Geneses Chapter 31- Leaving Behind 20 Years

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Geneses Chapter 31- Leaving 20 Years Behind 

The Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.31.NIV

Jacob Flees From Laban

1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” (Laban's sons were jealous of Jacob who increased his wealth.)

2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. (Jacob also noticed their jealousy.)

3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” (The Lord told Jacob to go back to Canaan. The time has come. 28:15)

4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.

6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. (Laban had been cheating Jacob with wage.) However, God has not allowed him to harm me. (28:15)

8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young.

9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted.

11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’

12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. (It was God-given strategy to increase Jacob's share, not his own gimmick.)

13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. (The root of Jacob's faith) Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ ” (Specific direction of God on time.)

14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?

15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.

16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.” (Jacob's wives took husband's side, but not the father. They became the matriarchs of the chosen family by choice/faith.) (Heavenly time, earthly situation, and humanly consensus are all agreed.)

17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. (It was the time for action. Ecc.3:1-8)

19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. (Rachel stole her father's idol to steel the blessing of the family.) (1, Why?)

20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.

21 So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead. (It's not a matter of negotiation. Jacob escaped- Exodus- from Laban with his family and cattle. Harran was not the permanent land for Jacob as Egypt was not.) (Map 28-4)

Laban Pursues Jacob

22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. (Laban came to know Jacob's exit.)

23 Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. (Laban's pursuit team was battle ready.)

24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” (God told Laban not to harm Jacob in his dream. 28:15)

25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. (Laban caught up Jacob in Gilead.)

26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.

27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?

28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. (Laban blamed Jacob for leaving without notice.)

29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ (Laban can, and was going to, harm Jacob but God prohibited him. 28:15)

30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?” (Also Laban accusing them for stealing the idols. v.19)

31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.

32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods. (Not knowing what Rachel did, Jacob guaranteed his innocence.)

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. (Laban searched thoroughly.)

34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods. (Rachel avoided Laban's search of the idols excusing with her period.)

36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “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 belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.

38 “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.

39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.

40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. (It's time to Jacob to complain, what he must got through in the last twenty years in Harran. He was honest and diligent during the time. It was not Jacob but Laban who'd been cunning and cheating.)

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” (Yes, God has been with Jacob as He promised in 28:15.)

43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? (What Jacob had was from Laban but now they all are belong to Jacob justly and legitimately.)

44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”

45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. (Eventually Laban and Jacob agreed to be in peace because of the intervention of God.)

47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. (Both mean witness heap)

48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed.

49 It was also called Mizpah(watch tower), because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.

50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.

52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.

53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.

54 He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. (Jacob completed the peace treaty with a sacrifice and feast. Distant relationship established; Sanctification.)

55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home. (Laban went back to his place. One situation was taken care of.) (Jacob and Laban: Note 29-1)

(1, Why Rachel Stole the Idols?) (AI)

Rachel likely stole her father Laban’s household idols (teraphim) to prevent him from using them for idolatrous divination to track them, to secure her inheritance rights, or to stop him from worshipping them. These idols, which functioned as household gods, often represented ownership of an estate in Ancient Near Eastern culture.

Key theories on why Rachel stole the idols include:

Preventing Pursuit: According to Rashbam, she wanted to prevent Laban from using the idols to discover where Jacob had taken his family.

Inheritance Claims: Based on ancient Nuzi tablets, possessing the household gods linked to claiming a share in the family inheritance.

Preventing Idol Worship: Rashi suggests she aimed to stop her father from further idolatry, trying to force him to abandon the practice.

Superstition or Value: Some theories suggest she may have held superstitions about their power or intended to sell them due to their value.

Other Perspectives:

Nostalgia: She might have been attached to the items.

Conflict with Husband: Some suggest this indicates she had not fully abandoned her father’s religious practices.

Vindictiveness: She may have been taking them to punish her father for taking her dowry.

The narrative in Genesis 31 does not explicitly state her motive, and the idols were later buried by Jacob before they arrived in Bethel. (35:2-4) This fact nullifies all above possible interpretations. Certainly it caused danger to Jacob but also gave chance to Jacob to expose Laban's injust actions done to Jacob.