Genesis 31:53

53._The God of Abraham_. It is indeed rightly and properly done, that Laban should adjure Jacob by the name of God. For this is the confirmation of covenants; to appeal to God on both sides, that he may not suffer perfidy to pass unpunished. But he sinfully blends idols with the true God, between whom there is nothing in common. Thus, truly, men involved in superstitions, are accustomed to confound promiscuously sacred things with profane, and the figments of men with the true God. He is compelled to give some honor to the God of Abraham, yet he lies plunged in his own idolatrous pollution; and, that his religion may not appear the worse, he gives it the color of antiquity. For in calling him the God of his father, he boasts that this God was handed down to him from his ancestors. Meanwhile Jacob does not swear superstitiously. For Moses expressly declares, that he sware only by “the fea...

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 31:53. _THE GOD OF THEIR FATHER_] As Laban certainly speaks of the _true God_ here, with what propriety can he say that this God was the God of _Terah_, the father of Abraham and Nahor? It is certain that Terah was an idolater; of this we have the most positive proof, Joshua 24:2. Because the clause is not in the Septuagint, and is besides wanting in some MSS., Dr. Kennicott considers it an interpolation. But there is no need of having recourse to this expedient if we adopt the reading אביכם _abichem_, YOUR _father_, for אביהם _abihem_, THEIR _father_, which is supported by several of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and is precisely the same form made use of by Laban, Genesis...

- 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 _

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF NAHOR, THE GOD OF THEIR FATHER, JUDGE BETWEEN US,.... And the father of these was Terah, so that the god of them was not the true God, and is not meant, at least not as truly worshipped; but the god or gods of Terah, Nahor and Abraham worshipped while idolaters, and Laban still continued to do, though perhaps not in so gross a manner as some did: AND JACOB SWORE BY THE FEAR OF HIS FATHER ISAAC; that is, by the true God his father Isaac feared, served, and worshipped: or "but Jacob" r, c. which seems plainly to suggest, that the God whom Laban called upon to be a judge between them, should they break covenant, and swore by, and he whom Jacob swore by, were different each swore by their own deities. r וישבע "sed juravit", Junius Tremellius, Piscator....

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_,...

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

THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, &C.— It seems very plain that Laban, by these expressions, means to refer to that true God, who was peculiarly the God of their fathers and family. And when Jacob swears by the _fear of his father Isaac,_ that is, by the God who was the object of his father's religious veneration and regard, he insinuates that the same God still protected the family, and was no less the God of Isaac than of Terah, Abraham, and Nahor; a God always the same, and therefore the proper witness and avenger of those who swore by him, and covenanted in his name. REFLECTIONS.—Laban could not gainsay Jacob's expostulation; truth and conscience confirmed it. But when he dares not do evil, he pretends kindness, and would fain make a merit of that affection which he had never shewn, and bestow as a gift what was Jacob's by hard service. Hereupon, 1. He proposes a covenant of friendship, and Jacob...