Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 31:1-55
- Jacob’s Flight from Haran19. תרפים terāpı̂ym, 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... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Bethel ,—the angel here identifies himself with Jehovah ( vide Genesis 28:13 ). Contrary to usual custom, הָאֵל , though in the construct, state, has the art.— where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred — i . e . to the land of Canaan, which was Jacob's true inheritance. read more