Genesis 31

In this chapter is the record of Jacob's leaving Paddan-aram and taking the long journey back to his ancestral home at Beersheba, taking with him his wives and children and all of the wealth which he gathered "beyond the River," the Euphrates. His increasing awareness of the increasing hostility of Laban, his enlistment of his wives as helpers in his secret departure, the actual departure, Laban's angry pursuit, their confrontation in the hills of Gilead, and the amicable settlement of their hostilities, which was commemorated by the erection of a cairn of stones and a festive meal together - all are here interwoven to form one of the most interesting chapters in the Bible. This effective narrative is a unity, a fact attested by the skilled and brilliant manner of its presentation.

We shall pay but little attention to the fulminations of the critics who are continually preoccupied with their search for multiple sources, missing altogether the startling magnificence of this marvelous story of Jacob, the Israel of God. Critical allegations include the assertions that:

1. Genesis 31:1,2, give "different reasons" for Jacob's decision to leave the vicinity of Haran. As anyone may read himself, the text gives three or four reasons why Jacob decided to leave, all of which are related and presented here in a most logical and consistent fashion, all of the elements thus mentioned constituting in the aggregate the basis of Jacob's decision.
   
2. Genesis 31:17,18 and Genesis 31:21 give duplicate accounts of Jacob's flight with all his possessions. This is simply an untruth. Genesis 31:17,18 record the patriarch's start of the journey, and Genesis 31:21 relates the irrevocable beginning of it by his passing beyond "the River," the purpose of it being to tell HOW he left, as plainly stated in the text: "So he fled with all that he had."
   
3. Genesis 31:23,25 report twice that Laban overtook Jacob. Again, this is not a true allegation. Genesis 31:23 stated that Laban undertook to catch up with Jacob and his mission was successful. The mention that he "overtook him" is plainly proleptic, for the very next verse recounts God's appearance to Laban, an event that occurred before he actually came near Jacob. The statement of Genesis 31:25, "that Laban came up with Jacob," was necessary to show that, despite the warning of God, Laban went ahead and "drew alongside" of Jacob, "came up with him," a far different thing from what was said in Genesis 31:23, not a duplication at all but an additional fact necessary to the intelligent continuity of the narrative.
   
4. Genesis 31:31,36 present "two different replies" of Jacob to Laban. So what? Two different replies were necessary, because they were made under widely different circumstances, and in starkly different situations. In Genesis 31:31, Jacob pleaded his fear, and responded to Laban's allegation of the theft of his gods by offering to submit his possessions to Laban's search. In Genesis 31:36-42, the accumulated wrath and resentment in Jacob's heart burst out of the inhibitions which had restrained him for twenty years; and, as we would say, "he let the old hypocrite have it!" (Only a critic would find fault with this narrative).
   
5. The memorial is called "a pillar" in Genesis 31:45, and "a cairn of stones" in Genesis 31:46. So what! It was both. First, Jacob erected the upright pillar, and then his retainers and sons, aided by Laban and his retainers, gathered stones and piled them around the pillar. Josephus explains this fully: "They erected a pillar in the form of an altar."[1]
   
6. The principal objection, however, lies in what is alleged to be two different accounts in Genesis 30 and Genesis 31 of how Jacob came into possession of so many of Laban's cattle. They do not understand that God's revelation to Jacob of the increase of vast numbers of the parti-colored cattle came before the agreement with Laban on Jacob's wages, and is related here retrospectively in order for Jacob's wives to understand the providential aid he had received. Prejudice alone can account for the charge that Jacob here lied about that in order to impress his wives. See our comment on this in Genesis 30. Many scholars and all of the critics overlook this. As Morris noted:

   "Jacob made no claim at all that it was by his own ability or ingenuity that he had acquired such wealth; he gave all the credit to the Lord, as indeed he should have done, because his prosperity was entirely due to the Lord."[2]

   Kline agreed that the dream mentioned in this chapter "referred to two dreams, the earlier one (regarding the speckled cattle), and the later one (with the divine command to leave Laban)."[3] After the Hebrew style, the dreams are not clearly distinguished here, except by the subject matter. Thomas Whitelaw also perceived that, "The dream here (Genesis 31:10) goes back to the commencement of the six years' service."[4] All of the problems that critics find in this area are due solely to their failure to understand what is written.
   

We shall proceed no further with this brief exploration of the picayune, nit-picking, fault findings of Biblical enemies. We may well summarize their efforts, as did Aalders: "Such things provide no basis for discovering multiple sources."[5] It is a pleasure to turn now to a study of the Sacred Text itself.