NIV, Faithlife Study Bible | Page 113

Genesis 31:55 | 63 goodbye . You have done a fool ish thing . 29 I have the pow er to harm you ; but last night the God of your fa ther said to me , ‘ Be care ful not to say any thing to Ja cob , ei ther good or bad .’ 30 Now you have gone off be cause you longed to re turn to your fa ther ’ s house hold . But why did you steal my gods ?”
31
Ja cob an swered La ban , “ I was afraid , be cause I thought you would take your daugh ters away from me by force . 32 But if you find any one who has your gods , that per son shall not live . In the pres ence of our rel a tives , see for your self wheth er there is any thing of yours here with me ; and if so , take it .” Now Ja cob did not know that Ra chel had sto len the gods .
33
So La ban went into Ja cob ’ s tent and into Le ah ’ s tent and into the tent of the two fe male ser vants , but he found noth ing . Af ter he came out of Le ah ’ s tent , he en tered Ra chel ’ s tent . 34 Now Ra chel had tak en the house hold gods and put them in side her cam el ’ s sad dle and was sit ting on them . Laban searched through ev ery thing in the tent but found noth ing .
35
Ra chel said to her fa ther , “ Don ’ t be an gry , my lord , that I can not stand up in your pres ence ; I ’ m hav ing my pe ri od .” So he searched but could not find the house hold gods .
36
Ja cob was an gry and took La ban to task . “ What is my crime ?” he asked La ban . “ How have I wronged you that you hunt me down ? 37 Now that you have searched through all my goods , what have you found that be longs to your house hold ? Put it here in front of your rel a tives and mine , and let them judge be tween the two of us .
38
“ I have been with you for twen ty years now . Your sheep and goats have not mis car ried , nor have I eat en rams from your flocks . 39 I did not bring you an i mals torn by wild beasts ; I bore the loss my self . And you de mand ed pay ment from me for what ev er was sto len by day or night .
40
This was my sit u a tion : The heat con sumed me in the day time and the cold at night , and sleep fled from my eyes . 41 It was like this for the twen ty years I was in your house hold . I worked for you four teen years for your two daugh ters and six years for your flocks , and you changed my wag es ten times . 42 If the God of my fa ther , the God of Abra ham and the Fear of Isaac , had not been with me , you would sure ly have sent me away emp ty-hand ed . But God has seen my hard ship and the toil of my hands , and last night he re buked you .”
43
La ban an swered Ja cob , “ The wom en are my daugh ters , the chil dren are my chil dren , and the flocks are my flocks . All you see is mine . Yet what can I do to day about these daugh ters of mine , or about the chil dren they have borne ? 44 Come now , let ’ s make a cov enant , you and I , and let it serve as a wit ness be tween us .”
45
So Ja cob took a stone and set it up as a pil lar .
46
He said to his rel a tives , “ Gath er some stones .” So they took stones and piled them in a heap , and they ate there by the heap . 47 La ban called it Je gar Sa ha du tha , and Ja cob called it Gal e ed . a
48
La ban said , “ This heap is a wit ness be tween you and me to day .” That is why it was called Gale ed . 49 It was also called Miz pah , b be cause he said , “ May the Lord keep watch be tween you and me when we are away from each oth er . 50 If you mistreat my daugh ters or if you take any wives besides my daugh ters , even though no one is with us , re mem ber that God is a wit ness be tween you and me .”
51
La ban also said to Ja cob , “ Here is this heap , and here is this pil lar I have set up be tween you and me . 52 This heap is a wit ness , and this pil lar is a wit ness , that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pil lar to my side to harm me .
53
May the God of Abra ham and the God of Nahor , the God of their fa ther , judge be tween us .”
So Ja cob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his fa ther Isaac . 54 He of fered a sac ri fice there in the hill coun try and in vit ed his rel a tives to a meal . Af ter they had eat en , they spent the night there . 55
Ear ly the next morn ing La ban kissed his grand chil dren and his daugh ters and blessed them . Then he left and re turned home . c
a
47 The Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap . b
49 Mizpah means watchtower . c
55 In Hebrew texts this verse ( 31:55 ) is numbered 32:1 .
31:35 I ’ m having my period Rachel claims she cannot get up to show her father proper respect because she is menstruating . 31:42 the Fear of Isaac This is a divine title . It occurs only here and in v . 53 . It refers to the one whom Isaac , Jacob ’ s father , revered — ​Yahweh , the God of Abraham . 31:44 let it serve as a witness Standing pillars and stone memorials often denoted a divine being or supernatural appearance ( v . 45,52 ). In this context , Jacob and Laban commemorate God as witness to their pact of nonaggression ( vv . 51 – 53 ). See note on 28:18 ; compare 35:14 . See the table “ Covenants in the Old Testament ” on p . 469 . 31:47 Jegar Sahadutha This is an Aramaic term that means “ the heap of witness ” or “ stones of witness ,” hence Laban ’ s remark in v . 48 . Galeed Like Laban ’ s naming of the place , Jacob uses a Hebrew term that means “ the heap of witness .” 31:49 Mizpah The Hebrew term used here , mispah is related to the Hebrew verb taspah ( meaning “ to watch ”), which Jacob uses here in his description of what he requests Yahweh do . 31:53 the God of Nahor There is no evidence in the stories of Abraham that his brother , Nahor , knew of or followed Yahweh . In addition , the verb often translated as “ judge ” in this verse is plural in Hebrew , which could indicate that two separate deities are being called on to bear witness by Laban — ​Yahweh and Nahor ’ s god .