JACOB IS COMMANDED BY YAHWEH TO RETURN HOME AND TRIES TO SLIP AWAY (31:1-21). Genesis 31:1 ‘And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and he has obtained his wealth from that which was our father's.” And he beheld the face of Laban, and behol... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And on the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.' Jacob's initial success comes out in that Laban does not learn of his departure until ‘the third day'. The sheep shearing and what accompanied it had kept all his men busy. This may indicate a period of about one and a half days, or even lo... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he took his brethren with him and pursued after him seven days journey. And he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.' Jacob had been making good progress and it took Laban some time to gather his ‘brethren', that is his fellow confederacy leaders, together. It therefore took them ‘a seve... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Take heed to yourself that you speak not to Jacob either good or bad.” ' This is a crucial intervention. Laban is warned by God in a vivid dream, no doubt during a short period of snatched sleep, to be careful how he spea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban came up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in a mountain, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the hill country of Gilead.' Aware of the approaching threat, which he had long anticipated, Jacob takes his men and his possessions into a mountainous place. He knows that there may... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done that you have stolen my heart and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly, and steal me, and did not tell me that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs and with tabret and with harp, and have not allow... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said ‘lest you should take your daughters from me by force'.” ' This is the answer to ‘why did you flee secretly?' (verse 27). Jacob had rightly feared that if he left openly it would have been with very little. The daughters were... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ “With whoever you find your gods, he will not live. In front of our brothers discover what is yours among my possessions and take it to you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.' On the other hand he asserts his innocency on the charge of the theft of the gods, and gives permissio... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did not find them. And he left Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent. But Rachel had taken the teraphim and put them in the camel's furniture and sat on them. And Laban felt all about the tent... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jacob was extremely angry and berated Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, “What have I done wrong? What is my sin that you hotly pursued after me? In your feeling about among all my things what have you found of all your household possessions? Set it here before my brothers and your br... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters and the children are my children and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. And what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children which they have borne.” ' Laban's case is based on recognised trib... [ Continue Reading ]
“And now, come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be for a witness between me and you.” This change of heart of Laban, who had originally intended to drag Jacob and his household back to Paddan-aram, has already been explained as arising from his vivid experience of the awesome presence... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar, and Jacob said to his brothers, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.' This was clearly acceded to by Laban (Genesis 31:51). It is clear that a stone was set up for each person, one for Jacob and a h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha (‘heap of witness' in Aramaic), but Jacob called it Galeed (‘heap of witness' in Hebrew).' This is interesting testimony to the fact that the Arameans spoke an early form of Aramaic while Abraham's family had adopted an early form of Hebrew, which parallels Canaa... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you this day.” That is why its name was called Galeed and Mizpah (place of watching), for he said, “Yahweh watch (zapah) between me and you when we are hidden (i.e. out of sight) one from another.” Laban, as head of the confederacy of which Jaco... [ Continue Reading ]
“If you will afflict my daughters, and if you will take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us. See God is witness between me and you.” Laban deals with his first concern, the security and protection of his daughters. He hands them over to God's protection for their tribe can no longer prote... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap, and see this pillar, which I have set between me and you. This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.” Previously the guarding has b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ “The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.' Each now swears by the God he worships. Jacob swear by Yahweh, the God of Abraham, in the title ‘the Fear' (‘the Awesome One') given by his father Isaac, and La... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brothers to eat bread, and they ate bread and tarried all night in the mountain.' The offering of sacrifice to seal a covenant is well known (see Genesis 15). Compare the words of a government official to Zimri-Lim of Mari (18th century... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And early in the morning Laban rose up and kissed his sons and daughters, and blessed them. And Laban departed and returned to his own place. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when he saw them Jacob said, “This is God's host.” And he called the name of that place Mahanai... [ Continue Reading ]