Genesis 31:34

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 31:34

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

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 31:34

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

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

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 31:1-55

Jacob flees from Laban (31:1-55)As Laban and his sons became increasingly hostile to him, Jacob prepared to leave for Canaan without delay (31:1-13). Leah and Rachel agreed, for they too were angry with Laban. He had used them to make himself rich, but apparently had no intention of giving them a share in the inheritance (14-16). Therefore, when they fled, Rachel stole her father’s household idols, for according to Mesopotamian custom possession of these gave her some right to the inheritance... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Genesis 31:34

Rachel. Repeated by the Figure of speech Anadiplosis. Hebrew "tent of Rachel, and Rachel had taken. " furniture = saddle. searched = felt [with his hands]. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 31:33-35

"And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. And he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee; for the manner of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 31:34

34. Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them—The common pack saddle is often used as a seat or a cushion, against which a person squatted on the floor may lean. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 31:22-42

God revealed Himself to people other than the patriarchs in these days (Genesis 31:29; cf. Abimelech in Genesis 20:3). Many scholars believe that Job also lived in the patriarchal period."Jacob and Rachel are again two of a kind. This time both almost bring ruin on the family by their risk taking: she by her rash theft, he by his rash vow ([Genesis 31:32] cf. his sons’ rash vow in Genesis 44:6-12)." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 430.] The teraphim were already "nothing gods," but they became... read more

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