CHAPTER XXXI _Laban and his sons envy Jacob_, 1, 2; _on which he is commanded by the Lord to return to his own country_, 3. _Having called his wives together, he lays before them a detailed_ _statement of his situation in reference to their father_, 4-5; _the services he had rendered him_, 6;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:3. _AND THE LORD SAID UNTO JACOB, RETURN - AND I WILL BE_ _WITH THEE._] I will take the same care of thee in thy _return_, as I took of thee on thy way to this place. The Targum reads, _My_ WORD _shall be for thy help_, see Genesis 15:1. A promise of this kind was essentially neces... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:4. _JACOB SENT AND CALLED RACHEL AND LEAH_] He had probably been at some considerable distance with the flocks; and for the greater secrecy, he rather sends for them to the field, to consult them on this most momentous affair, than visit them in their tents, where probably some of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:7. _CHANGED MY WAGES TEN TIMES_] There is a strange diversity among the ancient versions, and ancient and modern interpreters, on the meaning of these words. The Hebrew is עשרת מנים _asereth monim_, which Aquila translates δεκα αριθμους _ten_ _numbers_; Symmachus, δεκακις αριτμω, _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:11. _THE ANGEL OF GOD SPAKE UNTO ME IN A DREAM_] It is strange that we had not heard of this dream _before_; and yet it seems to have taken place before the cattle brought forth, immediately after the bargain between him and Laban. If we follow the _Samaritan_ the difficulty is at o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:12. _GRISLED_] ברדים _beruddim_; ברד barad signifies _hail_, and the meaning must be, they had white spots on them similar to _hail_. Our word _grisled_ comes from the old French, _gresl, hail_, now written _gràle_; hence _greslé_, grisled, spotted with white upon a dark ground.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:15. _ARE WE NOT COUNTED OF HIM STRANGERS?_] Rachel and Leah, who well knew the disposition of their father, gave him here his true character. He has treated us as _strangers _- as _slaves_ whom he had a right to dispose of as he pleased; in consequence, he hath _sold us _- disposed... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:19. _LABAN WENT TO SHEAR HIS SHEEP_] Laban _had gone_; and this was a favourable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived. _RACHEL HAD STOLEN THE IMAGES_] תרפים _teraphim_. What the teraphim were is utterly unknown. In Genesis 31:30 they ar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:21. _PASSED OVER THE RIVER_] The _Euphrates_, as the Targum properly notices. But how could he pass such a river with his flocks, c.? This difficulty does not seem to have struck critics in general. The rabbins felt it, and assert that God wrought a miracle for Jacob on this occasio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:24. _AND GOD CAME TO LABAN_] God's caution to Laban was of high importance to Jacob -_Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob_ _either good or bad_; or rather, as is the literal meaning of the Hebrew, מטוב עד רע _mittob ad ra_, from _good_ to _evil_; for had he neither spoken _good... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:27. _I MIGHT HAVE SENT THEE AWAY WITH MIRTH_] בשמחה, _besimchah_, with rejoicing, making a _feast_ or _entertainment_ on the occasion; _and with songs_, _beshirim_, odes either in the praise of God, or to commemorate the splendid acts of their ancestors; _with tabret_, _bethoph_, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:29. _IT IS IN THE POWER OF MY HAND TO DO YOU HURT_] Literally, _My hand is unto God to do you evil_, i.e., I have vowed to God that I will punish thee for thy flight, and the stealing of my teraphim; but the _God of_ YOUR _father_ has prevented me from doing it. It is a singular ins... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:32. _LET HIM NOT LIVE_] It appears that anciently _theft_ was punished by death; and we know that the patriarchs had the power of life and death in their hands. But previously to the law, the punishment of death was scarcely ever inflicted but for murder. The rabbins consider that t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:35. _THE CUSTOM OF WOMEN IS UPON ME._] This she knew must be a satisfactory reason to her father; for if the teraphim were used to any religious purpose, and they seem to have been used in this way, as Laban calls them his _gods_, he therefore could not suspect that a woman in such... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:36. _AND JACOB WAS WROTH, AND CHODE WITH LABAN_] The expostulation of Jacob with Laban, and their consequent agreement, are told in this place with great spirit and dignity. Jacob was conscious that though he had made use of cunning to increase his flocks, yet Laban had been on the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:39. _THAT WHICH WAS TORN - OF MY HAND DIDST THOU REQUIRE IT_] This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Exodus 22:10; Exodus 22:13. And i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:40. _IN THE DAY THE DROUGHT CONSUMED ME, AND THE FROST BY_ _NIGHT_] The being exposed to the _heat_ by _day_, and _frost_ by _night_, is made part of the heaviest punishment of Promethus by _AEschylus_. Σταθευτος δ' ἡλιου φοιβῃ φλογι, Χροιας αμευψεις· ασμενῳ δε σοι Ἡ ποικιλεμ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:41. _TWENTY YEARS_] See the remarks at the end. Genesis 31:55, Genesis 31:55.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:42. _THE FEAR OF ISAAC_] It is strange that Jacob should say, the GOD _of Abraham_ and the FEAR _of Isaac_, when both words are meant of the same _Being_. The reason perhaps was this; Abraham was long since dead, and God was _his unalienable_ portion for ever. Isaac was yet alive in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:46. _MADE A HEAP_] גל _gal_, translated _heap_, signifies properly a _round_ heap; and this heap was probably made for the double purpose of an _altar_ and a _table_, and Jacob's stone or pillar was set on it for the purpose of a _memorial_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:47. _LABAN CALLED IT JEGAR-SAHADUTHA_] יגר שהדותא _yegar_ _sahadutha_, the _heap_ or _round heap of witness; but Jacob called it_ _galed_, which signifies the same thing. The first is pure _Chaldee_, the second pure _Hebrew_. אגר agar signifies to collect, hence יגר _yegar_ and אוג... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:48. Genesis 31:49, Genesis 31:49.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:48-1. I think these two verses are badly divided, and should be read thus: Genesis 31:48. _And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and_ _thee this day_. Genesis 31:49. _Therefore was the name of it called Galeed and Mizpah;_ _for he said, The Lord watch between me and th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:50. _NO MAN IS WITH US_] Though all were present at the sacrifice offered, yet it appears that in making the contract Jacob and Laban withdrew, and transacted the business in private, calling on God to witness it. Jacob had already four wives; but Laban feared that he might take ot... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:51. _AND LABAN SAID TO JACOB - BEHOLD_ THIS _PILLAR, WHICH I_ _HAVE CAST BETWIXT ME AND THEE_] But this pillar, not _cast_ but _set_ _up_, was certainly _set up by Jacob_; for in Genesis 31:45 we read, _And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar_: it is therefore for the hon... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:53. _THE GOD OF THEIR FATHER_] As Laban certainly speaks of the _true God_ here, with what propriety can he say that this God was the God of _Terah_, the father of Abraham and Nahor? It is certain that Terah was an idolater; of this we have the most positive proof, Joshua 24:2. Bec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:54. _OFFERED SACRIFICE UPON THE MOUNT_] It is very likely that Laban joined in this solemn religious rite, and that, having offered the blood and fat to God, they feasted upon the sacrifice.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 31:55. _KISSED HIS SONS AND HIS DAUGHTERS_] That is, his _grandchildren_, Jacob's _eleven_ sons with Dinah their sister, and their mothers _Leah_ and _Rachel_. All these he calls his _children_, Genesis 31:43. _And blessed them _- prayed heartily for their prosperity, though we find fr... [ Continue Reading ]