Genesis 31:26-27

Context
31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me¹ and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war!² 31:27 Why did you run away secretly³ and deceive me?⁴ Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps?⁵

Genesis 20:11

Context

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought,⁶ ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of⁷ my wife.’

Proverbs 29:25

Context

29:25 The fear of people⁸ becomes⁹ a snare,¹⁰

but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high.¹¹

[31:26] ¹tn Heb “and you have stolen my heart.” This expression apparently means “to deceive” (see v. 20).

[31:26] ²tn Heb “and you have led away my daughters like captives of a sword.”

[31:27] ³tn Heb “Why did you hide in order to flee?” The verb “hide” and the infinitive “to flee” form a hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the other the adverb: “flee secretly.”

[31:27] ⁴tn Heb “and steal me.”

[31:27] ⁵tn Heb “And [why did] you not tell me so I could send you off with joy and with songs, with a tambourine and with a harp?”

[20:11] ⁶tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11] ⁷tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[29:25] ⁸tn Heb “the fear of man.” This uses an objective genitive to describe a situation where fearing what people might do or think controls one’s life. There is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males, so the translation uses the more generic “people” here.

[29:25] ⁹tn Heb “gives [or yields, or produces]”; NIV “will prove to be.”

[29:25] ¹⁰sn “Snare” is an implied comparison; fearing people is like being in a trap – there is no freedom of movement or sense of security.

[29:25] ¹¹sn The image of being set on high comes from the military experience of finding a defensible position, a place of safety and security, such as a high wall or a mountain. Trusting in the Lord sets people free and gives them a sense of safety and security (e.g, Prov 10:27; 12:2).