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Genesis 31 Bible study: The heap of witness
God told Jacob to return, and he slipped away while Rachel stole her father's teraphim; in Hebrew the same verb, steal, describes both. God warned Laban in a dream, and Jacob said that without "the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac" Laban would have sent him away empty. They parted at a heap of witness with a warning now sometimes used as a blessing: "The LORD watch between me and you."
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“Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
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“Jacob swore death on whoever had Laban's gods, not knowing Rachel had them.”
Is that in Genesis 31, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"Return… and I will be with you"
Laban's sons grumble, and Laban's face is "not toward him as before" (31:1-2). "The LORD said to Jacob, 'Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you'" (31:3). Jacob tells Rachel and Leah that their father "deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me" (31:7), and that the angel of God said, "I have seen all that Laban does to you. I am the God of Bethel" (31:12-13). Both wives answer, "whatever God has said to you, do" (31:16).
Where it leads to Jesus
The God of the living
Genesis 31:42leads toMatthew 22:32
Jacob says that "the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac" had been with him (31:42). Speaking about the resurrection, Jesus quotes God's words from Exodus 3:6, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob", and adds, "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:32).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Genesis 31
That was a taste
The rest of Genesis 31 is waiting in Favor
- Two thefts
- God warns Laban
- Twenty years, and a covenant
- The Fear of Isaac
- God kept his word at Bethel
- 16 questions as you read
- 5 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
גָּנַבganavsay ga-NAV
"Steal" (Brown-Driver-Briggs); Strong's gives "to thieve… by implication, to deceive". The WEB translates it "stole" in 31:19, "Rachel stole the teraphim", and "deceived" in 31:20, where the Hebrew says Jacob "stole the heart of Laban". Laban uses the same verb: "you have deceived me" (31:26), "deceive me" (31:27) and "why have you stolen my gods?" (31:30). Jacob uses it too, of animals "stolen by day or stolen by night" (31:39). Counting each word, it appears eight times in this chapter (twice in 31:39). The law later says, "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15).
For your group
Genesis 31 Bible study questions
- 1Jacob said, "God didn't allow him to hurt me." Looking back, where has God protected you in ways you didn't see at the time?
- 2Rachel carried her father's gods with her. What do people carry from their old life that doesn't belong in the new one?
- 3Jacob and Laban made peace with a heap of stones between them. When is a boundary the wisest kind of peace?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Genesis 31 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home