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Genesis 31 · a question people ask

Was Jacob right to leave without telling Laban?

In the text

Genesis gives both sides without a verdict. God told Jacob to go: "Return to the land of your fathers" (31:3), and "Now arise, get out from this land" (31:13). The narrator says "Jacob deceived Laban" by not telling him (31:20). Jacob gives his reason: "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Lest you should take your daughters from me by force'" (31:31).

The verses

“The LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.””
Genesis 31:3 · World English Bible
“I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’””
Genesis 31:13 · World English Bible
“Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he didn’t tell him that he was running away.”
Genesis 31:20 · World English Bible
“Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’”
Genesis 31:31 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 31

Genesis 31: 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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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions