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Genesis 31
New American Standard Bible

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

31 Now [a]Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this [b]wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw the [c]attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as it had been before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “(A)Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and (B)I will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, 5 and said to them, “(C)I see your father’s [d]attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as it was before, but (D)the God of my father has been with me. 6 (E)You know that I have served your father with all my strength. 7 Yet your father has (F)cheated me and (G)changed my wages ten times; however, (H)God did not allow him to do me harm. 8 If (I)he said this: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered speckled; and if he said this: ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered striped. 9 So God has (J)taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. 10 And it came about at the time when the flock was breeding that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream—and behold—the male goats that were [e]mating were striped, speckled, or mottled. 11 Then (K)the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 He said, ‘Now raise your eyes and see that all the male goats that are [f]mating are striped, speckled, or mottled; for (L)I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am (M)the God of Bethel, where you (N)anointed a memorial stone, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, [g]leave this land, and (O)return to the land of your birth.’” 14 Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For (P)he has sold us, and has also [h]entirely consumed our [i]purchase price. 16 Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has told you.”

17 Then Jacob stood up and put his children and his wives on camels; 18 and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he possessed which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, (Q)to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the [j](R)household idols that were her father’s. 20 And Jacob [k]deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. 21 So he fled with all that he had; and he got up and crossed the Euphrates River, and set [l]out for the hill country of (S)Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22 When Laban was informed on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 However, (T)God came to Laban the Aramean in a (U)dream of the night and said to him, “[m](V)Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

25 And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done [n]by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly and [o]deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with (W)tambourine and with (X)lyre; 28 and did not allow me (Y)to kiss my [p]grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. 29 It is in [q]my power to do you harm, but (Z)the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘[r](AA)Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ 30 Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal (AB)my gods?” 31 Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 (AC)The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives [s]point out what is yours [t]among my belongings and take it for yourself.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the [u]household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag, and she sat on them. So Laban searched through all the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “May my lord not be angry that I cannot (AD)stand in your presence, because the [v]way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the [w](AE)household idols.

36 Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? 37 Though you have searched through all my property, what have you found of all your household property? Set it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide between the two of us. 38 For these twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 I did not even bring to you that which was torn by wild animals; I took the loss myself. You demanded it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 This is how I was: by day the [x]heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 For these twenty years I have been in your house; (AF)I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you (AG)changed my wages ten times. 42 If (AH)the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. (AI)God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, so He (AJ)rendered judgment last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

43 Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the [y]children are my [z]grandchildren, (AK)the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these daughters of mine or to their children to whom they have given birth? 44 So now come, let’s (AL)make a covenant, [aa]you and I, and (AM)it shall be a witness between [ab]you and me.” 45 Then Jacob took (AN)a stone and set it up as a memorial stone. 46 Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47 Now Laban (AO)called it [ac]Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it [ad]Galeed. 48 Laban said, “(AP)This heap is a witness between [ae]you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, 49 and [af](AQ)Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord keep watch between [ag]you and me when we are [ah]absent one from the other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, (AR)God is witness between [ai]you and me.” 51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the memorial stone which I have set between [aj]you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the memorial stone is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this memorial stone to me, for harm. 53 (AS)The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, (AT)judge between us.” So Jacob swore by (AU)the fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob (AV)offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his relatives to [ak]the meal; and they ate [al]the meal and spent the night on the mountain. 55 [am]Then early in the morning Laban got up, and (AW)kissed his [an]grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 31:1 Lit he
  2. Genesis 31:1 Lit glory
  3. Genesis 31:2 Lit face
  4. Genesis 31:5 Lit face
  5. Genesis 31:10 Lit leaping upon the flock
  6. Genesis 31:12 Lit leaping upon the flock
  7. Genesis 31:13 Lit Go out from
  8. Genesis 31:15 I.e., enjoyed the benefit of
  9. Genesis 31:15 Lit money
  10. Genesis 31:19 Heb teraphim
  11. Genesis 31:20 Lit stole the heart of
  12. Genesis 31:21 Lit his face
  13. Genesis 31:24 Lit Take heed to yourself
  14. Genesis 31:26 Lit and you have stolen my heart
  15. Genesis 31:27 Lit steal me
  16. Genesis 31:28 Lit sons
  17. Genesis 31:29 Lit the power of my hand
  18. Genesis 31:29 Lit Take heed to yourself
  19. Genesis 31:32 Lit recognize
  20. Genesis 31:32 Lit with me
  21. Genesis 31:34 Heb teraphim
  22. Genesis 31:35 I.e., menstruation
  23. Genesis 31:35 Heb teraphim
  24. Genesis 31:40 Or drought
  25. Genesis 31:43 Lit sons
  26. Genesis 31:43 Lit sons
  27. Genesis 31:44 Lit I and you
  28. Genesis 31:44 Lit me and you
  29. Genesis 31:47 I.e., the heap of witness, in Aram
  30. Genesis 31:47 I.e., the heap of witness, in Heb
  31. Genesis 31:48 Lit me and you
  32. Genesis 31:49 Lit the Mizpah; i.e., the watchtower
  33. Genesis 31:49 Lit me and you
  34. Genesis 31:49 Lit hidden
  35. Genesis 31:50 Lit me and you
  36. Genesis 31:51 Lit me and you
  37. Genesis 31:54 Lit eat bread
  38. Genesis 31:54 Lit bread
  39. Genesis 31:55 Ch 32:1 in Heb
  40. Genesis 31:55 Lit sons
Close NABRE

Genesis 31
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 31

Flight from Laban. 1 [a]Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father, and he has produced all this wealth from our father’s property.” 2 Jacob perceived, too, that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had previously been. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob: Return to the land of your ancestors, where you were born, and I will be with you.(A)

4 So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where his flock was. 5 There he said to them: “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me is not as it was in the past; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know well that with all my strength I served your father; 7 yet your father cheated me and changed my wages ten times. God, however, did not let him do me any harm.(B) 8 Whenever your father said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the entire flock would bear speckled young; whenever he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wages,’ the entire flock would bear streaked young. 9 So God took away your father’s livestock and gave it to me. 10 Once, during the flock’s mating season, I had a dream in which I saw he-goats mating that were streaked, speckled and mottled. 11 In the dream God’s angel said to me, ‘Jacob!’ and I replied, ‘Here I am!’ 12 Then he said: ‘Look up and see. All the he-goats that are mating are streaked, speckled and mottled, for I have seen all the things that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a sacred pillar and made a vow to me. Get up now! Leave this land and return to the land of your birth.’”(C)

14 Rachel and Leah answered him: “Do we still have an heir’s portion in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as outsiders?[b] He not only sold us; he has even used up the money that he got for us! 16 All the wealth that God took away from our father really belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”(D) 17 Jacob proceeded to put his children and wives on camels, 18 and he drove off all his livestock and all the property he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

19 Now Laban was away shearing his sheep, and Rachel had stolen her father’s household images.[c](E) 20 Jacob had hoodwinked[d] Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was going to flee. 21 Thus he fled with all that he had. Once he was across the Euphrates, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

22 On the third day, word came to Laban that Jacob had fled. 23 Taking his kinsmen with him, he pursued him for seven days[e] until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24 But that night God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said to him: Take care not to say anything to Jacob.(F)

Jacob and Laban in Gilead. 25 When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob’s tents were pitched in the hill country; Laban also pitched his tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “How could you hoodwink me and carry off my daughters like prisoners of war?[f] 27 Why did you dupe me by stealing away secretly? You did not tell me! I would have sent you off with joyful singing to the sound of tambourines and harps. 28 You did not even allow me a parting kiss to my daughters and grandchildren! Now what you have done makes no sense. 29 I have it in my power to harm all of you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Take care not to say anything to Jacob!’ 30 Granted that you had to leave because you were longing for your father’s house, why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob replied to Laban, “I was frightened at the thought that you might take your daughters away from me by force. 32 As for your gods, the one you find them with shall not remain alive! If, with our kinsmen looking on, you identify anything here as belonging to you, take it.” Jacob had no idea that Rachel had stolen the household images.

33 Laban then went in and searched Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent, as well as the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them. Leaving Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s. 34 [g]Meanwhile Rachel had taken the household images, put them inside the camel’s saddlebag, and seated herself upon them. When Laban had rummaged through her whole tent without finding them,(G) 35 she said to her father, “Do not let my lord be angry that I cannot rise in your presence; I am having my period.” So, despite his search, he did not find the household images.

36 Jacob, now angered, confronted Laban and demanded, “What crime or offense have I committed that you should hound me? 37 Now that you have rummaged through all my things, what have you found from your household belongings? Produce it here before your kinsmen and mine, and let them decide between the two of us.

38 “In the twenty years that I was under you, no ewe or she-goat of yours ever miscarried, and I have never eaten rams of your flock. 39 (H)I never brought you an animal torn by wild beasts; I made good the loss myself. You held me responsible for anything stolen by day or night.[h] 40 Often the scorching heat devoured me by day, and the frost by night, while sleep fled from my eyes! 41 Of the twenty years that I have now spent in your household, I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, while you changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, you would now have sent me away empty-handed. But God saw my plight and the fruits of my toil, and last night he reproached you.”(I)

43 [i]Laban replied to Jacob: “The daughters are mine, their children are mine, and the flocks are mine; everything you see belongs to me. What can I do now for my own daughters and for the children they have borne? 44 [j]Come, now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and it will be a treaty between you and me.”

45 Then Jacob took a stone and set it up as a sacred pillar.(J) 46 Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they got stones and made a mound; and they ate there at the mound. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,[k] but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, “This mound will be a witness from now on between you and me.” That is why it was named Galeed— 49 and also Mizpah,[l] for he said: “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. 50 If you mistreat my daughters, or take other wives besides my daughters, know that even though no one else is there, God will be a witness between you and me.”

51 Laban said further to Jacob: “Here is this mound, and here is the sacred pillar that I have set up between you and me. 52 This mound will be a witness, and this sacred pillar will be a witness, that, with hostile intent, I may not pass beyond this mound into your territory, nor may you pass beyond it into mine. 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us!” Jacob took the oath by the Fear of his father Isaac.[m] 54 He then offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his kinsmen to share in the meal. When they had eaten, they passed the night on the mountain.

Footnotes

  1. 31:1–54 Jacob flees with his family from Laban. The strife that has always accompanied Jacob continues as Laban’s sons complain, “he has taken everything that belonged to our father”; the brothers’ complaint echoes Esau’s in 27:36. Rachel and Leah overcome their mutual hostility and are able to leave together, a harbinger of the reconciliation with Esau in chap. 33.
  2. 31:15 Outsiders: lit., “foreign women”; they lacked the favored legal status of native women. Used up: lit., “eaten, consumed”; the bridal price that a man received for giving his daughter in marriage was legally reserved as her inalienable dowry. Perhaps this is the reason that Rachel took the household images belonging to Laban.
  3. 31:19 Household images: in Hebrew, teraphim, figurines used in divination (Ez 21:26; Zec 10:2). Laban calls them his “gods” (v. 30). The traditional translation “idols” is avoided because it suggests false gods, whereas Genesis seems to accept the fact that the ancestors did not always live according to later biblical religious standards and laws.
  4. 31:20 Hoodwinked: lit., “stolen the heart of,” i.e., lulled the mind of. Aramean: the earliest extra-biblical references to the Arameans date later than the time of Jacob, if Jacob is dated to the mid-second millennium; to call Laban an Aramean and to have him speak Aramaic (Jegar-sahadutha, v. 47) is an apparent anachronism. The word may have been chosen to underscore the growing estrangement between the two men and the fact that their descendants will be two different peoples.
  5. 31:23 For seven days: lit., “a way of seven days,” a general term to designate a long distance; it would actually have taken a camel caravan many more days to travel from Haran to Gilead, the region east of the northern half of the Jordan. The mention of camels in this passage is apparently anachronistic since camels were not domesticated until the late second millennium.
  6. 31:26 Prisoners of war: lit., “women captured by the sword”; the women of a conquered people were treated as part of the victor’s spoil; cf. 1 Sm 30:2; 2 Kgs 5:2.
  7. 31:34 As in chap. 27, a younger child (Rachel) deceives her father to gain what belongs to him.
  8. 31:39 Jacob’s actions are more generous than the customs suggested in the Code of Hammurabi: “If in a sheepfold an act of god has occurred, or a lion has made a kill, the shepherd shall clear himself before the deity, and the owner of the fold must accept the loss” (par. 266); cf. Ex 22:12.
  9. 31:43–54 In this account of the non-aggression treaty between Laban and Jacob, the different objects that serve as witness (sacred pillar in v. 45, cairn of stones in v. 46), their different names (Jegar-sahadutha in v. 47, Mizpah in v. 49), and the two references to the covenant meal (vv. 46, 54) suggest that two versions have been fused. One version is the Yahwist source, and another source has been used to supplement it.
  10. 31:44–54 The treaty is a typical covenant between two parties: Jacob was bound to treat his wives (Laban’s daughters) well, and Laban was bound not to cross Jacob’s boundaries with hostile intent.
  11. 31:47–48 Jegar-sahadutha: an Aramaic term meaning “mound of witness.” Galeed: in Hebrew, “the mound of witness.”
  12. 31:49 Mizpah: a town in Gilead; cf. Jgs 10:17; 11:11, 34; Hos 5:1. The Hebrew name mispa (“lookout”) is allied to yisep yhwh (“may the Lord keep watch”), and also echoes the word masseba (“sacred pillar”).
  13. 31:53 Fear of…Isaac: an archaic title for Jacob’s God of the Father.
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Genesis 30
Genesis 32
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