Genesis 31

After twenty years with Laban, Jacob sees the family mood turn against him, and God tells him to go home. He slips away with his wives, children and flocks, and Laban chases after him. God stops Laban from harming Jacob, and the two men part with a stone-heap covenant.

Genesis 31:1

Laban’s sons resent Jacob’s growing flocks. They speak as if he robbed their father. Jacob’s wealth had in fact grown under God’s hand, but jealousy twists the story. Trouble in the household is rising, and Jacob can no longer stay comfortably.

BSA: wealth (“riches, prosperity”): The sons see only the prosperity, not the long labor behind it.

Genesis 31:2

Jacob reads Laban’s face and sees the old warmth is gone. Laban’s goodwill had been the cover under which Jacob lived. When it is withdrawn, Jacob knows his time there is ending.

BSA: countenance (“face, presence”): A person’s face shows the heart, and Laban’s no longer looks on Jacob kindly.

Genesis 31:3

God now speaks directly. He tells Jacob to return to the land of his fathers, which is the land of the promise. Jacob also gets a promise for the road: God will be with him. His escape is obedience as well as flight.

BSA: with (“together, in accompaniment”): God does not just send Jacob home. He goes alongside him as companion.

See also: Genesis 28:15; Genesis 32:9.

Genesis 31:4-5

Jacob calls his wives out to the pasture, away from Laban’s ears. He explains what he has seen in Laban’s face. He also gives his own testimony: the God of his father, not his own cleverness, has stood by him.

BSA: been (“remains, continues to be”): God’s help to Jacob has been constant, not occasional.

Genesis 31:6-7

Jacob reminds Rachel and Leah that he has worked with all his strength. Laban answered by cheating him and changing his pay again and again. Yet God would not let Laban actually hurt him. Jacob sees God’s protection behind the unfairness.

BSA: cheated (“deceived, cheated”): Laban dealt with him by trickery, not honest dealing.

See also: Genesis 29:25.

Genesis 31:8-9

However Laban reworded the deal, the flock bore offspring that matched Jacob’s share. Jacob says God was doing this. Whatever means were used, he credits the shift of wealth from Laban to himself to God’s justice, not to his own scheming.

BSA: taken away (“rescued, stripped”): God both rescued Jacob’s due and stripped away what Laban had wrongly held.

See also: Genesis 30:37-43.

Genesis 31:10-12

Jacob tells of a dream. An angel of God showed him that the breeding males were striped, spotted and speckled. God says he has seen all Laban’s treatment of Jacob. Jacob’s good fortune was heaven’s answer to being wronged.

BSA: angel (“messenger, representative”): This is one sent to speak for God, and he soon speaks as God (verse 13). seen (“observed, taken notice of”): God does not overlook mistreatment, even when it takes years to answer.

Genesis 31:13

The messenger identifies himself as the God of Bethel. There Jacob had set up a stone and made a vow, fleeing from home. God remembers that vow and calls Jacob to return. God keeps track of promises made years ago.

BSA: anointed (“poured olive oil on”): Jacob had set the stone apart for God by pouring oil on it.

See also: Genesis 28:18-22.

Genesis 31:14-16

Rachel and Leah agree at once. Their father treated them like property. He sold them for Jacob’s years of labor and then used up what should have been theirs. They see God’s hand in the flocks that came to Jacob, and they tell him to obey God.

BSA: outsiders (“foreigners, strangers”): They feel Laban treats them as strangers, not as his own daughters. sold (“treated us like merchandise”): They felt they had been traded for their value, not cherished.

See also: Genesis 29:18-27.

Genesis 31:17-18

Jacob rises and moves his whole household. Wives and children ride camels, and the livestock go ahead. They head for Isaac in Canaan. Jacob left Canaan as a lone fugitive and now returns as the head of a large family.

BSA: drove (“led, guided”): Jacob shepherds his flocks along the journey, as he has long done.

Genesis 31:19

While Laban is away at the sheep shearing, Rachel steals his household idols. The text does not tell her reason. These were small images kept as family gods, and she takes them along on a journey the God of Bethel has commanded.

BSA: household idols (“teraphim, images, family gods”): These are small household figures that Laban treated as gods.

Hebrew: תְּרָפִים (teraphim, H8655) — “household images.” The word names small figures kept in a home for guidance or protection. Their appearance here shows that Laban’s house was still mixed up with idolatry.

Genesis 31:20-21

Jacob leaves without a word, crossing the Euphrates and making for the hill country of Gilead. He believes slipping away is safest, but it is deceit toward Laban. Even in obeying God, Jacob still acts out of fear.

BSA: deceived (“stole away unawares, tricked”): He kept Laban unaware, getting away without Laban noticing.

Hebrew: וַיִּגְנֹב (vayyignov, H1589) — “and he stole.” The Hebrew literally says Jacob stole Laban’s heart, meaning he stole his awareness. It is the same root as Rachel’s stealing of the idols.

Genesis 31:22-23

Word reaches Laban on the third day. He gathers his kinsmen and chases Jacob for seven days. Jacob’s journey is long, but Laban’s pursuit is determined, and he catches up in Gilead. Jacob is in real danger.

BSA: pursued (“chased after, followed closely”): Laban hunts Jacob, intent on overtaking him.

Genesis 31:24

That night God comes to Laban in a dream and warns him against saying anything to Jacob, good or bad. God guards Jacob from any threat or any pressure to turn back. The man with a hostile plan is stopped before he starts.

BSA: careful (“take heed, watch yourself”): God tells Laban to guard his own words, for he is facing God’s chosen man.

See also: Psalm 105:14-15.

Genesis 31:25

Laban catches up with Jacob as he has pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead. Both camps now sit facing each other in the open country. Everyone is waiting to see what Laban will do after God’s warning.

BSA: overtook (“caught up with, reached”): The long chase ends with the two men face to face.

Genesis 31:26-28

Laban complains that Jacob deceived him and carried off his daughters like prisoners. He claims he would have sent them off with music and a feast. He also grieves that he could not kiss his grandchildren goodbye. Some of this is real feeling, though it is mixed with self-justification.

BSA: captives of war (“taken by the sword, in a battle”): Laban paints Jacob’s departure as a violent seizure, which it was not. tambourines (“timbrels and percussion instruments”): He pictures a joyful, musical send-off.

Genesis 31:29-30

Laban admits he has the power to harm Jacob. But the God of Jacob’s father stopped him last night. Then he turns to his main grievance: someone has stolen his gods. The man who feared Jacob’s God also worries about gods that can be stolen.

BSA: gods (“idols, objects of worship, Elohim”): Laban calls the household images gods, though they could not protect themselves from theft.

Genesis 31:31-32

Jacob explains he was afraid Laban would take his daughters by force. Then, not knowing Rachel has taken the idols, he declares death for whoever has them. His rash oath puts the woman he loves most in danger.

BSA: relatives (“brothers, kin”): The search will be done openly before the family as witnesses.

See also: Genesis 35:16-19.

Genesis 31:33-35

Laban searches the tents one by one and comes last to Rachel’s. She has hidden the idols in her camel’s saddlebag and sits on them. She tells her father she cannot rise because of her period. Laban finds nothing. The false gods are made to look helpless.

BSA: saddlebag (“camel’s furniture, litter”): This was the packed seat or basket on the camel, a perfect hiding place.

Genesis 31:36-37

Now Jacob’s anger bursts out. He asks what crime he has committed that Laban should chase him so hotly. Laban has searched every possession and found nothing. Jacob calls the whole family to judge between them. His long-held grievances finally come out.

BSA: crime (“transgression, sin”): Jacob insists he has done no real wrong against Laban.

Genesis 31:38-40

Jacob lists his faithful service over twenty years. His ewes did not miscarry, he did not eat Laban’s rams, and he paid for animals lost to wild beasts. He endured scorching heat by day and bitter cold at night, and went without sleep.

BSA: frost (“ice, bitter cold”): The desert nights were hard as the days were scorching. bore the loss (“made up for the damage, repaid”): Jacob covered Laban’s losses out of his own pocket, beyond what was fair.

Genesis 31:41

Jacob sums up twenty years: fourteen for Laban’s two daughters and six for the flocks. Through it all Laban changed his wages ten times. It is a long record of hard service and unfair dealing.

BSA: served (“worked, labored, been a slave”): His work was like a slave’s, in a household that did not repay him fairly.

See also: Genesis 29:18-30.

Genesis 31:42

Jacob says Laban would have sent him off empty-handed if God had not been with him. God has seen his hard work and rebuked Laban last night. He gives the credit to God, who defends the mistreated.

BSA: Fear (“dread, reverence”): It names the God whom Isaac held in awe, and who is to be revered. rendered judgment (“rebuked, corrected”): God stepped in the night before and set Laban right.

Hebrew: פַּחַד (pachad, H6343) — “dread, awe.” Jacob uses this unusual title for God, the one before whom Isaac stood in reverent awe. It is a name of worship from the heart.

Genesis 31:43

Laban claims everything as his: daughters, grandchildren, flocks. He cannot answer Jacob’s charges. Yet he admits he cannot do anything to hurt his own family. He turns toward making peace.

BSA: Everything (“all that you see, my entire estate”): Laban still talks as though he owns the whole scene.

Genesis 31:44-46

Laban proposes a covenant to be a witness between them. Jacob sets up a stone as a pillar and tells his relatives to gather more stones into a heap. They eat a covenant meal beside it. The heap will mark an agreement.

BSA: covenant (“a promise, an agreement”): This is a binding promise between two parties, sealed by a shared meal.

Hebrew: בְּרִית (berit, H1285) — “covenant.” A berit is a solemn binding agreement made before God. Eating together afterward showed the two sides were at peace.

Genesis 31:47-48

Each man names the heap in his own language. Laban says Jegar-sahadutha, Jacob says Galeed. Both mean heap of witness. Laban speaks Aramaic and Jacob Hebrew, so the pile stands as a witness in both tongues.

BSA: witness (“testimony, evidence”): The stones are a lasting evidence of what was promised that day.

Hebrew: גַּלְעֵד (galed, H1568) — “heap of witness.” Galeed means heap of witness. The name Gilead, the region, comes from this same word.

Genesis 31:49-50

The place is also called Mizpah, meaning watchtower. Laban asks the LORD to watch between them when they are apart. He is not wishing Jacob well. He warns him not to mistreat his daughters or take other wives, since God sees what no person sees.

BSA: Mizpah (“a watchtower, a place of observation”): The name means a lookout, so the verse is a warning that God is watching. keep watch (“to observe, to guard”): God sees what happens when each man is out of the other’s sight.

Hebrew: מִצְפָּה (mitspah, H4709) — “watchtower.” The name comes from the verb to watch or look out. It became a name for the place as a reminder that God sees.

See also: Proverbs 15:3.

Genesis 31:51-53

The heap and pillar form a boundary line neither man will cross to do harm. Laban calls on the God of Abraham and Nahor to judge between them. Jacob swears by the Fear of his father Isaac. The line serves as a peace treaty, with God as guarantor.

BSA: judge (“to vindicate or punish”): God will defend whichever side keeps the agreement, and call the other to account. swore (“made a solemn promise, took an oath”): Jacob binds himself before the God he reveres.

Genesis 31:54-55

Jacob offers a sacrifice on the mountain and invites his relatives to a meal, and they spend the night there. Early next morning Laban kisses his grandchildren and daughters, blesses them, and goes home. The chapter ends in peace.

BSA: blessed (“spoke well of, invoked favor upon”): Laban’s last act is to ask good for the family he had pursued in anger.