Genesis 31:46

_AND JACOB TOOK A STONE, AND SET IT UP FOR A PILLAR._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

43-55 Laban could neither justify himself nor condemn Jacob, therefore desires to hear no more of that matter. He is not willing to own himself in fault, as he ought to have done. But he proposes a covenant of friendship between them, to which Jacob readily agrees. A heap of stones was raised, to keep up the memory of the event, writing being then not known or little used. A sacrifice of peace offerings was offered. Peace with God puts true comfort into our peace with our friends. They did eat bread together, partaking of the feast upon the sacrifice. In ancient times covenants of friendship were ratified by the parties eating and drinking together. God is judge between contending parties, and he will judge righteously; whoever do wrong, it is at their peril. They gave a new name to the place, The heap of witness. After this angry parley, they part friends. God is often better to us tha...

Verse Genesis 31:46. _MADE A HEAP_] גל _gal_, translated _heap_, signifies properly a _round_ heap; and this heap was probably made for the double purpose of an _altar_ and a _table_, and Jacob's stone or pillar was set on it for the purpose of a _memorial_....

- Jacob’s Flight from Haran 19. תרפים _t__e__rāpı̂ym_, Teraphim. This word occurs fifteen times in the Old Testament. It appears three times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the Pentateuch. It is always in the plural number. The root does not appear in Biblical Hebrew. It perhaps means “to live well,” intransitively (Gesenius, Roedig.), “to nourish,” transitively (Furst). The teraphim were symbols or representatives of the Deity, as Laban calls them his gods. They seem to have been busts (προτομαί _protomai_, Aquila) of the human form, sometimes as large as life 1 Samuel 19:13. Those of full size were probably of wood; the smaller ones may have been of metal. In two passages...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 31:45 AND JACOB TOOK A STONE, AND SET IT UP _for_ A PILLAR—or _Matzebah_,_ as a _memorial or witness of the covenant about to be formed (Genesis 31:52); a different transaction from the piling of the stone-heap next referred to (of. Genesis 28:18; Joshua 14:1). GENESIS 31:46 AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS BRETHREN,—Laban's kinsmen and his own (_vide _

AND JACOB SAID UNTO HIS BRETHREN, GATHER STONES,.... Not to his sons, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi; these would not be called brethren, and were not fit, being too young to be employed in gathering large stones, as these must be, to erect a monument with; rather his servants, whom he employed in keeping his sheep under him, and might so call them, as he did the shepherds of Haran, Genesis 29:4; and whom he could command to such service, and were most proper to be made use of in it; unless it can be thought the men Laban brought with him, whom Jacob before calls his brethren, Genesis 31:37, are meant; and then the words must be understood as spoken, not in an authoritative way, but as a request or direction, which was complied with: AND THEY TOOK STONES, AND MADE AN HEAP; they fetc

CHAPTER 31 JACOB'S SERVITUDE ENDED AND FLIGHT FROM LABAN _ 1. Laban's behavior and God's commandment (Genesis 31:1)_ 2. The dream vision to return to the land (Genesis 31:11) 3. Jacob's flight (Genesis 31:17) 4. Laban warned (Genesis 31:22) 5. Laban's accusation (Genesis 31:25) 6. Jacob's answer (Genesis 31:31) 7. The covenant between Jacob and Laban ...

GENESIS 31:22 TO GENESIS 32:2. AFTER MUTUAL RECRIMINATIONS, JACOB AND LABAN MAKE A COVENANT TO REFRAIN FROM AGGRESSION ON EACH OTHER'S TERRITORIES. The analysis is uncertain; Gunkel assigns Genesis 31:22; Genesis 31:26; Genesis 31:28_ a_ (to Laban), Genesis 31:32; Genesis 31:36_ b_,...

EAT: i.e. of the covenant sacrifices. Compare Genesis 26:30; Exodus 24:5; Exodus 24:11....

The Pursuit of Laban, &c. 23. _his brethren_ i.e. the men of his kindred and clan, as in Genesis 31:25_; Genesis 31:32_. Jacob is similarly attended; cf. Genesis 31:37_; Genesis 31:46; Genesis 31:54_, Genesis 24:60. _seven days" journey_ The distance from Haran to the land of Gilead for a company with flocks and herds would require a longer time. It is computed to be over 300 miles in a straight line. But we do not need to be ve