Genesis 31

This chapter belongs to the Jacob narrative in the latter part of Genesis. In Genesis 30, Jacob agreed on wages with Laban and increased his flocks. This chapter recounts Jacob's subsequent departure from Padan-aram toward his homeland and leads into his preparations for meeting Esau in Genesis 32.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 Laban's sons resent Jacob, and Laban's attitude toward him changes. The LORD tells Jacob to return to the land of his fathers.
• Verses 4–16 Jacob calls Rachel and Leah out to the field and explains his situation: Laban changed his wages ten times, yet God gave the livestock to him, and in a dream the God of Bethel told him to leave. The two wives reply that their father has sold them, and they agree to follow Jacob.
• Verses 17–21 While Laban is away shearing his sheep, Rachel steals her father's teraphim. Without telling Laban, Jacob leads his family and possessions across the river and sets out toward Mount Gilead.
• Verses 22–30 Laban hears the news on the third day and pursues Jacob a seven days' journey. The night before he overtakes him, God appears to Laban in a dream and warns him not to speak to Jacob either good or bad. Laban confronts Jacob about leaving in secret and about stealing his gods.
• Verses 31–35 Jacob declares that whoever has the gods shall not live. Laban searches the tents, but Rachel has put the teraphim under the camel's saddle and sits on it, refusing to rise on the pretext that the custom of women is upon her.
• Verses 36–42 Jacob rebukes Laban, recounting his twenty years of labor. He says he served fourteen years for the two daughters and six years for the flocks.
• Verses 43–50 At Laban's proposal, a stone pillar and a heap of stones are set up. They are named Jegar-sahadutha, Galeed, and Mizpah.
• Verses 51–55 The two swear not to pass over the heap to harm each other. Jacob offers a sacrifice and they eat together, and in the morning Laban kisses his descendants and returns home.

Key Verses

• Genesis 31:3 "Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee." — The command to return home and the promise of God's presence set the whole chapter in motion.
• Genesis 31:13 "I am the God of Bethel" — This verse directly connects the chapter to the vow in Genesis 28.
• Genesis 31:49 "The LORD watch between me and thee" — These words are the origin of the name Mizpah.

Characters and Places

• Jacob: The protagonist of the chapter.
• Laban: Jacob's uncle and father-in-law, whom the text calls "the Syrian." He is the brother of Rebekah.
• Rachel and Leah: Laban's two daughters and Jacob's wives. The tents of the two maidservants are also mentioned.
• Isaac and Abraham: Jacob refers to God as "the God of my father" and "the fear of Isaac."
• Nahor: Abraham's brother and Laban's grandfather. He is named in Laban's oath (v. 53).
• Padan-aram: The region of northern Mesopotamia where Laban lived, generally identified with the area around Haran.
• Mount Gilead: A highland east of the Jordan River, where Laban overtook Jacob.
• Bethel: The place where Jacob anointed a pillar and made a vow.
• Canaan: The land of Isaac to which Jacob seeks to return.

Points for Reflection

• Explanations of the flocks' increase: In chapter 30, Jacob increases his flocks by using peeled rods. In chapter 31, Jacob attributes the increase to a dream and to God's intervention. Interpreters differ on how to reconcile the two accounts. Some hold that God made use of Jacob's scheme, while others hold that chapter 31 sets the record straight by attributing the outcome to God's work.
• The teraphim: The teraphim were household idols. The text does not say why Rachel stole them. On the basis of ancient documents, some have proposed that they signified inheritance rights, but this view has drawn many objections. Other views regard them as protective charms or as a sign of Rachel's attachment to her father's house. The episode is sometimes read together with Genesis 35, where Jacob's household later puts away its foreign gods.
• Names in two languages: Laban's name, "Jegar-sahadutha," is Aramaic, while Jacob's name, "Galeed," is Hebrew. Both are understood to mean "heap of witness."
• The nature of the Mizpah covenant: Verse 49 is sometimes used, in the English-speaking world and elsewhere, as a benediction for people who are separated from each other. In the text, however, it is a boundary agreement in which two men who distrust each other call on God as witness. The name "Mizpah," common for gatherings in Korean churches, is usually associated with the assembly at Mizpah in 1 Samuel 7, which is regarded as a different place from the Mizpah in Gilead in this chapter.
• "The fear of Isaac" (vv. 42, 53) is a title for God that appears only in this chapter.
• The New Testament does not directly quote this chapter.