62 | Genesis 31:3
3
Then the Lord said to Ja cob , “ Go back to the land of your fa thers and to your rel a tives , and I will be with you .”
4
So Ja cob sent word to Ra chel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were . 5 He said to them , “ I see that your fa ther ’ s at ti tude to ward me is not what it was be fore , but the God of my fa ther has been with me . 6 You know that I ’ ve worked for your fa ther with all my strength , 7 yet your fa ther has cheat ed me by chang ing my wag es ten times . How ev er , God has not al lowed him to harm me . 8 If he said , ‘ The speck led ones will be your wag es ,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speck led young ; and if he said , ‘ The streaked ones will be your wag es ,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young .
9
So God has tak en away your fa ther ’ s live stock and has giv en them to me .
10
“ In breed ing sea son I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mat ing with the flock were streaked , speck led or spot ted . 11 The an gel of God said to me in the dream , ‘ Ja cob .’ I an swered , ‘ Here I am .’ 12 And he said , ‘ Look up and see that all the male goats mat ing with the flock are streaked , speck led or spot ted , for I have seen all that La ban has been do ing to you . 13 I am the God of Beth el , where you anoint ed a pil lar and where you made a vow to me . Now leave this land at once and go back to your na tive land .’ ”
14
Then Ra chel and Leah re plied , “ Do we still have any share in the in her i tance of our fa ther ’ s es tate ? 15 Does he not re gard us as for eign ers ? Not only has he sold us , but he has used up what was paid for us . 16 Sure ly all the wealth that God took away from our fa ther be longs to us and our children . So do what ev er God has told you .”
17
Then Ja cob put his chil dren and his wives on cam els , 18 and he drove all his live stock ahead of him , along with all the goods he had ac cu mu lat ed in Pad dan Aram , a to go to his fa ther Isaac in the land of Ca naan .
19
When La ban had gone to shear his sheep , Rachel stole her fa ther ’ s house hold gods . 20 More over , Ja cob de ceived La ban the Ar a me an by not tell ing him he was run ning away . 21 So he fled with all he had , crossed the Eu phra tes Riv er , and head ed for the hill coun try of Gil e ad .
Laban Pursues Jacob
22
On the third day La ban was told that Ja cob had fled . 23 Tak ing his rel a tives with him , he pur sued Ja cob for sev en days and caught up with him in the hill coun try of Gil e ad . 24 Then God came to La ban the Ar a me an in a dream at night and said to him , “ Be care ful not to say any thing to Ja cob , ei ther good or bad .”
25
Ja cob had pitched his tent in the hill coun try of Gil e ad when La ban over took him , and La ban and his rel a tives camped there too . 26 Then La ban said to Ja cob , “ What have you done ? You ’ ve deceived me , and you ’ ve car ried off my daugh ters like cap tives in war . 27 Why did you run off se cretly and de ceive me ? Why didn ’ t you tell me , so I could send you away with joy and sing ing to the mu sic of tim brels and harps ? 28 You didn ’ t even let me kiss my grand chil dren and my daugh ters
a
18 That is , Northwest Mesopotamia
31:3 Go back to the land of your fathers In view of Laban ’ s negative disposition toward Jacob , this is both a command and a warning . 31:7 by changing my wages ten times This is a rhetorical expression that essentially means time and again . 31:11 angel of God See note on 21:17 . 31:12 streaked , speckled or spotted See note on 30:37 – 43 . 31:13 you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow See 28:18 – 22 ; note on 28:18 . 31:17 on camels See note on 12:16 . 31:18 Paddan Aram This could be another name for what the Hebrew text refers to as aram naharayim ( see note on 24:10 ) or a town in that region ( see Hos 12:12 ). The identification of Laban with both place names indicates that it is near Harran ( see Ge 27:43 ). See the map “ Patriarchal Journeys to and From Haran ” on p . 2251 . 31:19 household gods The Hebrew text here uses the term teraphim . The precise meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain , but it seems to refer to household gods , idols or figurines that were thought to represent residents of the unseen , spiritual world . The teraphim could have been used in household worship , which would have been idolatrous . However , it is also possible that they served another purpose that would not be thought of as idolatry : In 1Sa 19:13 – 16 the term teraphim occurs without any suggestion of idolatry . Ancient Near Eastern legal documents from Nuzi , and other ancient Near Eastern parallels , suggest that worshiping and honoring departed spirits of the dead was practiced , and that household gods were part of a person ’ s inheritance . But this does not mean that Laban ’ s teraphim were intended for ancestor worship ; they may also have been used as tokens to remember the dead — the ancient equivalent of expressing grief or respect for the dead by leaving gifts at grave sites . In Jacob ’ s subsequent demand that his household put away its foreign gods ( Ge 35:2 ), the word used is not teraphim . Nevertheless , any image of something or someone could be used in an idolatrous way , so it is understandable that such items would be opposed by Biblical writers elsewhere ( see 1Sa 15:23 ; 2Ki 23:24 ; Zec 10:2 ). 31:20 Laban the Aramean See note on Ge 24:29 ; 25:20 and note . 31:21 hill country of Gilead Harran and Paddan Aram , where Laban is departing from , is located in the bend of the Fertile Crescent , north of Canaan . Gilead would be the first region travelers would encounter in the Transjordan . 31:27 with joy and singing Laban ’ s claims of wanting to wish farewell to Jacob and his daughters with a festive celebration seem disingenuous .