1Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has acquired all this wealth. 2And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as before. 3And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you. 4So Jacob sent and summoned Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5and said to them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6And you know that with all my strength I have served your father. 7Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to do evil to me. 8If he said thus: The speckled shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: The streaked shall be your wages, then all the flocks bore streaked. 9So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me. 10And it happened, at the time when the flocks were in heat, that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which mounted the flocks were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 11And the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, Jacob. And I said, Here am I. 12And He said, Lift up your eyes now and see, all the rams which mount the flocks are streaked, speckled, and spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you vowed a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your kindred. 14And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? 15Are we not considered foreigners by him? For he has sold us, and also devoured and consumed our money. 16For all these riches which God has taken from our father are ours and our sons'. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do it. 17Then Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18And he drove away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Paddan, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. 19And Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father's. 20And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he was fleeing. 21So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and set his face toward the mountains of Gilead. 22And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23And he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. 24And God come to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, Beware that you not speak to Jacob from good to evil. 25So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead. 26And Laban said to Jacob: What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and led away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? 28And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. 29It is in the power of my hand to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Beware that you not speak to Jacob from good to evil. 30And now you have proceeded to depart because you have longed for your father's house. But why have you stolen my gods? 31And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid; for I said, Lest you would take your daughters from me by force. 32With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. 33And Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. And Laban groped all about the tent but did not find them. 35And she said to her father, Let it not burn in the eyes of my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me. And he searched but did not find the household idols. 36And Jacob was furious and complained to Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: What is my transgression? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? 37Although you have searched all my things, what of your household articles have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! 38These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. 39That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40There I was: In the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and rebuked you last night. 43And Laban answered and said to Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? 44Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and me, and let it be a witness between you and me. 45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. 46And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48And Laban said, This heap is a witness between you and me this day. Therefore its name was called Galeed; 49also, Mizpah; because he said, May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are hidden (being absent) one from another. 50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us; consider that God is witness between you and me. 51And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap and this pillar, which I have cast between me and you: 52This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a testimony, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for evil. 53The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. 54And Jacob slaughtered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. 55And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. And Laban departed and returned to his place.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 ENVY OF LABAN AND SONS. (Gen. 31:1-21)
he heard the words of Laban's sons--It must have been from rumor that Jacob got knowledge of the invidious reflections cast upon him by his cousins; for they were separated at the distance of three days' journey.
2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban--literally, "was not the same as yesterday, and the day before," a common Oriental form of speech. The insinuations against Jacob's fidelity by Laban's sons, and the sullen reserve, the churlish conduct, of Laban himself, had made Jacob's situation, in his uncle's establishment, most trying and painful. It is always one of the vexations attendant on worldly prosperity, that it excites the envy of others (
Eccl 4:4); and that, however careful a man is to maintain a good conscience, he cannot always reckon on maintaining a good name, in a censorious world. This, Jacob experienced; and it is probable that, like a good man, he had asked direction and relief in prayer.
3 the Lord said . . . Return unto the land of thy fathers--Notwithstanding the ill usage he had received, Jacob might not have deemed himself at liberty to quit his present sphere, under the impulse of passionate fretfulness and discontent. Having been conducted to Haran by God (
Gen 28:15) and having got a promise that the same heavenly Guardian would bring him again into the land of Canaan, he might have thought he ought not to leave it, without being clearly persuaded as to the path of duty. So ought we to set the Lord before us, and to acknowledge Him in all our ways, our journeys, our settlements, and plans in life.
4 Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah--His wives and family were in their usual residence. Whether he wished them to be present at the festivities of sheep shearing, as some think; or, because he could not leave his flock, he called them both to come to him, in order that, having resolved on immediate departure, he might communicate his intentions. Rachel and Leah only were called, for the other two wives, being secondary and still in a state of servitude, were not entitled to be taken into account. Jacob acted the part of a dutiful husband in telling them his plans; for husbands that love their wives should consult with them and trust in them (
Pro 31:11).
6 ye know that . . . I have served your father--Having stated his strong grounds of dissatisfaction with their father's conduct and the ill requital he had got for all his faithful services, he informed them of the blessing of God that had made him rich notwithstanding Laban's design to ruin him; and finally, of the command from God he had received to return to his own country, that they might not accuse him of caprice, or disaffection to their family; but be convinced, that in resolving to depart, he acted from a principle of religious obedience.
14 Rachel and Leah answered--Having heard his views, they expressed their entire approval; and from grievances of their own, they were fully as desirous of a separation as himself. They display not only conjugal affection, but piety in following the course described--"whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do" [
Gen 31:16]. "Those that are really their husbands' helpmeets will never be their hindrances in doing that to which God calls them" [HENRY].
17 Then Jacob rose up--Little time is spent by pastoral people in removing. The striking down the tents and poles and stowing them among their other baggage; the putting their wives and children in houdas like cradles, on the backs of camels, or in panniers on asses; and the ranging of the various parts of the flock under the respective shepherds; all this is a short process. A plain that is covered in the morning with a long array of tents and with browsing flocks, may, in a few hours, appear so desolate that not a vestige of the encampment remains, except the holes in which the tent poles had been fixed.
18 he carried the cattle of his getting--that is, his own and nothing more. He did not indemnify himself for his many losses by carrying off any thing of Laban's, but was content with what Providence had given him. Some may think that due notice should have been given; but when a man feels himself in danger--the law of self-preservation prescribes the duty of immediate flight, if it can be done consistently with conscience.
20 Jacob stole away--The result showed the prudence and necessity of departing secretly; otherwise, Laban might have detained him by violence or artifice.
22 LABAN PURSUES JACOB--THEIR COVENANT AT GILEAD. (Gen. 31:22-55)
it was told Laban on the third day--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, so that he overtook the fugitives after seven days' journey as they lay encamped on the brow of mount Gilead, an extensive range of hills forming the eastern boundary of Canaan. Being accompanied by a number of his people, he might have used violence had he not been divinely warned in a dream to give no interruption to his nephew's journey. How striking and sudden a change! For several days he had been full of rage, and was now in eager anticipation that his vengeance would be fully wreaked, when lo! his hands are tied by invisible power (
Ps 76:10). He did not dare to touch Jacob, but there was a war of words.
26 Laban said . . . What hast thou done?--Not a word is said of the charge (
Gen 31:1). His reproaches were of a different kind. His first charge was for depriving him of the satisfaction of giving Jacob and his family the usual salutations at parting. In the East it is customary, when any are setting out to a great distance, for their relatives and friends to accompany them a considerable way with music and valedictory songs. Considering the past conduct of Laban, his complaint on this ground was hypocritical cant. But his second charge was a grave one--the carrying off his gods--Hebrew, "teraphim," small images of human figures, used not as idols or objects of worship, but as talismans, for superstitious purposes.
31 Jacob said, . . . 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. A personal scrutiny was made by Laban, who examined every tent [
Gen 31:33]; and having entered Rachel's last, he would have infallibly discovered the stolen images had not Rachel made an appeal to him which prevented further search [
Gen 31:34-
Gen 31:35].
34 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.
36 Jacob was wroth--Recrimination on his part was natural in the circumstances, and, as usual, when passion is high, the charges took a wide range. He rapidly enumerated his grievances for twenty years and in a tone of unrestrained severity described the niggard character and vexatious exactions of his uncle, together with the hardships of various kinds he had patiently endured.
38 The rams of thy flock have I not eaten--Eastern people seldom kill the females for food except they are barren.
39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee--The shepherds are strictly responsible for losses in the flock, unless they can prove these were occasioned by wild beasts.
40 in the day the drought . . . and the frost by night--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. 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]. But these two relatives, after having given utterance to their pent-up feelings, came at length to a mutual understanding, or rather, God influenced Laban to make reconciliation with his injured nephew (
Pro 16:7).
44 Come thou, let us make a covenant--The way in which this covenant was ratified was by a heap of stones being laid in a circular pile, to serve as seats, and in the center of this circle a large one was set up perpendicularly for an altar. It is probable that a sacrifice was first offered, and then that the feast of reconciliation was partaken of by both parties seated on the stones around it. To this day heaps of stones, which have been used as memorials, are found abundantly in the region where this transaction took place.
52 This heap be witness--Objects of nature were frequently thus spoken of. But over and above, there was a solemn appeal to God; and it is observable that there was a marked difference in the religious sentiments of the two. Laban spake of the God of Abraham and Nahor, their common ancestors; but Jacob, knowing that idolatry had crept in among that branch of the family, swore by the "fear of his father Isaac." They who have one God should have one heart: they who are agreed in religion should endeavor to agree in everything else.
