Genesis 31:43-50

Context

31:43 Laban replied¹ to Jacob, “These women² are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren,³ and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today⁴ or the children to whom they have given birth? 31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement,⁵ you and I, and it will be⁶ proof that we have made peace.”⁷

31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 31:46 Then he⁸ said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile.⁹ They ate there by the pile of stones. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha,¹⁰ but Jacob called it Galeed.¹¹

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement¹² today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 31:49 It was also called Mizpah¹³ because he said, “May the Lord watch¹⁴ between us¹⁵ when we are out of sight of one another.¹⁶ 31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize¹⁷ that God is witness to your actions.”¹⁸

[31:43] ¹tn Heb “answered and said.”

[31:43] ²tn Heb “daughters.”

[31:43] ³tn Heb “children.”

[31:43] ⁴tn Heb “but to my daughters what can I do to these today?”

[31:44] ⁵tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[31:44] ⁶tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition לְ (lÿ) means “become.”

[31:44] ⁷tn Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”

[31:46] ⁹tn Heb “Jacob”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:46] ¹⁰sn The Hebrew word for “pile” is גַּל (gal), which sounds like the name “Galeed” (גַּלְעֵד, gal’ed). See v. 48.

[31:47] ¹³sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”

[31:47] ¹⁴sn 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.

[31:48] ¹⁷tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”

[31:49] ²¹tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

[31:49] ²²sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

[31:49] ²³tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:49] ²⁴tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

[31:50] ²⁵tn Heb “see.”

[31:50] ²⁶tn Heb “between me and you.”