(J, E.) 1 21. The Flight of Jacob. 22 55. The Pursuit of Laban, and the Covenant between Laban and Jacob at Gilead. The greater part of this chapter is taken from E. The discrepancies between it and the previous chapter are to be explained by the compiler's prevalent use in that chapter of J an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Laban's sons_ See Genesis 30:35. It has hitherto been a contest of wits between Laban and Jacob. Jacob has had the best of it. Laban's sons are jealous and thoroughly alienated. _glory_ R.V. marg. _wealth_. The Hebrew word _kâbôd_, usually rendered "honour" or "glory," has sometimes the meaning of... [ Continue Reading ]
_the countenance of Laban_ Here, and in Genesis 31:5, Laban's countenance toward Jacob is said to be altered. For this idiomatic use of "the countenance" as expressing feeling, cf. Genesis 4:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord said_ In a dream; cf. Genesis 31:11. _the land of thy fathers_ i.e. Canaan, as the country of Abraham and Isaac. _I will be with thee_ The renewal of the promise of the Divine Presence made to Jacob in Genesis 28:15; cf. Genesis 21:22; Genesis 26:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
_changed my wages_ The account given in the following passage differs from that in the preceding chapter, Genesis 30:25-31. There Jacob specified the conditions, to which Laban acceded; and then Jacob resorted to artifice, in order to improve his position. Here it is Laban that has specified the wag... [ Continue Reading ]
_If he said thus_ Applying to Laban the proposal made by Jacob in Genesis 30:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in a dream_ Cf. Genesis 20:3. It is thus revealed to Jacob (Genesis 31:10) that the birth, in such numbers, of spotted and parti-coloured young is due to God's goodness towards him, and in order to requite Laban (Genesis 31:12). _grisled_ i.e. "gray" (Fr. _gris_). This Old English word, now genera... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the angel of God_ The vision combines the account of the events connected with the wages in Genesis 30:31-42 with the mention of the Divine word to Jacob in Genesis 31:3. Notice the frequent use of "God" (Elohim), not Lord (Jehovah), in this chapter, Genesis 31:9_; Genesis 31:11; Genesis 31:16... [ Continue Reading ]
_the God of Beth-el_ i.e. the God who appeared unto thee at Beth-el; see Genesis 35:7. For the mention of the pillar and the vow, see Genesis 28:18-22. By the words "I am the God of Beth-el," the Angel is shewn to be not a created angel, but Jehovah Himself in a manifested form; cf. Exodus 23:20-21,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is there yet_ i.e. "we have no reason any longer to expect." Leah and Rachel had both been alienated from their father by his disregard of their feelings and by his mean grasping policy. _portion or inheritance_ A proverbial phrase: see 2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 12:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_strangers_ i.e. foreigners, people of another kindred or country. _sold us_ Referring to the bargain by which Jacob had obtained his two wives at the price of fourteen years" service (Genesis 29:15-20; Genesis 29:27). _our money_ Better, as marg., _the price paid for us_. Laban had taken to himse... [ Continue Reading ]
_gone to shear his sheep_ Jacob selected, as an opportune moment for flight, Laban's absence from home and attendance at the important festival of sheep-shearing. Among shepherds this was an occasion of feasting, which lasted several days. Cf. 1Sa 25:2; 1 Samuel 25:7; 1 Samuel 25:11; 2 Samuel 13:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_stole away_, &c. Heb. _stole the heart of Laban the Aramean_. Cf. Genesis 31:26. Jacob outwitted Laban; fled secretly, and got three days" start. For the phrase, cf. the Greek κλέπτειν νοῦν, "to steal the mind," i.e. to deceive; see 2 Samuel 15:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the River_ i.e. _the Euphrates_. See note on Genesis 15:18. Cf. Psalms 72:8, "from the River unto the ends of the earth." "Haran" (Genesis 24:4) was Laban's home. _toward the mountain of Gilead_ i.e. towards the hill-country on the east side of Jordan. The name "Gilead" is here used in its widest... [ Continue Reading ]
The Pursuit of Laban, &c. 23. _his brethren_ i.e. the men of his kindred and clan, as in Genesis 31:25_; Genesis 31:32_. Jacob is similarly attended; cf. Genesis 31:37_; Genesis 31:46; Genesis 31:54_, Genesis 24:60. _seven days" journey_ The distance from Haran to the land of Gilead for a company w... [ Continue Reading ]
_And God came_ Cf. Genesis 31:11. For this revelation to Laban the Syrian, compare the revelation to Abimelech, king of Gerar, in Genesis 20:3. It is God, not the "angel of God" (Genesis 31:11), who appears to Laban. _either good or bad_ A phrase used by Laban himself in Genesis 24:50.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the mountain_ Very probably the name has dropped out of the text. We should expect a proper name to balance "the mountain of Gilead" in the second clause. 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 mi... [ Continue Reading ]
_What hast thou done_?] Cf. Genesis 4:10. Laban's reproach in Genesis 31:26 is expressed in terms of forbearance and injured innocence: why had Jacob fled secretly? why not suffer himself to be dismissed with dignity? For the sake of the God of Isaac Laban will say no more, but he must protest again... [ Continue Reading ]
_steal away from me_ 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. The "tabret" (_tôph_) is the "timbrel" or "tambourine.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sons … daughters_ Laban's grandchildren; cf. Genesis 31:43_; Genesis 31:55_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the power of my hand_ A Hebrew idiom occurring in Deuteronomy 28:32; Nehemiah 5:5; Proverbs 3:27; Micah 2:1. The word "power" is "_Êl_," usually rendered "God"; in this idiom it denotes "power" or "might" in the abstract. _the God of your father_ Laban's conscience smites him, as is implied by... [ Continue Reading ]
though _thou wouldest needs be gone_ Lit. "thou art actually gone." _my gods_ "My _Elohim_, or god," here in the sense of the figures of the household gods, as in Judges 18:24, and possibly in Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:7-8; Exodus 32:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I was afraid_ Jacob's defence is brief: (1) he fled because he could not trust Laban, who, he thought, would keep his daughters by force; (2) as to the _teraphim_, he was innocent; if any of his party had stolen them, they should be punished by death.... [ Continue Reading ]
_our brethren_ Cf. Genesis 31:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_tent_ Four tents are mentioned, one occupied by Jacob, one each by Leah and Rachel, and one by handmaidens. LXX renders by οἶκον = "house.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the camel's furniture_ By this is probably meant the wicker framework of the camel's saddle, with its trappings and hangings, LXX τὰ σάγματα, Lat. _stramenta_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_rise_ i.e. in honour to her father. For the custom of rising to do honour to age, see Leviticus 19:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
_trespass … sin_ i.e. (_a_) the particular outrage against the rights of kinship, and (_b_) moral offence generally. Jacob regards the charge of the theft of the _teraphim_as a mere pretext, devised by Laban in order to ransack his goods. For the word rendered "trespass," "transgression," "rebellion... [ Continue Reading ]
_This twenty years_ 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. And now that he has left Haran, it was only because of God's mercy, and not through Laban's kindness, t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I brought not unto thee_ Jacob allowed himself to be the loser by the animals that were killed by wild beasts. Instead of bringing the mangled remains so that their value might not be deducted, he cheerfully bore the full loss: see Exodus 22:12-13; Amos 3:12. Jacob had exceeded the standard of fair... [ Continue Reading ]
_drought … frost_ The extremes of midday heat and midnight frost. For the variations of temperature, cf. Jeremiah 36:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
_ten times_ Cf. Genesis 31:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the God of my father_ Cf. Genesis 31:5. _the Fear of Isaac_ Cf. Genesis 31:53. 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... [ Continue Reading ]
_my daughters_ Laban's reply, consisting of the claim of complete parental control over Leah and Rachel and their children and their husband's flocks, is no sort of reply to Jacob's complaint.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a covenant_ Cf. Genesis 26:28. _a witness_ Heb. _-ed_. This word gives the keynote to the transaction, and introduces the play on the word Gilead in Genesis 31:47. But "a covenant" is not "a witness." Surely some words have dropped out. Several commentators suggest: "And let us make a heap, and le... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jacob_ The name "Jacob" is here almost certainly a gloss. We should read either "and he took a stone," or "and Laban took a stone." In Genesis 31:51 Laban says that he set up the pillar or _maṣṣêbah_. Laban erects the pillar; Jacob makes the heap of stones. _a pillar_ Heb. _maṣṣêbah_. As Jacob had... [ Continue Reading ]
_his brethren_ i.e. his followers and companions; see Genesis 31:23_; Genesis 31:32_. _an heap_ Heb. _gal_. What we should now call a "cairn," on the top of a mountain. Lat. _tumulus_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Laban called it_ This verse, which anticipates and does not agree with Genesis 31:48, must be a learned gloss. Laban the Syrian (cf. Genesis 31:20; Genesis 28:5) gives an Aramaic name, Jacob the Hebrew gives a Hebrew name. In the region of Gilead, in later times, both languages were probably s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore was the name_, &c. A popular etymology thus accounted for the name "Gilead" by derivation from "Galeed." Probably, some well-known "cairn" on the hill-frontier of Gilead was the reputed scene of the compact between Laban and Jacob. That border feuds were waged between Aramaeans and Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mizpah_ That is, _The watch-tower_. Cf. Judges 11:29, "Mizpeh of Gilead," and Genesis 31:34, "Mizpah." Probably a common name for a height. The mention of this name comes in very abruptly at this point, and may be a gloss. The Sam. reads _maṣṣêbah_, LXX καὶ ἡ ὅρασις = "the vision." It has been sugg... [ Continue Reading ]
_wives beside my daughters_ So that Leah and Rachel may not be exposed to the risk of any indignity. "Afflict," cf. "dealt hardly" (Genesis 16:6).... [ Continue Reading ]
_heap … set_ Jacob had caused the heap to be collected; Laban had erected the pillar: see note on Genesis 31:45. Two compacts are made: (1) Jacob will not ill-treat Laban's daughters, Genesis 31:50; (2) neither Laban nor Jacob will pass the boundary heap of stones to do the other harm, Genesis 31:52... [ Continue Reading ]
_The God of Abraham … Nahor_ The verb "judge" is in the plural. See note on Genesis 20:13 for the rare use of the plural verb with "Elohim." Laban speaks of the God of Abraham, i.e. of the Hebrews in Canaan, and of the God of Nahor, i.e. of the Hebrews in Haran, and as a Syrian may possibly have reg... [ Continue Reading ]
_offered a sacrifice_ Lit. "killed a sacrifice." The killing of an animal for sacrifice was the occasion of a feast. The sacrifice consisted not only in an offering to the Deity, but also in the eating of portions of the sacrificial victim by both the contracting parties of the covenant; cf. Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
_sons and … daughters_ Cf. Genesis 31:28_; Genesis 31:43_. His grandchildren as well as his two daughters. _unto his place_ i.e. his home in Haran; cf. Genesis 18:33; Numbers 24:25.... [ Continue Reading ]