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Text -- Genesis 31:1-24 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Jacob’s Flight from Laban
31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining , “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father ! He has gotten rich at our father’s expense!”
31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face , he could tell his attitude toward him had changed.
31:3 The Lord said to Jacob , “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives . I will be with you.”
31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah to come to the field where his flocks were.
31:5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me .
31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could ,
31:7 but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times . But God has not permitted him to do me any harm .
31:8 If he said , ‘The speckled animals will be your wage ,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring . But if he said , ‘The streaked animals will be your wage ,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring .
31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
31:10 “Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked , speckled , and spotted .
31:11 In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob !’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied .
31:12 Then he said , ‘Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked , speckled , or spotted , for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.
31:13 I am the God of Bethel , where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land .’”
31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house ?
31:15 Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners ? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us!
31:16 Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children . So now do everything God has told you.”
31:17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels .
31:18 He took away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated . Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac .
31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep , Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father .
31:20 Jacob also deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving .
31:21 He left with all he owned. He quickly crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead .
31:22 Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left .
31:23 So he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob for seven days . He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead .
31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, “Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob .”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Gen 31:1; Gen 31:1; Gen 31:1; Gen 31:2; Gen 31:3; Gen 31:3; Gen 31:4; Gen 31:4; Gen 31:4; Gen 31:5; Gen 31:6; Gen 31:7; Gen 31:8; Gen 31:8; Gen 31:10; Gen 31:10; Gen 31:10; Gen 31:12; Gen 31:12; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:14; Gen 31:15; Gen 31:15; Gen 31:15; Gen 31:17; Gen 31:18; Gen 31:18; Gen 31:19; Gen 31:19; Gen 31:20; Gen 31:20; Gen 31:21; Gen 31:21; Gen 31:21; Gen 31:21; Gen 31:22; Gen 31:23; Gen 31:23; Gen 31:23; Gen 31:23; Gen 31:24; Gen 31:24; Gen 31:24
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NET Notes: Gen 31:2 Heb “and Jacob saw the face of Laban, and look, he was not with him as formerly.” Jacob knew from the expression on Laban’s face tha...
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NET Notes: Gen 31:3 I will be with you. Though Laban was no longer “with him,” the Lord promised to be.
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NET Notes: Gen 31:7 This rare verb means “to make a fool of” someone. It involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers (see Exod 8:25).
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NET Notes: Gen 31:8 Heb “speckled” (twice this verse). The word “animals” (after the first occurrence of “speckled”) and “offspr...
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NET Notes: Gen 31:13 Leave this land immediately. The decision to leave was a wise one in view of the changed attitude in Laban and his sons. But more than that, it was th...
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NET Notes: Gen 31:14 The two nouns may form a hendiadys, meaning “a share in the inheritance” or “a portion to inherit.”
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NET Notes: Gen 31:15 Heb “our money.” The word “money” is used figuratively here; it means the price paid for Leah and Rachel. A literal translatio...
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NET Notes: Gen 31:17 Heb “and Jacob arose and he lifted up his sons and his wives on to the camels.”
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NET Notes: Gen 31:18 Heb “and he led away all his cattle and all his moveable property which he acquired, the cattle he obtained, which he acquired in Paddan Aram to...
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NET Notes: Gen 31:19 Or “household gods.” Some translations merely transliterate the Hebrew term תְּרָפִים...
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