Genesis 31:21

31:21 He left ¹  with all he owned. He quickly crossed ²  the Euphrates River ³  and headed for ⁴  the hill country of Gilead.

Genesis 31:47-48

31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ⁵  but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁶ 

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement ⁷  today.” That is why it was called Galeed.

¹ tn Heb “and he fled.”

² tn Heb “he arose and crossed.” The first verb emphasizes that he wasted no time in getting across.

³ tn Heb “the river”; the referent (the Euphrates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “he set his face.”

⁵ sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”

⁶ sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.

⁷ tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”