Genesis 31:43-47
New English Translation
43 Laban replied[a] to Jacob, “These women[b] are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren,[c] and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today[d] or the children to whom they have given birth? 44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement,[e] you and I, and it will be[f] proof that we have made peace.”[g]
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 46 Then he[h] said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile.[i] They ate there by the pile of stones. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha,[j] but Jacob called it Galeed.[k]
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- Genesis 31:43 tn Heb “answered and said.”
- Genesis 31:43 tn Heb “daughters.”
- Genesis 31:43 tn Heb “children.”
- Genesis 31:43 tn Heb “but to my daughters what can I do to these today?”
- Genesis 31:44 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
- Genesis 31:44 tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “become.”
- Genesis 31:44 tn Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”
- Genesis 31:46 tn Heb “Jacob”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 31:46 sn The Hebrew word for “pile” is גַּל (gal), which sounds like the name “Galeed” (גַּלְעֵד, galʿed). See v. 48.
- Genesis 31:47 sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”
- Genesis 31:47 sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.
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