Year of the Bible
Genesis 31
Access your family's weekly resource for the Year of the Bible HERE
Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Chapter 31:
Jacob's growing wealth will soon cause problems, so the LORD returns to the narrative, telling Jacob it is time to leave Laban’s home. Rachel and Leah, used by their father to trick Jacob (29:15-30), are more than willing to accompany him and his God. After Jacob secretly leaves, Laban chases him and accuses him of a multitude of devious actions. Jacob puts a death threat on his beloved Rachel, not realizing she has the gods, meaning the idols, Laban has accused Jacob of stealing. Jacob thoroughly defends himself, and, although we have not seen God directly act in the narrative, Jacob credits God for protecting and prospering him while living with Laban for twenty years. Jacob and Laban part ways by making a covenant, which reveals Laban’s distrust of Jacob and Jacob’s worship of his father’s God.
The Book of Genesis, Chapter 31:
Jacob Flees with His Family and Flocks
1 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, 5 and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength; 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. 9 Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. 10 In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. 11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’ ” 14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. 16 All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
17 So Jacob arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels; 18 and he drove away all his cattle, all his livestock which he had gained, the cattle in his possession which he had acquired in Paddanaram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20 And Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21 He fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
Laban Overtakes Jacob
22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, “Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad.”
25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have cheated me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27Why did you flee secretly, and cheat me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. 29 It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ 30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 Any one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat upon them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched, but did not find the household gods.
36 Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided Laban; Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 Although you have felt through all my goods, what have you found
of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 Thus I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Laban and Jacob Make a Covenant
43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? 44 Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me.”
45 So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones,” and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, 49 and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other. 50 If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, remember, God is witness between you and me.”
51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night on the mountain.
55 Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
".The Lord said to Jacob: Return to the land of your ancestors, where you were born, and I will be with you (v3)...I have seen all the things that Laban has been doing to you (v12)..." Lord, help me rest in these two lines with you...What are you speaking into my life when reading these phrases?
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.
Jacob oyó las palabras de los hijos
de Labán, que decían:
–Jacob se ha llevado todo lo de nuestro
padre y ha hecho toda esa fortuna
con lo que pertenece a nuestro padre.
2 Jacob observó el rostro de Labán y
vio que ya no era respecto a él como en
los días pasados. 3 Además, el Señor dijo
a Jacob
–Vuelve a la tierra de tus padres, a
los tuyos; yo estaré contigo.
4 Entonces Jacob mandó llamar a Raquel
y a Lía para que fueran al campo
junto al rebaño, 5 y les dijo:
–Observo que el rostro de vuestro
padre hacia mí no es como en los días
pasados; pero el Dios de mi padre ha estado
conmigo. 6 Vosotras sabéis que he
servido a vuestro padre con todas mis
fuerzas. 7 Pero vuestro padre se ha burlado
de mí cambiando diez veces mi
paga; sin embargo, Dios no le ha permitido
hacerme daño. 8 Si él decía: «las reses
listadas serán tu paga», todo el ganado
paría crías listadas; y si decía: «las
reses con pintas serán tu paga», todo el
rebaño paría con pintas. 9 Dios le ha quitado
el rebaño a vuestro padre y me lo
ha dado a mí. 10 Así pues, en el tiempo
de aparearse el ganado levanté la vista, y
vi en un sueño que los machos que cubrían
el ganado eran listados, con pintas
y con manchas. 11 Y en el sueño me habló
un ángel de Dios: «Jacob»; y contesté:
«Aquí estoy». 12 Y me dijo: «Levanta
la vista y observa que todos los machos
que cubren el ganado son listados, con
pintas y con manchas, porque he visto
todo lo que te está haciendo Labán. 13 Yo
soy el Dios de Betel, donde ungiste una
estela, y donde me hiciste un voto. Ahora
ponte en camino, sal de esta tierra y
vuelve a tu tierra natal».
14 Raquel y Lía le respondieron:
–¿Acaso tenemos aún parte o herencia
en casa de nuestro padre? 15 ¿No nos
considera extranjeras puesto que nos ha
vendido e incluso ha devorado nuestro
dinero? 16 Toda la riqueza que Dios ha
quitado a nuestro padre era nuestra y
de nuestros hijos; ahora, pues, haz todo
lo que Dios te ha mandado.
17 Jacob se levantó, montó a sus hijos
y a sus mujeres sobre los camellos, 18 y
se llevó todo su ganado, el ganado de su
propiedad que había adquirido en Padán–
Aram, y los bienes que había conseguido,
dirigiéndose a casa de su padre
Isaac, en tierra de Canaán.
19 Mientras Labán había ido a esquilar
su rebaño, Raquel robó los terafim
que tenía su padre. 20 Jacob, por su parte,
engañó a Labán, el arameo, al no comunicarle
que se escapaba. 21 Así huyó él
con todo lo que tenía. Se puso en camino,
cruzó el río y se dirigió a la montaña
de Galaad.
22 Al tercer día dieron a Labán la noticia
de que Jacob había huido. 23 Entonces
tomó consigo a sus parientes y lo
persiguió durante siete días, dándole alcance
en la montaña de Galaad. 24 Pero
aquella noche Dios se acercó a Labán, el
arameo, en un sueño, y le dijo:
–Guárdate de hacer nada a Jacob, ni
bueno ni malo.
25 Labán alcanzó a Jacob que había
montado su tienda en la montaña, y
montó también su tienda en la montaña
de Galaad. 26 Y dijo Labán a Jacob:
–¿Qué has hecho? Me has engañado
y te has llevado a mis hijas como cautivas
de guerra. 27 ¿Por qué huiste a escondidas
engañándome y no me lo hiciste
saber? Yo te habría despedido con
alegría y cantos, con panderos y cítaras.
28 Ni siquiera me has dejado dar un beso
a mis hijas y a mis nietos. En esto te has
portado como un necio. 29 Está en mi
mano poder haceros daño; pero el Dios
de vuestros padres me habló anoche diciendo:
«Guárdate de hacer algo a Jacob,
ni bueno ni malo». 30 Ahora te has ido
porque anhelabas tu casa paterna, pero
¿por qué me has robado mis dioses?
31 Respondió Jacob a Labán:
–Tuve miedo porque pensé que me
quitarías a tus hijas. 32 Pero a quien le encuentres
tus dioses, no vivirá. Delante
de nuestros hermanos busca lo que tenga
tuyo y tómalo.
No sabía Jacob que Raquel los había
robado.
33 Labán entró en la tienda de Jacob,
en la de Lía y en la de las dos esclavas,
y no encontró nada. Cuando salió de
la tienda de Lía entró en la de Raquel.
34 Pero Raquel se había apoderado de los
terafim, los había metido en una montura
del camello y se había sentado encima.
Labán registró toda la tienda y no
encontró nada. 35 Ella le dijo a su padre:
–No te enfades, mi señor, si no puedo
levantarme en tu presencia, pues estoy
indispuesta.
Él buscó, pero no encontró los terafim.
36 Entonces se indignó Jacob y se encaró
a Labán. Jacob increpó a Labán:
–¿Cuál es mi crimen o mi pecado
para que me persigas? 37 Has registrado
todas mis cosas. Si has encontrado algo
de tu casa, ponlo aquí, ante mis parientes
y los tuyos, y que ellos juzguen entre
nosotros dos. 38 He estado contigo veinte
años y ni tus ovejas ni tus cabras abortaron;
no me comí los carneros de tu rebaño;
39 no te traje res despedazada, sino
que yo mismo la reponía; me exigías lo
que robaban de día y lo que robaban
de noche. 40 Aguanté que me devorara
el calor durante el día y el frío durante
la noche sin poder conciliar el sueño.
41 Llevo veinte años en tu casa; catorce te
serví por tus dos hijas, y seis por tu ganado;
y me cambiaste la paga diez veces.
42 Si no hubiera sido porque el Dios
de mi padre, el Dios de Abrahán y el Temor
de Isaac, estaba conmigo, ahora me
habrías despedido sin nada. Pero Dios
ha visto mi aflicción y el cansancio de
mis manos, y anoche lo dictaminó.
43 Respondió Labán a Jacob:
–Ésas son mis hijas, ésos mis hijos,
y ése mi rebaño; todo lo que ves es
mío. ¿Qué puedo hacerles hoy a mis hijas
o a los hijos que ellas han dado a luz?
44 Ahora, pues, vamos; establezcamos
una alianza entre tú y yo que sirva de
testimonio entre los dos.
45 Jacob tomó una piedra y la erigió
como estela. 46 Y dijo Jacob a sus familiares:
–Recoged piedras.
Ellos recogieron piedras, hicieron
un montículo y comieron allí sobre el
montículo. 47 Labán lo llamó Yegar–Sehadutá
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).