betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.

39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

40 And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.

41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

vv. 35, 36), lest any of them might stray unto Jacob's flock and so be claimed by him, or any lambs or kids should be born like them in Jacob's flock.

37. poplar] So Celsius (Hierobot.' I. 292), and many other authorities after the Vulg., but the LXX, and Arab. have the storax tree, which is adopted by Gesenius (p. 740) and many others.

bazel Almond, Ges. (p. 747).

chesnut tree] Plane-tree, Ges. (p. 1071). 40. And Jacob did separate the lambs] The apparent inconsistency of this with the rest of the narrative, especially with v. 36, has induced some commentators to suspect a corruption in the text. The meaning, however, appears to be, that Jacob separated those lambs, which were born after the artifice mentioned above, keeping the spotted lambs and kids apart; but though he thus separated them,

ban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.

2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

+ Heb.

as yester

the day

3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, day and Return unto the land of thy fathers, before. and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,

5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.

6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus,

he contrived that the ewes and she goats should have the speckled lambs and kids in sight. "His own flocks" mentioned in the latter part of the verse were the young cattle that were "Laban's born ringstraked and speckled; cattle," on the contrary, were those of uniform colour in the flock tended by Jacob; not that flock which Laban had separated by three days' journey from Jacob,

CHAP. XXXI. 2. as before] Lit. "as yesterday and the day before."

5. the God of my father hath been with me] i.e. God has been present with me and has protected me. Jacob calls him the God of his father, so distinguishing the Most High from the gods of the nations and from the idols, which perhaps the family of Laban had worshipped. vv. 19, 30.

7. ten times] i.e. probably "very frequently." Cp. Num, xiv. 22; Job xix. 3.

I Or, he goats.

a chap. 28.

18.

The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.

9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them

to me.

10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the 'rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

II And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

13 I am the God of Beth-el, 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.

10. the rams] The he goats. grisled] i. e. "sprinkled as with hail," the literal meaning of the word "grisled."

13. I am the God of Beth-el] (Heb. "ElBeth-el.") In v. II it is said, "the angel of God spake unto me." The Jewish commentators explain this by saying that God spoke through the mouth of the angel, and therefore though the angel actually spoke to Jacob, yet the words are the words of God. The Christian fathers generally believe all such visions to have been visions of the Son of God, who is both God and the angel of God: see on ch. xvi. 7.

There is no necessary contradiction between this dream and the account of Jacob's artifice given in the last chapter. If the dream occurred just before the flight of Jacob from Laban, it would be an indication to Jacob that all his artifices would have had no effect, had it not been God's pleasure that he should grow rich. The labours of the husbandman do not prosper but through the blessing of God. It seems, however, not improbable that Jacob is here relating to his wives two dreams, that concerning the sheep and goats having occurred at the beginning of his agreement with Laban, and that in which he was commanded to depart from Padan-aram just before his actual departure. This was suggested by Nachmanides and is approved by Rosenmüller. If so, we may infer, that Jacob believed the promise that the sheep which were

14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?

15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.

16 For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;

18 And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan-aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the Heb. images that were her father's. 20 And Jacob stole away

tuna

teraphim. t Heb. the heart of Laban.

to be his hire should multiply rapidly: but yet consistently with his mixed character, partly believing and partly impatient of the fulfilment, he adopted natural means for bringing and apparently Keil). about this event which he desired (so Kurtz

15. be bath sold us] Probably referring to Laban's giving his daughter to Jacob as wages for his service,

19. And Laban went to shear his sheep] The force of the tenses in the Hebrew will perhaps be better explained as follows: "Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and (or, whereupon) Rachel stole the Teraphim which were her father's, and Jacob stole away unawares to (lit. stole the heart of) Laban the Syrian." There may be a series of paronomasias in the Hebrew, "Rachel stole the Teraphim," "Jacob stole the heart of Laban;” and again, "the heart of Laban" is LebLaban, the first syllable of Laban corresponding with the word for "heart."

images] Teraphim. These were undoubtedly images in the human form, but whether whole length figures or only busts has been much doubted. In 1 S. xix. 13, Michal puts teraphim (the plural perhaps for a single image) in David's bed to deceive the messengers of Saul; which looks as if the image was of the size of life. In the present history as Rachel hides them under the camel's saddle, they were probably not so large. Laban calls them his gods v. 30, which corresponds with

↑ Heb.

from good to bad.

+ Heb. hast stolen me.

wares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he Яed.

21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.

22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

25¶ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

what we find afterwards concerning their worship (see Judg. xvii. 5; xviii, 14, 17, 18, 20). They are condemned with other idolatrous practices (1 S. xv. 23; 2 K. xxiii, 24), and in later times we find that they were consulted for purposes of divination (Ezek. xxi. 21; Zech. x. 2). They have been generally considered as similar to the Penates of the classical nations. Most probably they were of the nature of a fetish, used for purposes of magic and divination, rather than strictly objects of divine worship. In them we perhaps see the earliest form of patriarchal idolatry; a knowledge of the true God not wholly gone, but images, perhaps of ancestors, preserved, revered and consulted. There have been numerous conjectures as to the derivation of the name. The majority of recent Hebraists refer to the Arab. root tarafa, "to enjoy the good things of life," and think that teraphim were preserved and honoured, like the penates, or the household fairy, to secure domestic prosperity (see Ges. Thes.' p. 1520). Other but improbable derivations are that suggested by Castell from the Syriac Teraph, "to enquire,"

28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

29 It is in the power of my hand. to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

31 And Jacob answered and said. to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.

34 Now Rachel had taken the im

alluding to their use as oracles; and that by Prof. Lee, from the Ethiopic root, signifying "to remain, survive," so that the name may originally have meant "relics." The motive of Rachel's theft has been as much debated as the root of the word and the use of the images. It is at all events probable, that Rachel, though a worshipper of Jacob's God, may not have thrown off all the superstitious credulity of her own house, and that she stole the teraphim for some superstitious purpose.

20. stole away unawares to Laban] Lit. "stole the heart of Laban," i.e, deceived his mind and intelligence.

21. the river] The Euphrates.

mount Gilead] So called by anticipation. It received the name from what occurred be

↑ Heb. felt.

+ Heb.

feit.

12.

ages, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

all

36 ¶ And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that tnou hast so hotly pursued after me? 37 Whereas thou hast searched my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both. 38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the Ex. 22. loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

34] the camel's furniture] The word for furniture (Car, perhaps cognate with currus, car, carry, carriage, &c.), seems to have signified a covered seat, litter, or palanquin, which was placed on the back of the camel for carrying women and children and supplied with curtains for concealing them, not only from sun and wind, but also from public view (see Ges. Thes.' p. 715 and the authorities there referred to). The Teraphim, being probably not of large size, would easily be concealed under such apparatus.

38. This twenty years] See above, v. 41. On the chronology, see Note A at the end of this chapter.

40. in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night] In the East it is common for extremely hot days to be succeeded by very cold nights.

42. the fear of Isaac] That is to say, the object of Isaac's reverential awe. The whole history of Isaac points him out to us as a man of subdued spirit, whilst his father

41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

44 Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.

47 And Laban called it Jegar-sa- That is, hadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

the heap of witness.

Abraham appears as of livelier faith and as admitted to a more intimate communion with God. Hence Jacob not unnaturally calls his father's God "the fear of Isaac."

47. Laban called it Jegar-sabadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed] Jegar-sahadutha is the Aramaic (Chaldee or Syriac) equivalent for the Hebrew Galeed; both meaning the "heap of witness." It appears therefore that at this time Jacob spoke Hebrew whilst his uncle Laban spoke Syriac. We can only account for this by supposing either that the family of Nahor originally spoke Syriac and that Abraham and his descendants learned Hebrew in Canaan, where evidently the Hebrew language was indigenous when he first went there, having probably been acquired by the Hamitic Canaanites from an earlier Shemite race or else, which is not otherwise supported, that the ancestors of Laban having left the early seat of the family had unlearned their original Hebrew and acquired the Syriac dialect of Padan-aram,

53. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nabor, the God of their father, judge between us] The verb judge is in the plural. This looks as if Laban acknowledged JEHOVAH as Jacob's God and Abraham's God, but being himself descended from Nahor and Terah and doubting whether the God who called Abraham from his father's house was the same as the God whom Terah and Nahor had served before, he couples the God of Abraham with the God of Nahor and Terah, and calls on both to witness and judge, Polytheism had still hold on Laban,

though he felt the power of the God of Jacob. We learn from Josh. xxiv. 2, that the ancestors of Abraham worshipped strange gods. There is a very marked unity of purpose throughout this chapter in the use of the names of the Most High, utterly inconsistent with the modern notion of a diversity of authors, according to some not fewer than four, in the different portions of the same chapter. To Jacob He is JEHOVAH, V. 3, and the God of his father, v. 5, &c., whilst Laban acknowledges Him as the God of Jacob's father, v. 29. Once more Jacob refers to Him as the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac (v. 42), by appeal to whom it was but likely that Laban would be moved; and lastly Laban, being so moved, himself appeals to the watchfulness of JEHOVAH, V. 49, but yet joins with Him, as possibly a distinct Being, the God of their common ancestor Nahor.

THE difficulties in the Chronology of the life of Jacob and his sons are very great, so great that Le Clerc has said, "There occur entanglements (nodi) in these things which no one has yet unravelled, nor do I believe will any one ever unravel them." It has been generally held by commentators, Jewish and Christian, that Isaac was 137 and Jacob 77 when Jacob received his father's blessing, and left his father's house to go to Padan-aram. (See note, ch. xxxvii. 1.) This calculation rests mainly on the following two points: the 1st is that Joseph was born just fourteen years after Jacob went to Haran, i.e. at the end of the second hebdomade which

VOL. I.

Jacob served for his wives; an inference, which would oblige us to conclude that all the sons of Jacob except Benjamin, eleven in number, were born in six years, a thing not quite impossible, but highly improbable (see on ch. xxx. 25). The second is, that Jacob, in vv. 38, 41, of this ch. xxxi. seems to say that his whole sojourn in Padan-aram was only twenty years. If these points be made out, we cannot deny the conclusion, that as Joseph was 39 when Jacob was 130, and so born when Jacob was 91, therefore Jacob must have been 91-14=77, when he fled from Beer-sheba to Padan-aram,

As regards the first point, however, it has

M