Genesis 31:9 Komentář

Jacob was a very honest good man, a man of great devotion and integrity, yet he had more trouble and vexation than any of the patriarchs. He left his father's house in a fright, went to his uncle's in distress, very hard usage he met with there, and now is going back surrounded with fears. Here is, I. His resolution to return (v. 1-16). II. His clandestine departure, (Gen 31:17-21). III. Laban's pursuit of him in displeasure (Gen 31:22-25). IV. The hot words that passed between them (v. 26-42). V. Their amicable agreement at last (Gen 31:43, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 31 This chapter relates how that Jacob observing that Laban and his sons envied his prosperity, and having a call from God to return to his own country, acquaints his wives with it; and reports to them Laban's ill usage of him, and the wonderful appearance of God to him, and for him, and his orders to him to depart from thence, Gen 31:1; to which they agreed, knowing full well their father's unkindness, and that they had nothing to expect from him, and therefore judged it best to go off with what they had got through the gift of God unto them, Gen 31:14; upon which Jacob set out privately, with all he had, towards his own country, while Laban was shearing his sheep, Gen 31:17; three days after, Laban, being informed of it, pursued after Jacob, and overtook him at Mount Gilead; but was warned by the way to be cautious what he said to him, Gen 31:22; yet nevertheless he warmly expostulated with him about his secret flight, not giving him the opportunity of taking his leave of his children, and especially for taking away his gods, Gen 31:26; to which Jacob gave an answer, Gen 31:31; and in his turn was warm likewise, and chided Laban severely for his hot pursuit of him, his charge of stealth, when he could find nothing on him, his hard labour for the space of twenty years with him, and his ill requital of him for it, Gen 31:36; however, upon the whole, an amicable agreement was made between them, and they parted in a friendly manner, Gen 31:43.

And it came to pass, at the time that the cattle conceived,.... Whether in spring or in autumn cannot be said, for it seems this was twice a year; this probably was at the beginning of the six years' servitude, or just before the agreement was made between Laban and Jacob, and was an instruction to the latter how to make his bargain with the former: that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream; in a vision of the night, so things were represented to his fancy and imagination: and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled; from whence he might conclude, that the cattle they leaped upon would bring forth the like, and so be a direction to him to make his agreement with Laban to have such for his hire; not that the rams in the flock were really of those colours, for they were all white, but so they were represented to Jacob in the vision, to suggest to him, that such would be produced by them; and it is not improbable by the artifice Jacob was directed to, and took, that the ewes, when they came to the watering troughs to drink, upon seeing the party coloured rods in the water, these made such an impression upon their imaginations, that they fancied the rams that leaped upon them were of those colours, and so conceived and brought forth the like. Here is another colour mentioned, not taken notice of before, at least by this name, "grisled"; it stands in the place of "spotted", and seems to be the same with that, and signified such as had spots on them like hailstones, and distinguishes them from the speckled: the speckled were such as were white with black spots, these such as were black, and had white spots like hail.

Laban and his sons envy Jacob, Gen 31:1, Gen 31:2; on which he is commanded by the Lord to return to his own country, Gen 31:3. Having called his wives together, he lays before them a detailed statement of his situation in reference to their father, Gen 31:4-5; the services he had rendered him, Gen 31:6; the various attempts made by Laban to defraud him of his hire, Gen 31:7; how, by God's providence, his evil designs had been counteracted, Gen 31:8-12; and then informs them that he is now called to return to his own country, Gen 31:13. To the proposal of an immediate departure, Leah and Rachel agree; and strengthen the propriety of the measure by additional reasons, Gen 31:14-16; on which Jacob collects all his family, his flocks and his goods, and prepares for his departure, Gen 31:17, Gen 31:18. Laban having gone to shear his sheep, Rachel secretes his images, Gen 31:19. Jacob and his family, unknown to Laban, take their departure, Gen 31:20, Gen 31:21. On the third day Laban is informed of their flight, Gen 31:22; and pursues them to Mount Gilead, Gen 31:23. God appears to Laban in a dream, and warns him not to molest Jacob, Gen 31:24. He comes up with Jacob at Mount Gilead, Gen 31:25; reproaches him with his clandestine departure, Gen 31:26-29; and charges him with having stolen his gods, Gen 31:30. Jacob vindicates himself, and protests his innocence in the matter of the theft, Gen 31:31, Gen 31:32. Laban makes a general search for his images in Jacob's, Leah's, Bilhah's, and Zilpah's tents; and not finding them, proceeds to examine Rachel's, Gen 31:33. Rachel, having hidden them among the camel's furniture, sat upon them, Gen 31:34; and making a delicate excuse for not rising up, Laban desists from farther search, Gen 31:35. Jacob, ignorant of Rachel's theft, reproaches Laban for his suspicions, Gen 31:36, Gen 31:37; enumerates his long and faithful services, his fatigues, and Laban's injustice, Gen 31:38-41; and shows that it was owing to God's goodness alone that he had any property, Gen 31:42. Laban is moderated, and proposes a covenant, Gen 31:43, Gen 31:44. Jacob sets up a stone, and the rest bring stones and make a heap, which Laban calleth Jegar-Sahadutha, and Jacob Galeed, Gen 31:45-47. They make a covenant, and confirm it by an oath, Gen 31:48-53. Jacob offers a sacrifice; they eat together; and Laban and his companions, having lodged in the mount all night, take a friendly leave of Jacob and his family next morning, and depart, Gen 31:54, Gen 31:55.

ENVY OF LABAN AND SONS. (Gen. 31:1-21) he heard the words of Laban's sons--It must have been from rumor that Jacob got knowledge of the invidious reflections cast upon him by his cousins; for they were separated at the distance of three days' journey.

The Flight. - Through some angry remarks of Laban's sons with reference to his growing wealth, and the evident change in the feelings of Laban himself towards him (Gen 31:1, Gen 31:2), Jacob was inwardly prepared for the termination of his present connection with Laban; and at the same time he received instructions from Jehovah, to return to his home, together with a promise of divine protection. In consequence of this, he sent for Rachel and Leah to come to him in the field, and explained to them (Gen 31:4-13), how their father's disposition had changed towards him, and how he had deceived him in spite of the service he had forced out of him, and had altered his wages ten times; but that the God of his father had stood by him, and had transferred to him their father's cattle, and now at length had directed him to return to his home.

אביכם: for אביכן as in Gen 32:16, etc. - "Ten times:" i.e., as often as possible, the ten as a round number expressing the idea of completeness. From the statement that Laban had changed his wages ten times, it is evident that when Laban observed, that among his sheep and goats, of one colour only, a large number of mottled young were born, he made repeated attempts to limit the original stipulation by changing the rule as to the colour of the young, and so diminishing Jacob's wages. But when Jacob passes over his own stratagem in silence, and represents all that he aimed at and secured by crafty means as the fruit of God's blessing, this differs no doubt from the account in Gen 30. It is not a contradiction, however, pointing to a difference in the sources of the two chapters, but merely a difference founded upon actual fact, viz., the fact that Jacob did not tell the whole truth to his wives. Moreover self-help and divine help do not exclude one another. Hence his account of the dream, in which he saw that the rams that leaped upon the cattle were all of various colours, and heard the voice of the angel of God calling his attention to what had been seen, in the words, "I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee," may contain actual truth; and the dream may be regarded as a divine revelation, which was either sent to explain to him now, at the end of the sixth year, "that it was not his stratagem, but the providence of God which had prevented him from falling a victim to Laban's avarice, and had brought him such wealth" (Delitzsch); or, if the dream occurred at an earlier period, was meant to teach him, that "the help of God, without any such self-help, could procure him justice and safety in spite of Laban's selfish covetousness" (Kurtz). It is very difficult to decide between these two interpretations. As Jehovah's instructions to him to return were not given till the end of his period of service, and Jacob connects them so closely with the vision of the rams that they seem contemporaneous, Delitzsch's view appears to deserve the preference. But the עשׂה in Gen 31:12, "all that Laban is doing to thee," does not exactly suit this meaning; and we should rather expect to find עשׂה used at the end of the time of service. The participle rather favours Kurtz's view, that Jacob had the vision of the rams and the explanation from the angel at the beginning of the last six years of service, but that in his communication to his wives, in which there was no necessity to preserve a strict continuity or distinction of time, he connected it with the divine instructions to return to his home, which he received at the end of his time of service. But if we decide in favour of this view, we have no further guarantee for the objective reality of the vision of the rams, since nothing is said about it in the historical account, and it is nowhere stated that the wealth obtained by Jacob's craftiness was the result of the divine blessing. The attempt so unmistakeably apparent in Jacob's whole conversation with his wives, to place his dealing with Laban in the most favourable light for himself, excites the suspicion, that the vision of which he spoke was nothing more than a natural dream, the materials being supplied by the three thoughts that were most frequently in his mind, by night as well as by day, viz., (1) his own schemes and their success; (2) the promise received at Bethel; (3) the wish to justify his actions to his own conscience; and that these were wrought up by an excited imagination into a visionary dream, of the divine origin of which Jacob himself may not have had the slightest doubt. - In Gen 31:13 האל has the article in the construct state, contrary to the ordinary rule; cf. Ges. 110, 2b; Ewald, 290.