Genesis 31:33-35

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 31:25-35

We have here the reasoning, not to say the rallying, that took place between Laban and Jacob at their meeting, in that mountain which was afterwards called Gilead, Gen. 31:25. Here is, I. The high charge which Laban exhibited against him. He accuses him, 1. As a renegade that had unjustly deserted his service. To represent Jacob as a criminal, he will have it thought that he intended kindness to his daughters (Gen. 31:27, 28), that he would have dismissed them with all the marks of love and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 31:33

And Laban went into Jacob's tent ,.... Into that first where he most suspected they were, being taken not out of value for them, but contempt of them: and into Leah's tent ; and not Leah's tent next, whom next to Jacob he might suspect of taking them, out of veneration to them, because her tent lay next: and into the two maidservants' tents : Bilhah and Zilpah; or "the" tent of them; for the word is singular, and perhaps they had but one tent for them both, which distinguished them... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 31:34

Now Rachel had taken the images ,.... Hearing her father inquire about them, and her husband having given leave to search for them, and to put to death whoever should be found to have them, took them from the place where she had before laid them: and put them into the camel's furniture ; perhaps the camel's furniture she rode on, and therefore it was in her tent, which some understand of the saddle on which she rode; rather, it seems to be the saddle cloth or housing, in which she might... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 31:35

And she said to her father ,.... As he approached nearer to her, having searched her tent all over: let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee : she addresses him with great honour and respect; calling him her lord, being her father, though an unkind one, and entreats him not to be displeased that she did not rise up and yield that obeisance to him which was due from her to a father: for the custom of women is upon me ; her menstrues; which before the law of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 31:35

The custom of women is upon me - This she knew must be a satisfactory reason to her father; for if the teraphim were used to any religious purpose, and they seem to have been used in this way, as Laban calls them his gods, he therefore could not suspect that a woman in such a situation, whose touch was considered as defiling, would have sat upon articles that were either the objects of his adoration, or used for any sacred purpose. The stratagem succeeded to her wish, and Laban departed... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 31:22-44

Laban's pursuit of Jacob. I. THE HOSTILE PREPARATION . Learning of his son-in-law's departure, Laban at once determines on pursuit; not alone for the purpose of recovering his household gods, but chiefly with the view of wreaking his pent-up vengeance on Jacob, whom he now regarded as the spoiler of his fortunes, and if possible to capture and detain the much-coveted flocks and herds which he considered had been practically stolen by his nephew. Mustering his kinsmen by either force... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 31:33

And Laban went into Jacob's taut, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maid-servants' tents ;—the clause affords an interesting glimpse into the manners of the times, showing that not only husbands and wives, but also wives among themselves, possessed separate establishments)— but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent (he probably commenced with Jacob's and those of the hand-maids, and afterwards passed into Leah's), and entered into Rachel's tent —last, because she was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 31:34

Now Rachel had taken the images ( teraphim ), and put them in the camel's furniture, —the camel's furniture was not stramenta cameli (Vulgate), "the camel's straw" (Luther), but the camel's saddle ( LXX ; Onkelos, Syriac, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, and others), here called כּר , from כָּרַר , an unused root signifying either to go round in a circle, hence to run (Gesenius), or to be firmly wound together, hence to be puffed up as a bolster (Furst). The woman's riding-saddle was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 31:35

And she said to her father, —"covering theft by subtlety and untruth" (Kalisch), and thus proving herself a time daughter of Laban, as well as showing with how much imperfection her religious character was tainted— Let it not displease my lord —literally, let it not burn with anger ( יִחַר , from חָרָה , to glow, to burn) in the eyes of my lord (Adoni)— that I cannot rise up before thee ;—Oriental politeness required children to rise up in the presence of their parents ( vide ... read more

Albert Barnes

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

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