Genesis 31
1And
he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, ‘Jacob has taken all
that belonged to our father, and from what belonged to our father,
he has amassed this entire fortune.’
2And
Jacob saw Laban's countenance, that he was not disposed toward him
as [he had been] yesterday and the day before.
3And
the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your forefathers and
to your birthplace, and I will be with you.’
4So
Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks.
5And
he said to them, ‘I see your father's countenance, that he is not
disposed toward me [as he was] yesterday and the day before, but the
God of my father was with me.
6And
you know that with all my might I served your father.
7But
your father mocked me and changed my wages ten times, but God did
not permit him to harm me.
8If
he would say thus, 'Speckled ones shall be your wages,' all the
animals would bear speckled ones, and if he would say thus, 'Ringed
ones shall be your wages,' all the animals would bear ringed ones.
9Thus,
God separated your father's livestock and gave it to me.
10And it came to pass at the time the animals came into
heat, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the he
goats that mounted the animals were ringed, speckled, and striped.
11And an angel of God said to me in a dream, 'Jacob!' And
I said, 'Here I am.'
12And he said, 'Now lift your eyes and see [that] all the
he goats mounting the animals are ringed, speckled, and striped, for
I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
13I am the
God of Beth el, where you anointed a monument,
where you pronounced to Me a vow. Now, arise, go forth from this
land and return to the land of your birth.'‘
14And Rachel and Leah replied and said to him, ‘Do we
still have a share or an inheritance in our father's house?
15Are we not considered by him as strangers, for he sold
us and also consumed our money?
16But all the wealth that God separated from our father
is ours and our children's. So now, all that God said to you, do.’
17So Jacob rose, and he lifted up his sons and his wives
upon the camels.
18And he led all his livestock and all his possessions
that he had acquired, the purchase of his acquisition, which he had
acquired in Padan aram, to come to Isaac his father, to the land of
Canaan.
19Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and [meanwhile]
Rachel stole her father's
teraphim.
20And Jacob concealed from Laban the Aramean by not
telling him that he was fleeing.
21So he and all that were his fled, and he arose and
crossed the river, and he directed his face toward
Mount Gilead.
22On the third day, Laban was informed that Jacob had
fled.
23So he took his kinsmen with him, and he pursued him
seven days' journey, and he overtook him at Mount Gilead.
24And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the
night, and He said to him, ‘Beware lest you speak with Jacob either
good or evil.’
25And Laban overtook Jacob, and Jacob pitched his tent on
the mountain, and Laban pitched with his kinsmen on Mount Gilead.
26And Laban said to Jacob, ‘What have you done, that you
concealed from me, and led away my daughters like prisoners of war?
27Why have you fled secretly, and concealed from me, and
not told me? I would have sent you away with joy and with songs, and
with drum and with harp.
28And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and daughters.
Now, you have acted foolishly.
29I have the power to inflict harm upon you, but the God
of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Beware of speaking
with Jacob either good or bad.'
30But now, you have gone away, for you longed for your
father's house, [but]why have you stolen my gods?’
31And Jacob replied, and he said to Laban, ‘Because I was
afraid, because I said, 'Lest you steal your daughters from me.'
32The one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In
the presence of our brothers, recognize for yourself what is with
me, and take [it] for yourself.’ For Jacob did not know that Rachel
had stolen them.
33So Laban entered Jacob's tent and Leah's tent and the
tent[s] of the two handmaids, but he did not find [them]; and he had
come out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.
34But Rachel had taken the teraphim and placed them into
the camel saddle and sat upon them; so Laban felt about the entire
tent but did not find [them].
35And she said to her father, ‘Let my lord not be
annoyed, for I cannot rise before you, for the
way of women is upon
me.’ So he searched, but did not find the teraphim.
36And Jacob was annoyed, and he quarreled with Laban, and
he said to Laban, ‘What is my transgression? What is my sin, that
you have pursued me?
37For you have felt about all my things. What have you
found of all the utensils of your house? Put it here, in the
presence of my kinsmen and your kinsmen, and let them decide between
the two of us.
38Already twenty years have I been with you, and your
ewes and she goats have not aborted, neither have I eaten the rams
of your flocks.
39I have not brought home to you anything torn [by other
animals]; I would suffer its loss; from my hand you would demand it,
what was stolen by day and what was stolen at night.
40I was [in the field] by day when the heat consumed me,
and the frost at night, and my sleep wandered from my eyes.
41This is twenty years that I have spent in your house. I
served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for
your animals, and you changed my wages ten times.
42Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham and
the Fear of Isaac, been for me, you would now have sent me away
empty handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands,
and He reproved [you] last night.’
43And Laban answered and said to Jacob, ‘The daughters
are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the animals are my
animals, and all that you see is mine. Now, what would I do to these
daughters of mine today, or to their children, whom they have borne?
44So now, come, let us form a covenant, you and I, and
may He be a witness between me and you.’
45So Jacob took a stone and set it up [as] a monument.
46And Jacob said to his kinsmen, ‘Gather stones,’ and
they took stones and made a pile, and they ate there by the pile.
47And Laban called it Yegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called
it
Gal ed.
48And Laban said, ‘This pile is a witness between me and
you today.’ Therefore, he called it Gal ed.
49And Mizpah, because he said, ‘May the Lord look between
me and you when we are hidden from each other.
50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in
addition to my daughters when no one is with us, behold! God is a
witness between me and you.’
51And Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this pile and behold
this monument, which I have cast between me and you.
52This pile is a witness, and this monument is a witness,
that I will not pass this pile [to go] to you and that you shall not
pass this pile and this monument to [come to] me to [do] harm.
53May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor judge
between us,
the god of their father.’ And Jacob swore by the Fear of
his father Isaac.
54And Jacob slaughtered a slaughtering on the mountain,
and he invited his friends to eat a meal, and they ate bread and
lodged on the mountain.
________________________________________
Patriarch Age Update when Jacob leaves his
Uncle Laban
In Genesis 29-30 Jacobs bears 12 children [all but Benjamin] were thus born in Haran. Now in Genesis 31 he leaves after spending 20 years in Haran ‘38Already twenty years have I been with you, and your ewes and she goats have not aborted, neither have I eaten the rams of your flocks.’ Jacob must be therefore 63 + 20 = 83 years old as according to Rashi he was 63 years old when he left for Haran was AM 2171 per Talmud dating [Abram born AM 1948, begat Isaac age 100, Isaac begat Jacob at age 60, then + 63 (left for haran)=AM 2171(Jacob is 63) + 20 years (in Haran) Jacob is 83 in AM 2191. Eber who was born AM 1723 and lives 464 years died in AM 2187 thus 4 years before Jacob left Haran. Rashi stated that in fact Jacob resided 14 years with Eber studying Torah BEFORE he went to haran at age 63 years old= AM 2171 + 14= AM 2185 two years before Eber died. ALL other patriarchs thus at this time are deceased except of course Isaac.
![]() |
![]() |