Genesis 31
31
Jacob Separates from Laban
1Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same.
3Then the Lord said to him, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.” # Gn 28:15; 32:10
4Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field where his flocks were. 5He said to them, “I can see from your father’s face that his attitude toward me is not the same, but the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I’ve worked hard # Lit worked with all my strength for your father # Gn 30:29 7and that he has cheated me and changed my wages 10 times. But God has not let him harm me. 8If he said, ‘The spotted sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born spotted. If he said, ‘The streaked sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born streaked. # Gn 30:32 9God has taken away your father’s herds and given them to me.
10“When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. 11In that dream the Angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob! ’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12And He said, ‘Look up and see: all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked, spotted, and speckled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. # Gn 30:37-40; Ex 3:7 13I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the stone marker and made a solemn vow to Me. # Gn 28:18-19 Get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.’ ”
14Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father’s household? 15Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? For he has sold us # Gn 29:19-30 and has certainly spent our money. 16In fact, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you.”
17Then Jacob got up and put his children and wives on the camels. 18He took all the livestock and possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he drove his herds to go to the land of his father Isaac in Canaan. 19When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. # Jdg 17:5; 1Sm 15:23; 19:13; Ezk 21:21; Hs 3:4; Zch 10:2 20And Jacob deceived # Lit And he stole the heart of Laban the Aramean, not telling him that he was fleeing. 21He fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for # Lit and set his face to the hill country of Gilead.
Laban Overtakes Jacob
22On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him at Mount Gilead. 24But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself! ” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” # Gn 24:50; 31:29; 2Sm 13:22
25When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his brothers also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! 27Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, 28but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. 29I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me: ‘Watch yourself. Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30Now you have gone off because you long for your father — but why have you stolen my gods? ” # Gn 31:19; Jos 24:2; Jdg 18:24
31Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. 32If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live! # Gn 44:9 Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.
33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two female slaves, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 34Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing.
35She said to her father, “Sir, don’t be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence; # Lv 19:32 I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.
Jacob’s Covenant with Laban
36Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime? ” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me? 37You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us. 38I’ve been with you these 20 years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock. 39I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night. 40There I was — the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41For 20 years I have worked in your household — 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks # Gn 29:27,30 — and you have changed my wages 10 times! 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, # Lit and the work of my hands and He issued His verdict last night.”
43Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne? 44Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I. # Gn 21:27,32; 26:28 Let it be a witness between the two of us.”
45So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. # Jos 24:26-27 46Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. 47Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. # Jegar-sahadutha is Aram, and Galeed is Hb; both names = Mound of Witness
48Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed 49and also Mizpah, # = Watchtower # Jdg 11:29; 1Sm 7:5-6 for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. 50If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.” # Jdg 11:10; 1Sm 12:5; Jb 16:19; Jr 42:5; Mc 1:2 51Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. 52This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm. 53The God of Abraham, and the gods # Jos 24:2 of Nahor — the gods of their father # Two Hb mss, LXX omit the gods of their father — will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. 54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain. 55 # Gn 32:1 in HbLaban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.
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Genesis 31: HCSB
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Genesis 31
31
Jacob Escapes from Laban
1Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were complaining, “Everything Jacob owns he has taken from our father! He gained all his wealth from what our father owned.” 2And Jacob saw that Laban no longer viewed him favorably as he once did. 3Then Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors where you were born; and remember, I will be with you.” 4So Jacob sent a message for Leah and Rachel to meet him in the field where his flocks were grazing. 5When they arrived, he said to them, “I can see that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me. 6You both know I have worked for your father as hard as I could, 7although he has cheated me and reduced # 31:7 Or “changed.” The implication is that Laban did not give him raises, but reduced his salary literally in the Hebrew “ten times” (a term not meant to define how many times, but a figure of speech for “many, many times”). my wages over and over. Yet God has not allowed him to harm me. 8If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled. If he said, ‘The striped ones will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9Because of these miracles, God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me!”
10Jacob continued, “Once during the breeding season, I had a dream. I saw that the male goats who were mating were all speckled, streaked, or spotted. 11In the dream, the angel of God called me by my name, ‘Jacob.’ ”
“ ‘I am here,’ I answered.
12“Then he said, ‘Observe and note that all the male goats that are mating are speckled, streaked, or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, # 31:13 As translated from the Septuagint and ancient Targums. The Hebrew is “I am the God of Bethel.” where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.’ ”
14Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Our father doesn’t want us to inherit a portion from his estate. 15Hasn’t he treated us as outsiders and not as members of his family? Not only did he sell us like property, but he has also spent our purchase price! 16Our father’s wealth that God has given you was legally ours and our children to begin with! So, go ahead and do whatever God has told you.”
17Jacob immediately put his wives and children on camels 18and took with him all the livestock and everything he had amassed in Paddan-Aram. He set out to return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19One day, when Laban had gone to his fields to shear his sheep, # 31:19 Sheep shearing was done in the spring, and it was a time of celebration and festivities that could have lasted a week (see 1 Sam. 25:2, 8, 11; 2 Sam. 13:23). Laban was preoccupied with the festivities and didn’t realize that his household gods had been stolen and that Jacob was secretly taking off with his daughters. Rachel stole her father’s household idols. # 31:19 This is the Hebrew word teraphim; they can be described as small, carved figurines passed down within the family or clan. Teraphim is taken from an Aramaic root word meaning “to inquire.” Apparently, Laban used these images for guidance by divination. Rachel’s taking her father’s gods meant she took his ability to discover where they had gone (see Judg. 17:5; 1 Sam. 19:13; Ezek. 21:21). Other scholars believe that the teraphim guaranteed the right of inheritance to whoever possessed them. According to ancient Akkadian writings, the possession of these family idols (gods) could verify legal title to the family estate. This was perhaps the reason for Laban’s angry accusation of Jacob (v. 30). 20Jacob had outwitted Laban the Aramean by secretly departing without telling him. 21He fled with all that he had, and after crossing the Euphrates, # 31:21 The Euphrates was known to the Hebrews simply as “the River.” It was about fifty miles from Laban’s home to the Euphrates. he headed for the hill country of Gilead. 22And it wasn’t until three days later that Laban discovered Jacob had left.
Laban Pursues Jacob
23Laban, along with some of his relatives, took off in pursuit and chased after Jacob for seven days. He had almost caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead, 24when God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful that you neither harm nor threaten Jacob.” # 31:24 Or “that you speak not to Jacob a word either good or evil.” This is a merism, for God was not telling Laban to remain silent, but rather to neither harm nor threaten Jacob with his words.
25Now Jacob had set up his camp with his flocks on a hill, and Laban had him in his sights. Laban and his companions set up their camp nearby. 26Laban approached Jacob and said, “Nephew, what have you done? You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters like captives on a battlefield. 27Why did you trick me and run away in secret without telling me? I would have sent you off joyously, celebrating with singing and dancing to the tambourine and stringed instruments. 28And why did you not even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren goodbye? What you have done is foolish! 29I could harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me in a dream last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you neither harm nor threaten Jacob.’ 30Now I realize you ran away because you desperately long to return to your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
31“I left in a hurry because I was afraid,” Jacob answered, “and I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. 32Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! So here, in the presence of our relatives, if you can find among our possessions anything that is yours, take it.” Now Jacob had no clue that Rachel had stolen the gods.
33Laban went immediately into Jacob’s tent to search. Then he went into the tents of Zilpah and Bilhah but found nothing. After searching Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s. 34Now Rachel had taken the family gods and put them in her camel’s cushion and sat on them. 35She said to her father, “Please my father, # 31:35 Or “my lord.” don’t be angry if I don’t rise before you, for I’m having my period.” When he rummaged through her tent, he did not find them.
36Then Jacob became angry and complained to Laban, “What have I done wrong? What sin have I committed that you would hotly pursue me as if you were chasing a criminal? 37You have rummaged through all my things, and did you find anything of your own property? If you did, set them here in front of your relatives and mine. Let them decide between the two of us.”
38Jacob continued, “For the last twenty years I have served you, and the whole time your sheep and goats did not miscarry, nor did I feast on any of your rams. 39If one from your flock was mauled by a wild beast, I didn’t bring it to you; I absorbed the loss myself. And you always made me pay for any missing animal, whether snatched by day or by night. 40Many times, scorching heat consumed me by day and hard frost by night; I endured sleepless nights. 41For these twenty years that I’ve lived among you, I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flocks. And besides all that, you’ve reduced my wages over and over. 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Awesome One of Isaac # 31:42 Or “the One whom Isaac worships” or “the Fear of Isaac.” The Hebrew is uncertain. , had not been on my side, you certainly would have sent me away empty-handed! But God in his mercy took notice of how much I’ve suffered and how hard I’ve worked—and that’s why he rebuked you last night in your dream!”
Laban and Jacob Make a Covenant
43Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren; and the flocks are mine. In fact, everything you see belongs to me. But from today I will not be able to do anything more for my daughters and grandchildren. # 31:43 Or “What can I do today about these daughters of mine and these children they have borne?” 44Come now, let’s form a covenant between you and me. Let it endure as a witness between us.” # 31:44 This covenant (treaty), memorialized by the heap of stones and their covenant meal, was an agreement to never harm each other. 45So Jacob took a stone, set it up as a pillar, 46and in the presence of his relatives, he said to them, “Everyone gather stones, and place them here in a pile.” And they did so, and afterward, they ate together next to the heap of stones. 47Laban and Jacob named the place in both languages, Aramaic # 31:47 Or “Jegar Sahadutha,” Aramaic for “Heap of Witness.” and Hebrew, # 31:47 Or “Galeed,” Hebrew for “Heap of Witness.” calling it Witness Heap. 48And Laban said, “Today, this heap of stones will be a witness between you and me of our enduring friendship.” He called it Witness Heap 49and Watchpost, # 31:49 Or “Mizpah,” which means “Watchpost [Lookout].” Jesus is our Mizpah. Eph. 2:14 states that Jesus made the Jew and the gentile one, breaking down the middle wall between them. Jacob, the father of the Israelites, and Laban, a gentile, found peace at Mizpah. for Laban declared, “May Yahweh keep his eyes on us when we are absent from each other. 50If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women besides my daughters, remember that even though no one else is with us, God is watching us. 51Here is the heap of stones and here is the memorial pillar that stands between us. # 31:51 Or “that I have set up between us.” 52This heap and this pillar stand as witnesses that I will never pass beyond them to harm you and that you will never pass beyond them to harm me. 53Now may the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor judge between us!” # 31:53 As translated from some Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint. Other Hebrew manuscripts add “the gods of their fathers.” Yahweh, the God of Abraham, was not the god of Nahor. Yahweh called Abraham out of Haran (see Gen. 12:4) and away from idol worship (see Josh. 24:2).
Jacob made his vow by the Awesome One of his father Isaac. # 31:53 Or “by [in the name of] the Fear of Isaac [the One whom Isaac feared].” 54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called everyone together for a meal, and they remained there all night on the mountain.
55Early the next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren, blessed them, and then he returned home.
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