Genesis Chapter 31
A. Jacob’s disputes with Laban and his sons.
1. (1-2) Contention with Laban’s sons causes Laban to look differently at Jacob.
Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.
Jacob left for Canaan for two interrelated reasons: 1) Animosity by Laban’s sons was growing against Jacob, and Laban’s mood was dangerous; Perhaps God stirred up the nest. 2) God told Jacob to return to his own land: a divine call to leave for the land of promise
a. Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s: It wasn’t that Jacob had taken anything that belonged to Laban. Rather, it was that his wealth was increasing in proportion to Laban’s wealth. The problem wasn’t that Jacob stole; it was that Laban’s sons were filled with envy.
i. Envy will distort the truth. Jacob had not taken anything of Laban’s, but envy will lie. Therefore Laban’s sons said, Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s.
b. The countenance of Laban… was not favorable toward him: The envy of Laban’s sons poisoned Laban’s heart against Jacob. Before, Laban was entirely pleased with the agreement.
i. Envy is bad not only on its own, but also for the company it keeps: For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:3). For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there (James 3:16).
ii. Instead, Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy (1 Corinthians 13:4).
iii. God wants to deliver us from envy: For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another (Titus 3:3).
iv. Envy is no small sin. It put Jesus on the cross: For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy (Matthew 27:18).
2. (3) God tells Jacob to return to the Promised Land.
Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
a. Return to the land of your fathers: Even if Jacob never knew it, God prepared him for this time. First, God gave him the desire to go back home (Genesis 30:25). Then, his present circumstances became unbearable. Finally, the LORD gave personal direction to Jacob. Today, God may lead people after the same pattern.
b. And I will be with you: This was the most important aspect. If God were with Jacob, he could be at peace and confident in any difficulty – or at least had the opportunity for peace and confidence. The promise of God’s presence meant everything.
3. (4-9) Jacob explains the situation and his plan to his wives.
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, and said to them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. And you know that with all my might I have served your father. Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
a. But the God of my father has been with me: Even though Laban tried to cheat Jacob, God protected him all the time. God showed Jacob that He was greater and able to overcome what any man might do to Jacob. God’s presence was with Jacob, just as God had promised (Genesis 28:15).
i. This attitude was later expressed in a Psalm: The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:6).
b. You know that with all my might I have served your father: Jacob not only believed that he had acted properly toward Laban, but he also believed that his wives knew of his righteous conduct and Laban’s unfair treatment of him.
4. (10-13) Jacob’s dream of the flocks.
“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’”
a. The Angel of God spoke to me in a dream: Here, we learn that the blessing of blessed production of sheep and goats described in Genesis 30:37-43 was in some way revealed to Jacob in a dream. Jacob did not only use clever agricultural methods; more importantly, he had the blessing of God.
b. I am the God of Bethel: God told Jacob to go back to Bethel, back to the place where he first encountered the LORD in a personal way. This was Jacob’s way of returning to his first love and first works (as would be later described in Revelation 2:4-5).
i. I am the God of Bethel: It is good to remember times and places where the LORD did great works for us and has met us in wonderful ways. As we remember them, God reminds us He is still the same God who met our needs then and wants to meet our needs now.
ii. “You remember, some of you, perhaps, the first time when pardoning love was revealed to you — when you were brought to see the love of God in the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Well, to-night, the Lord says to you, ‘I am the same God as you have ever found me. I have not changed. I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed, even as your father Jacob was not consumed; for I was even to him the selfsame God.’” (Spurgeon)
c. Arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family: In this previous dream, God told Jacob to return. The land was the land of your family, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by covenant.
5. (14-16) Leah and Rachel support Jacob in his desire to move back to Canaan.
Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”
The response of both women was in faith as well. Laban had exploited his daughters’ wealth and had lost their good will. So they were willing to leave their father.
a. Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house: Rachel and Leah noted that their father Laban had already used any potential inheritance they may have once received (also completely consumed our money). This meant they were happy to leave their homeland with Jacob and return to Bethel and the land promised to Jacob.
b. Whatever God has said to you, do it: Their support of Jacob in a costly and perhaps dangerous move was significant. It was a huge undertaking to move such a large family so far. If not for the support of his wives, Jacob perhaps would not have done what the LORD had told him to do.
i. This may be the first time in quite a while when the sisters Leah and Rachel agreed on anything. They could agree in uniting against a common enemy – their father Laban.
B. Jacob’s departure from Laban.
1. (17-21) Jacob leaves without saying goodbye.
Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels. And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s. And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead.
Rachel stole Laban’s household “teraphim,” which were figurines of deities (pegan gods and showed property ownership). This shows the pagan influence in Laban’s family. Perhaps she told herself she deserved them since Laban had turned the tables on her in the name of custom and had deprived her of her right to marry first, but her hardheaded self-interest almost brought disaster.
The Nuzi Tablets In 1925, about 4000 clay tablets were discovered in a town east of Haran and are now called the Tablets of Nuzi (Excavations 1925-1931, American; Schools of Oriental Research, with Harvard University Museum). They found written documents yielding detailed insights into the life and culture of the region in the 2nd millennium bc. We learned that these Teraphim could be used to show property ownership or used by a son-in-law as proof of being a principal heir.
That’s why Laban insisted on a boundary stone at Mizpah, to assure property to his sons. These Nuzi tablets also describe details about “sisterhood” status could be elevated to a superior position and a wife that was especially favored could be elevated to the rank of a sister. These were Hurrian customs unknown to neither Abimelech nor Pharaoh. It was also customary to have surrogate motherhood by maidservants.
a. Jacob rose and set his sons and wives on camels: Jacob intended a quick departure, traveling as fast as possible. Jacob was wealthy enough so that his entire family could travel on camels.
b. Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian: God already told Jacob to go and had promised him safe passage. Jacob’s fear and deceptive departure showed that he lacked confidence in God and His promise, and he relied more on his own wisdom and ability.
i. “He could have announced his departure and gone in the glory of an army with banners. But fear made it impossible to reap the full measure of blessing. He sneaked away into the will of God instead of departing in triumph.” (Barnhouse)
c. Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s: Rachel stole her father’s household idols (teraphim). There are many potential reasons why Rachel did this.
· Perhaps she worshipped these idols and did not want to be without them.
· Perhaps she did not want her father to inquire of them, to use them as tools of divination to catch them (as he may have previously done, as in Genesis 30:27).
· Perhaps it was because such idols were often used as deeds to property and she thought that by taking the idols she took whatever inheritance might be left to Laban’s children.
· Perhaps Rachel stole the teraphim simply to get back at her father, whom she felt had mistreated her, her husband, and her whole family.
· According to some Jewish traditions, Rachel took the teraphim because she wanted to keep her father Laban from idolatry.
d. Headed toward the mountains of Gilead: It was nearly 300 miles (482 kilometers) from Haran to the mountains of Gilead, but the journey was longer and more difficult psychologically than it was physically for Jacob. He left the place of safety, where he lived in a comfortable servitude, to go to a place where God called him, but there were many dangerous enemies (such as his brother Esau, who had sworn to kill him).
2. (22-24) Laban pursues and catches Jacob.
And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead. But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, “Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”
a. Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled: This shows that Jacob and his family lived some distance from Laban. He didn’t notice their departure for three days.
b. God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night: Apparently, Laban did have an evil intention against Jacob. Yet God protected Jacob through this dream by night, telling Laban to be careful in his dealings with Jacob.
3. (25-30) Laban meets and confronts Jacob.
So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
In the controversy between Jacob and Laban, legal jargon was used to describe their civil suit. In the first “strife” (rib; cf. v. 36) or accusation Laban claimed that Jacob had robbed him—but he presented himself as a hurt father and a baffled avenger (v. 29).
This is why Laban pursued Jacob. It was one thing for Jacob to take his flocks and family; but his gods too? Perhaps Jacob would try to steal back to Haran someday and claim all of Laban’s estate. (Failing to find the gods, Laban later, Gen 31:43-53, made a treaty to keep this troublesome man out of his territory.)
a. In the mountains of Gilead: At this point, Jacob was not far from the Jordan River and the Promised Land. This shows that he traveled quickly and that Laban was determined to pursue him this far.
b. Why did you flee away secretly: Laban first tried to shame Jacob with kindness, suggesting that they would have had a celebration at his departure. Apparently, that idea was met with an unsympathetic response, so Laban threatened Jacob (it is in my power to do you harm).
i. My sons and my daughters in this context means Laban’s grandsons and granddaughters.
c. Why did you steal my gods: Laban ended his words to Jacob with an accusing question. He knew that his teraphim were missing and he had reason to believe that Jacob had stolen them. Laban’s question shows the foolishness of idolatry. It is sad and strange to have a god that can be stolen.
4. (31-32) Jacob proclaims his innocence.
Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.’ With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
But Laban was then deceived by Rachel as she put the idols in her camel’s saddle and sat on the saddle in her tent.
a. Jacob answered and said to Laban: Jacob replied with an explanation for their secret departure (Because I was afraid), and with a firm belief he and his family had not taken Laban’s household idols.
b. With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live: Jacob, not knowing his beloved wife Rachel stole the household idols, proclaimed his innocence and pronounced a harsh curse on the thief, not knowing that he actually invited judgment on his own wife.
5. (33-35) Laban searches for his household idols.
And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.
a. Laban went into Jacob’s tent: Laban was confident that his idols had been stolen. He made a thorough search of Jacob’s tents.
b. Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them: Rachel learned the ways of deception well from her father – and perhaps also from her husband. She succeeded in deceiving her father about the idols.
i. “Amid much that is sad and even sordid in this story… amid craft, deceit, and lying on almost every side, we cannot fail to see the hand of God overruling and making even the wrath of man to praise Him.” (Griffith Thomas, cited in Barnhouse)
6. (36-42) Jacob rebukes his father-in-law Laban.
Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both! These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Apparently Laban never dreamed that a woman would dare take a chance to contaminate the idols. (What a blow this was to the teraphim—they became “nothing gods,” for a woman who claimed to be unclean sat on them; Lev 15:20.)
Laban, the prosecutor, now became the accused. Ignorant of Rachel’s theft of the idols, Jacob angrily made a devastating counterattack.
a. Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban: It is likely that this anger built up in Jacob for a long time – perhaps 20 years. Perhaps in his mind, he practiced this speech over and over again.
b. What is my trespass: Jacob rebuked Laban and made the case for his own innocence with several examples.
· What part of your household things have you found: After searching, Laban found no evidence of the stolen gods he accused Jacob of taking.
· These twenty years I have been with you: Jacob’s twenty years of faithful service proved his integrity.
· Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried: This demonstrated the care Jacob showed for the success of Laban’s herds.
· I have not eaten the rams of your flock: Jacob didn’t feed or enrich himself at the expense of what belonged to Laban.
· That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you: It was an ancient custom that a shepherd could bring the torn carcass of a sheep to his owner, as evidence that he was brave enough to not let the wolf devour it or take it away, and thus the shepherd would be excused. Jacob explained he didn’t follow this custom, and every animal that was attacked or stolen, he replaced out of his own herd.
· Drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed: Jacob worked hard and sacrificed for the success of Laban’s enterprise.
· You have changed my wages ten times: Jacob endured repeated unfairness from Laban as his employer.
c. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty handed: Jacob claimed that it was God’s protection that sent him away in a way that prevented Laban from taking what belonged to Jacob.
i. It was good that Jacob saw God’s presence and protection in all this. Unfortunately, nowhere did Jacob claim God as his own; he referred to God as the Fear of his father Isaac and the God of his grandfather Abraham.
C. Laban and Jacob make a covenant.
1. (43-50) Jacob and Laban make a covenant.
And Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne? Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.” So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed, also Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”
Laban suggested they make a covenant for a boundary between them. Laban instigated it, for Jacob neither needed it nor cared for it! Jacob set up a tall stone and then piled a heap of stones around it.
Mizpah which translates to a “beacon” or “watchtower” represents they do not trust each other. Laban called them by the Aramaic name Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called them the Hebrew Galeed. Laban explained that the name means a heap of witness but he added the Hebrew name Mizpah entrusting God to watch over them.
a. All that you see is mine: Laban boldly said that everything Jacob had actually belonged to him. Yet in a supposed act of generosity, he said to Jacob, “It is mine but, out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll let you have it.”
b. May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from another: In this covenant, Laban expressed how suspicious he was of Jacob. The idea of Mizpah (watch) is, “If you do wrong, God will see it and may He punish.”
i. “In effect, the pillar of Mizpah meant, ‘If you come over on my side of this line, the pact is void and I will kill you.’ The covenant breaker would need God to take care of him, because the other would shoot to kill” (Barnhouse). Mizpah was never meant to be a nice sentiment – despite what a Mizpah coin shared between two people might say.
2. (51-55) A pillar of separation and a parting of their ways.
Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.
Both the boundary settlement and the wives’ rights show that Laban and Jacob wanted to confirm the agreement. But the treaty also marked a break with the East for the family of Israel. This border treaty marked out the frontier in the hill country of Gilead. [This account later had great significance for Israel: God would deliver and protect Israel as He brought them back to the land from Egypt. All this became important for later Israelite-Aramean relations (Laban was an Aramean, or Syrian, 25:20).]
a. I will not pass beyond this heap to you: The best solution for Jacob’s in-law problems was for him to separate from Laban. Therefore they set up a pillar to be a barrier between them.
i. There is wisdom in having some separation from in-laws. The Bible says, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife (Genesis 2:24). Laban and Jacob seemed to have more problems than most families, so their separation was extreme.
b. Then Laban departed and returned to his place: After a proper good-bye, Laban saw his daughters and grandchildren for the last time. Jacob took his family to Canaan and never returned to where Laban lived.
i. “This is the last we hear of Laban in the Bible, and it is good that this is the end of him. Laban is of the world, and Jacob needed to be freed from this world in order to live wholeheartedly for the God of his fathers.” (Boice)
ii. Morris on Laban: “Rather than seeking to follow the truth of God’s plan as witnessed by Jacob, he merely resented and coveted the blessing of God on Jacob. He finally ended up with neither. His life constitutes a sober warning to a great host of semireligious but fundamentally self-worshipping and self-seeking men and women today.”
ii. Rachel and Leah were wrong to look to their father Laban for their portion or inheritance (Genesis 31:14) once they were married to Jacob. He now was their portion and inheritance. “Since you are saved and joined to Christ, appraise the world and ask, ‘Is there yet any portion for me?’ If you think there is, you are mistaken” (Barnhouse).
