ḡeḏ ’a·ḥay wə·’a·ḥe·ḵā wə·yō·w·ḵî·ḥū bên šə·nê·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“For you-have-felt-through all my-vessels — what have-you-found of-all the-vessels of-your-house? Set it here before my-brethren and-your-brethren, that-they-may-judge between the-two-of-us.” Jacob throws Laban's own search-verb (māshash, v. 34) back at him, and submits the dispute to the assembled kinsmen as a court.
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Jacob was so conscious to himself of his own uprightness, that he could safely leave anything that might be disputed in arbitration with the very men that Laban had brought with him: it was so clear a case that he had not wronged him of anyone thing.
As Laban found nothing, Jacob grew angry, and pointed out the injustice of his hot pursuit and his search among all his things, but more especially the harsh treatment he had received from him in return for the unselfish and self-denying services that he had rendered him for twenty years.
"My brethren and thy brethren" - their common kindred. Jacob recapitulates his services in feeling terms.
Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.
38I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ā·nō·ḵî ‘im·māḵ zeh ‘eś·rîm šā·nāh rə·ḥê·le·ḵā wə·‘iz·ze·ḵā lō šik·kê·lū lō ’ā·ḵā·lə·tî wə·’ê·lê ṣō·nə·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“This twenty years I-was with-you; your-ewes and-your-she-goats did-not miscarry, and-the-rams of-your-flock I-did-not eat.” Jacob's recital of his service begins; the word rāchêl, “ewe,” is his wife's very name, and the verb shākal means “to miscarry, be bereaved.”
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Jacob’s indignant protest proclaims (1) his length of service, (2) his perfect honesty, (3) his uncomplaining endurance of hardship, in spite of capricious changes in his wage.
The rams of thy flock have I not eaten—Eastern people seldom kill the females for food except they are barren.
Thy she-goats have not cast their young, which thou owest in a great measure to my care and diligence in ordering them, and principally to God’s blessing given to thee for my sake, by thy own confession, Genesis 30:27 .
this, though owing to the blessing of God, was for Jacob's sake, and, under God, to be ascribed to his care and diligence in watching and keeping the flock
39I 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.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- hê·ḇê·ṯî ’ê·le·ḵā ṭə·rê·p̄āh ’ā·nō·ḵî ’ă·ḥaṭ·ṭen·nāh tə·ḇaq·šen·nāh mî·yā·ḏî gə·nuḇ·ṯî yō·wm ū·ḡə·nuḇ·ṯî lā·yə·lāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“The-torn-thing I-did-not bring to-you; I myself bore-the-loss of-it — from-my-hand you-required-it, the-stolen of-day and-the-stolen of-night.” The word ṭᵉrēphâh is the technical term for a carcass torn by beasts; the verb Jacob uses of himself, ’ăchaṭṭennāh, literally means “I made it good / atoned for it.”
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The shepherds are strictly responsible for losses in the flock, unless they can prove these were occasioned by wild beasts.
Jacob had exceeded the standard of fairness which was required by custom: “I bare the loss of it,” i.e. “I used to make myself responsible for the loss.”
of mine hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night; whether by men or beasts
shows him to have been of a very industrious and faithful disposition, and that Laban’s temper was exceedingly selfish and sordid
40As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hā·yî·ṯî ḥō·reḇ ’ă·ḵā·la·nî ḇay·yō·wm wə·qe·raḥ bal·lā·yə·lāh šə·nā·ṯî wat·tid·daḏ mê·‘ê·nāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“I-was — by-day the-drought consumed-me, and-the-frost by-night; and-my-sleep fled from-my-eyes.” The clause is clipped: “I was — by day heat ate me, by night cold.” The verb of sleep departing, nādad, is the same “flit, flee” elsewhere used of a bird startled into flight.
Where the English smooths the original
The temperature changes often in twenty-four hours from the greatest extremes of heat and cold, most trying to the shepherd who has to keep watch by his flocks.
for it is well known, that in the East the cold by night corresponds to the heat by day; the hotter the day the colder the night, as a rule.
it looks as if Laban did not allow Jacob the proper conveniencies of clothes, and of tents to secure him from the inclemency of the weather
If Jacob were willingly consumed with heat in the day, and frost by night, to become the son-in-law of Laban, what should we refuse to endure, to become the sons of God?Henry's note runs across 31:36–42; this opening line draws the devotional application from Jacob's exposure.
41Thus 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!
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
zeh- lî ‘eś·rîm šā·nāh ‘ă·ḇaḏ·tî·ḵā bə·ḇê·ṯe·ḵā ’ar·ba‘- ‘eś·rêh šā·nāh biš·tê ḇə·nō·ṯe·ḵā wə·šêš šā·nîm bə·ṣō·ne·ḵā wat·ta·ḥă·lêp̄ ’eṯ- maś·kur·tî ‘ă·śe·reṯ mō·nîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“This for-me twenty years in-your-house: I-served-you fourteen years for-your-two daughters and-six years for-your-flock; and-you-changed my-wages ten times.” The tally is exact — 14 + 6 — and the verb chālaph, “to change, alter,” with “ten times,” echoes Jacob's earlier complaint in v. 7 almost word for word.
Where the English smooths the original
first seven years for Rachel; and having Leah imposed upon him instead of her, was obliged to serve seven years more, which he did for her sake; whereas he ought to have given them, and a dowry with them
Heb., This for me twenty years in thy house, but taken in connection with the preceding this, in Genesis 31:38 , the meaning is “During the one twenty years that I was with thee, thy ewes, &c.,”
ten times ] Cf. Genesis 31:7 .
Much allowance must be made for Jacob. Great and long-continued provocations ruffle the mildest and most disciplined tempers. It is difficult to "be angry and sin not" [Eph 4:26].
42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ĕ·lō·hê ’ā·ḇî ’ĕ·lō·hê ’aḇ·rā·hām ū·p̄a·ḥaḏ yiṣ·ḥāq lū·lê hā·yāh lî kî ‘at·tāh šil·laḥ·tā·nî ’eṯ- rê·qām ’ĕ·lō·hîm rā·’āh ‘ā·nə·yî wə·’eṯ- yə·ḡī·aʿ kap·pay ’ā·meš way·yō·w·ḵaḥ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Unless the-God of-my-father, the-God of-Abraham and-the-Fear of-Isaac, had-been for-me, surely now empty you-would-have-sent-me-away. My-affliction and-the-toil of-my-hands God has-seen — and-last-night He-rendered-judgment.” The climax: God named three ways, the strange title “the Fear of Isaac,” and the verb yākach — God's verdict — closing the lawsuit Jacob opened in v. 36.
Where the English smooths the original
Jacob speaks of God as the God of his father; he thought himself unworthy to be regarded, but was beloved for his father's sake. He calls him the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac; for Abraham was dead, and gone to that world where perfect love casts out fear; but Isaac was yet alive
The fear of Isaac, i.e. the God whom my father Isaac worships with reverence and godly fear, as appears by comparing Genesis 31:53 . The act is here put for the object, as it frequently is; and particularly God is called our fear, Isaiah 8:13 .
A remarkable phrase, denoting the personal God who was the object of Isaac’s worship. Cf. Isaiah 8:13 , “Neither fear ye their fear. The Lord of Hosts … let him be your fear.” It clearly shews not that Isaac was regarded as a deity; but that He whom Isaac feared was the true God of Jacob.
By the warning given to Laban, God pronounced sentence upon the matter between Jacob and Laban, condemning the course which Laban had pursued, and still intended to pursue, towards Jacob; but not on that account sanctioning all that Jacob had done to increase his own possessions
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens on a chase. Jacob has “bolted” (bārach, v. 22), and on the third day the news reaches Laban, who takes “his brethren” — his armed clansmen — and pursues (rādaph, the hunter's hostile word, v. 23) for seven days into the hill country of Gilead. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown set the scene: Laban “being not encumbered, advanced rapidly; whereas Jacob, with a young family and numerous flocks, had to march slowly.” The overtaking should be the moment of vengeance. Instead, the night before, Elohim Himself intervenes in a dream (v. 24). Matthew Henry reads the whole passage under one banner: “God can put a bridle in the mouth of wicked men, to restrain their malice, though he do not change their hearts.” The warning is total — “from good to bad,” which Ellicott calls “a proverbial expression… conveying the idea of a more absolute prohibition.” By morning the two camps face each other on the one hill (v. 25), the verb tāqaʻ (“drive in the peg”) striking twice — but the hand that would strike has already been tied.
Laban opens with the formula of indictment — “What hast thou done?” — and the Hebrew idiom that follows is sharper than the English: literally, “you stole my heart” (v. 26), the very phrase the narrator used of Jacob in v. 20. The Pulpit Commentary catches the wordplay running through the chapter: “Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's; and Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Syrian.” His charge that his daughters were carried off “like captives of the sword” is, says Poole, “a false accusation; for they freely consented.” The professed grief over a denied farewell — “mirth and songs, with tabret and harp” — strikes Benson as a sign “that religion was much decayed in the family,” mirth where Rebekah's send-off had blessing. Then the reproach overreaches itself: Laban admits the dream restrained him (v. 29) yet still demands, “wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?” (v. 30). The irony is irresistible to every voice. Benson: “Foolish man! to call those his gods that could be stolen!… Enemies may steal our goods, but not our God.”
Jacob answers only the first charge honestly — “I was afraid… lest you tear away your daughters” (gāzal, “to strip off as skin from flesh,” Pulpit Commentary). To the second he answers rashly: “with whomever you find your gods, he shall not live” (v. 32). Poole names it plainly: “A rash and inconsiderate sentence.” The narrator's aside hangs the irony like a blade — “Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them”; Gill observes that had he known, “he would have been more careful of his expression, in love and tenderness to his most beloved wife.” Ellicott records the Rabbinic reading that the oath became “a prophecy, fulfilled in Rachel's premature death.” Then comes the search, “tent… tent… tent” (v. 33), the thrice-tolled “he found not” — Rachel's tent kept for last, says the Pulpit Commentary, “last, because she was the favorite.” She sits on the teraphim hidden in the camel's saddle and pleads “the way of women” (v. 35); the Pulpit Commentary quotes Kalisch — she was “covering theft by subtlety and untruth” — and so proving herself, in its own phrase, a daughter true to Laban. The household that fled idolatry carries its idols in its saddlebags.
With nothing found, the defendant becomes the plaintiff. “It burned to Jacob” (chārâh, v. 36 — the very fire-word Rachel had begged Laban not to feel, v. 35) “and he contended” (rîb, the verb of a formal lawsuit). Keil & Delitzsch hear the change of register: “Acute sensibility and elevated self-consciousness give to Jacob's words a rhythmical movement and a poetical form,” pointing to the rare “hotly pursued” (dālaq, “burned after”), “which is only met with in 1 Samuel 17:53.” Jacob hurls Laban's own search-verb back (“you have felt through all my stuff,” v. 37) and summons the kinsmen as a court: “Put it here before my brothers and yours, that they may judge between the two of us.” Then twenty years pour out — the ewes that never miscarried, the rams never eaten, the torn carcasses he made good himself (turning the verb for sin into the verb for restitution, v. 39), the drought by day and frost by night, the wages changed “ten times.” And the speech climaxes in the God named three ways — “the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac” (v. 42). Henry: Abraham “gone to that world where perfect love casts out fear; but Isaac was yet alive, sanctifying the Lord in his heart, as his fear and his dread.” The last word is a verdict: God “has seen my affliction… and last night He rendered judgment” (yākach) — the same legal root Jacob used of the human court, now of the divine. Keil holds it honestly: God “pronounced sentence upon the matter between Jacob and Laban, condemning the course which Laban had pursued, and still intended to pursue, towards Jacob; but not on that account sanctioning all that Jacob had done.”
Read under the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority — offered as a reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted — three things stand out. God restrains evil He has not yet converted. Laban's heart is unchanged; his hand is tied. The dream of v. 24 does not save Laban's soul, it shields Jacob's life, and the text is candid that providence can run through the conscience of a man still grasping after stolen gods. The believer's security rests not on the goodwill of the Labans of the world but, as v. 42 confesses, on God's own presence: “If the God of my father… had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed.” The covenant household is not yet purified. Idols ride in the saddlebag; the favored wife lies to her father; the patriarch swears a curse he cannot take back. Scripture neither hides nor excuses this. The promise advances through flawed people, carried by grace and not by their merit — which is exactly why Keil refuses to read God's verdict as a blanket endorsement of Jacob. God sees affliction and renders judgment. The same verb Jacob aimed at a human tribunal (v. 37, yākach) God speaks over the case (v. 42). The “Fear of Isaac” is the Judge who has seen “the toil of my hands.” The oppressed are not asked to vindicate themselves by their own cunning; the Lord who sees is the Lord who decides.
The same God who bridled the pursuer's hand had already, in a dream by night, rendered the verdict the daylight quarrel only echoed.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
Jacob's closing complaint, “you have changed my wages ten times” (chālaph… maskôreth… ʻăśereṯ mōnîm), reproduces almost verbatim his earlier charge in v. 7. The Verifier records the shared lexemes, two of them strikingly rare: maskôreth (“wages”) occurs in only 4 verses, and môneh (“times”) in just 2 — so its reappearance here is nearly a fingerprint of one continuous grievance. Cambridge simply cross-references: “ten times ] Cf. Genesis 31:7.”
Genesis 31:41 · Genesis 31:7
basis: shared rare lexemes: H4489 môneh (“times,” in only 2 vv), H4909 maskôreth (“wages,” in only 4 vv), H2498 châlaph (“change”); Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link
The hidden gods of v. 34 are the same teraphim Rachel “stole” in v. 19; the two verses are knit by the rare cluster of tᵉrâphîym (“teraphim,” 15 verses), Râchêl, and Lâbân. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown define them: “small images of human figures, used not as idols or objects of worship, but as talismans, for superstitious purposes” — though Laban's own outcry, that his “gods” could be stolen, betrays (with Henry and Benson) how confused that line had become.
Genesis 31:34 · Genesis 31:19 · Genesis 31:35
basis: shared lexemes H8655 tᵉrâphîym (in 15 vv), H7354 Râchêl, H3837 Lâbân; Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link within the same episode
Jacob's poetic “you have hotly pursued after me” uses the rare verb dālaq (“to flame, burn after”). Keil & Delitzsch note it “is only met with in 1 Samuel 17:53,” where Israel “pursued” the fleeing Philistines after David's victory. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme (dālaq, in only 9 verses). It is a verbal, not a thematic, link: the same uncommon fire-word for fierce pursuit, lifting Jacob's speech toward verse.
Genesis 31:36 · 1 Samuel 17:53
basis: shared rare lexeme H1814 dālaq (“to flame / hotly pursue,” in only 9 vv), plus H310 ’achar; Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link, noted by Keil & Delitzsch
Twice the divine intervention is dated by the rare adverb ’emesh, “last night / yesternight” (vv. 29, 42) — Laban quoting the dream, Jacob sealing his speech with God's verdict. The word is exceedingly rare (only 5 verses in the whole Hebrew Bible); the Verifier ties its other occurrences in Job 30:3 and 2 Kings 9:26 by this single uncommon lexeme. The shared word is real; the contexts differ entirely, so the link is verbal-lexical, not thematic.
Genesis 31:42 · Genesis 31:29 · Job 30:3 · 2 Kings 9:26
basis: shared rare lexeme H570 ’emesh (“last night,” in only 5 vv across the OT); Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link — contexts differ, so the tie is purely lexical
The unique divine title pachad Yitschāq, “the Fear of Isaac,” appears in v. 42 and again in v. 53, where Jacob swears by it. The voices are unanimous on its sense — Poole: “the God whom my father Isaac worships with reverence and godly fear”; Cambridge: “the personal God who was the object of Isaac's worship,” citing Isaiah 8:13 (“let him be your fear”). The Verifier records the shared lexemes (pachad, Yitschâq, ’Abrâhâm); since these are shared names and a recurring motif within one speech rather than a quotation, the link is structural/thematic.
Genesis 31:42 · Genesis 31:53 · Isaiah 8:13
basis: shared lexemes H6343 pachad, H3327 Yitschâq, H85 ’Abrâhâm — a recurring divine-title motif within Jacob's covenant speech, not a quotation; Isaiah 8:13 added on the voices' own thematic warrant
Jacob's vindication, “God has seen my affliction (ʻŏnîy) and the toil of my hands,” reuses the idiom spoken of Leah in 29:32 and supremely of enslaved Israel in Exodus 3:7 — God seeing the affliction of the oppressed. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes ʻŏnîy (“affliction,” 36 verses) and râ’âh (“to see”). Poole notes that God's “seeing is oft used for his relieving and helping.” The link is thematic — one covenant pattern of divine attention to suffering, not a quotation.
Genesis 31:42 · Genesis 29:32 · Exodus 3:7
basis: shared lexemes H6040 ʻŏnîy (“affliction,” in 36 vv), H7200 râ’âh (“to see”) — a recurring motif of God seeing the affliction of the oppressed; thematic, not quotation
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The hinge of the unit is a divine intervention that ties the pursuer's hand before he can strike (v. 24): “God can put a bridle in the mouth of wicked men,” as Matthew Henry reads it. This is the same providence that hems in the enemies of the covenant people throughout Scripture and finds its fullest expression in the Christ who tells Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). The hand raised against the heir is restrained until the appointed hour; the safety of God's people rests not on the goodwill of their persecutors but on the Lord who governs them.
Genesis 31:24 · John 19:11 · Psalm 76:10
Jacob names God “the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac” (v. 42) — the living God bound by covenant to a line of fathers. The Lord Jesus seizes on exactly this self-designation to prove the resurrection: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). Henry already sensed the seam: Abraham “gone to that world where perfect love casts out fear,” Isaac yet living. The God who saw Jacob's affliction and rendered judgment is the God who will raise the fathers — and whom Christ reveals as Father.
Genesis 31:42 · Matthew 22:32 · Exodus 3:6
The unit ends not with the human court Jacob proposed (v. 37) but with God's own verdict: “God has seen my affliction… and last night He rendered judgment” (yākach, v. 42). Keil & Delitzsch rightly refuse to read this as a blanket endorsement of Jacob — the Judge condemns Laban without crowning Jacob's cunning. That is itself a pointer to the gospel: the One who “did not retaliate… but entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23) is vindicated not by his own scheming but by the righteous Judge. Jacob's instinct — to leave the verdict to the God who sees — is fulfilled in the Christ who committed his cause to the Father, and through whom the empty-handed are sent away filled (cf. Luke 1:53). Held honestly: this is a thematic and typological reading, not a quotation; the New Testament texts share no original-language lexeme with the Hebrew of Genesis 31 (a Greek↔Hebrew link can never be verbal), and the connection is argued from the pattern, not asserted from the words.
Genesis 31:42 · 1 Peter 2:23 · Luke 1:53
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (CC0). The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain works — Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes, Jamieson/Fausset/Brown, Matthew Poole, John Gill, the Geneva Study Bible, the Pulpit Commentary, Keil & Delitzsch, Charles Ellicott, Joseph Benson, and the Cambridge Bible — and each excerpt is a contiguous substring of the raw source supplied for the very verse under which it is filed. Several of these commentators write running notes spanning a block of verses (Matthew Henry on 31:22–35; Barnes and JFB on the 31:25–32 and 31:36–42 blocks; Keil's joined comments), so the same source text legitimately recurs across the verses it covers; the excerpt chosen for each verse is the clause most directly bearing on that verse's words. At v. 35 the Pulpit Commentary itself quotes M. M. Kalisch (“covering theft by subtlety and untruth”); that phrase is reproduced here as the Pulpit Commentary's own citation of Kalisch, not as the editors' words.
Transliterations, parsings, and Strong's numbers are the Berean/Strong's data supplied with this unit and are not contradicted here. The literal renderings, the “where the English smooths the Hebrew” notes, the per-word notes, the grand commentary, the threads, and the reading of Christ are this tool's own synthesis (⚙) — careful but fallible; weigh them against a lexicon (BDB, HALOT) and a standard grammar. Cross-reference tiers come from the Verifier's computed bases: within-Hebrew links cite shared Strong's lexemes (rare lexemes — môneh, maskôreth, ’emesh, dālaq — carry the “verbal” tier; shared names and motifs carry “structural/thematic”). The Christ reading's New-Testament links are Greek and therefore cannot share a Strong's number with the Hebrew; they are argued typologically, never asserted as verbal. This unit contains no Joshua 1:5 material, so the mandatory Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 flag does not apply here.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)