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Gênesis 31

ARC · Chapter 31/50

1Então ouvia as palavras dos filhos de Labão, que diziam: Jacob tem tomado tudo o que era de nosso pae, e do que era de nosso pae fez elle toda esta gloria.

2Viu tambem Jacob o rosto de Labão, e eis que não era para com elle como d'hontem e d'ante-hontem.

3E disse o Senhor a Jacob: Torna-te á terra dos teus paes, e á tua parentela, e eu serei comtigo.

4Então enviou Jacob, e chamou a Rachel e a Leah ao campo, ao seu rebanho,

5E disse-lhes: Vejo que o rosto de vosso pae para commigo não é como d'hontem e d'ante-hontem; porém o Deus de meu pae esteve commigo;

6E vós mesmas sabeis que com todo o meu poder tenho servido a vosso pae;

7Mas vosso pae me enganou e mudou o salario dez vezes; porém Deus não lhe permittiu que me fizesse mal.

8Quando elle dizia assim: Os salpicados serão o teu salario; então todos os rebanhos pariam salpicados. E quando elle dizia assim: Os listrados serão o teu salario, então todos os teus rebanhos pariam listrados.

9Assim Deus tirou o gado de vosso pae, e m'o deu a mim.

10E succedeu que, ao tempo em que o rebanho concebia, eu levantei os meus olhos, e vi em sonhos, e eis que os bodes, que cobriam as ovelhas, eram listrados, salpicados e malhados.

11E disse-me o anjo de Deus em sonhos: Jacob. E eu disse: Eis-me aqui.

12E disse elle: Levanta agora os teus olhos, e vê todos os bodes que cobrem o rebanho, que são listrados, salpicados e malhados: porque tenho visto tudo o que Labão te fez.

13Eu sou o Deus de Beth-el, onde teus ungido uma columna, onde me tens votado o voto; levanta-te agora, sae-te d'esta terra, e torna-te á terra da tua parentela.

14Então responderam Rachel e Leah, e disseram-lhe: Ha ainda para nós parte ou herança na casa de nosso pae?

15Não nos considera elle como estranhas? pois vendeu-nos, e comeu de todo o nosso dinheiro.

16Porque toda a riqueza, que Deus tirou de nosso pae, é nossa e de nossos filhos: agora pois, faze tudo o que Deus te tem dito.

17Então se levantou Jacob, pondo os seus filhos e as suas mulheres sobre os camelos;

18E levou todo o seu gado, e toda a sua fazenda, que havia adquirido, o gado que possuia, que alcançara em Paddan*-aram, para ir a Isaac, seu pae, á terra de Canaan.

19E havendo Labão ido a tosquiar as suas ovelhas, furtou Rachel os idolos que seu pae tinha.

20E esquivou-se Jacob de Labão o arameo, porque não lhe fez saber que fugia.

21E fugiu elle com tudo o que tinha, e levantou-se, e passou o rio: e poz o seu rosto para a montanha de Gilead.

22E no terceiro dia foi annunciado a Labão que Jacob tinha fugido.

23Então tomou comsigo os seus irmãos, e atraz d'elle proseguiu o caminho por sete dias; e alcançou-o na montanha de Gilead.

24Veiu porém Deus a Labão o arameo em sonhos de noite, e disse-lhe: Guarda-te, que não falles com Jacob nem bem nem mal.

25Alcançou pois Labão a Jacob, e armara Jacob a sua tenda n'aquella montanha: armou tambem Labão com os seus irmãos a sua na montanha de Gilead.

26Então disse Labão a Jacob: Que fizeste, que te esquivaste de mim, e levaste as minhas filhas como captivas pela espada?

27Porque fugiste occultamente, e te esquivaste de mim, e não me fizeste saber, para que eu te enviasse com alegria, e com canticos, e com tamboril e com harpa?

28Tambem não me permittiste beijar os meus filhos e as minhas filhas. Loucamente pois agora fizeste, fazendo assim.

29Poder havia em minha mão para vos fazer mal, mas o Deus de vosso pae me fallou hontem á noite, dizendo: Guarda-te, que não falles com Jacob nem bem nem mal.

30E agora te querias ir embora, porquanto tinhas saudades de voltar a casa de teu pae; porque furtaste os meus deuses?

31Então respondeu Jacob, e disse a Labão: Porque temia; pois que dizia commigo, se porventura me não arrebatarias as tuas filhas.

32Com quem achares os teus deuses, esse não viva; reconhece diante de nossos irmãos o que é teu do que está commigo, e toma-o para ti. Pois Jacob não sabia que Rachel os tinha furtado.

33Então entrou Labão na tenda de Jacob, e na tenda de Leah, e na tenda d'ambas as servas, e não os achou; e saindo da tenda de Leah, entrou na tenda de Rachel.

34Mas tinha tomado Rachel os idolos, e os tinha posto na albarda de um camelo, e assentara-se sobre elles; e apalpou Labão toda a tenda, e não os achou.

35E ella disse a seu pae: Não se accenda a ira aos olhos de meu senhor, que não posso levantar-me diante da tua face; porquanto tenho o costume das mulheres. E elle procurou, mas não achou os idolos.

36Então irou-se Jacob, e contendeu com Labão; e respondeu Jacob, e disse a Labão: Qual é a minha transgressão? qual é o meu peccado, que tão furiosamente me tens perseguido?

37Havendo apalpado todos os meus moveis, que achaste de todos os moveis da tua casa? põe-o aqui diante dos meus irmãos, e teus irmãos; e que julguem entre nós ambos.

38Estes vinte annos eu estive comtigo, as tuas ovelhas e as tuas cabras nunca moveram, e não comi os carneiros do teu rebanho.

39Não te trouxe eu o despedaçado; eu o pagava; o furtado de dia e o furtado de noite da minha mão o requerias.

40Estive eu de sorte que de dia me consumia o calor, e de noite a geada; e o meu somno foi-se dos meus olhos.

41Tenho estado agora vinte annos na tua casa; quatorze annos te servi por tuas duas filhas, e seis annos por teu rebanho; mas o meu salario tens mudado dez vezes.

42Se o Deus de meu pae, o Deus de Abrahão, e o Temor de Isaac não fôra commigo, por certo me enviarias agora vazio. Deus attendeu á minha afflicção, e ao trabalho das minhas mãos, e reprehendeu-te hontem á noite.

43Então respondeu Labão, e disse a Jacob: Estas filhas são minhas filhas, e estes filhos são meus filhos, e este rebanho é o meu rebanho, e tudo o que vês, meu é: e que farei hoje a estas minhas filhas, ou a seus filhos, que pariram?

44Agora pois vem, e façamos concerto eu e tu, que seja por testemunho entre mim e ti.

45Então tomou Jacob uma pedra, e erigiu-a por columna.

46E disse Jacob a seus irmãos: Ajuntae pedras. E tomaram pedras, e fizeram um montão, e comeram ali sobre aquelle montão.

47E chamou-o Labão Jegar-sahadutha: porém Jacob chamou-o Galeed.

48Então disse Labão: Este montão seja hoje por testemunha entre mim e entre ti: por isso se chamou o seu nome Galeed,

49E Mizpah, porquanto disse: Attente o Senhor entre mim e ti, quando nós estivermos apartados um do outro:

50Se affligires as minhas filhas, e se tomares mulheres além das minhas filhas, ninguem está comnosco: attenta que Deus é testemunha entre mim e ti

51Disse mais Labão a Jacob: Eis aqui este mesmo montão, e eis aqui essa columna que levantei entre mim e entre ti.

52Este montão seja testemunha, e esta columna seja testemunha, que eu não passarei este montão a ti, e que tu não passarás este montão e esta columna a mim, para mal.

53O Deus de Abrahão, e o Deus de Nahor, o Deus de seu pae julgue entre nós. E jurou Jacob pelo Temor de seu pae Isaac.

54E sacrificou Jacob um sacrificou na montanha, e convidou seus irmãos, para comer pão; e comeram pão, e passaram a noite na montanha.

55E levantou-se Labão pela manhã de madrugada, e beijou seus filhos, e suas filhas, e abençoou-os, e partiu; e voltou Labão ao seu logar.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jacob secretly flees from Laban with his wives, children, and flocks; Laban pursues and overtakes them, but after a tense confrontation, the two make a covenant of peace at Mizpah and Galeed.

Explanation

After twenty years of hard labor and having his wages changed repeatedly by Laban, Jacob finally receives from God the direct order to return to the land of his fathers. His silent flight (without telling Laban) reflects Jacob's real fear of a violent confrontation, but it also sparks immediate conflict when Laban pursues them, made even angrier by Rachel's theft of the household idols. God's protective intervention, warning Laban in a dream not to harm Jacob, again shows divine care guiding this tense journey. The confrontation ends remarkably peacefully, with a formal covenant sealed by a heap of stones, symbolizing both separation and a witness that God would watch over the conduct of both from then on. The lesson is that even in family relationships worn down by decades of distrust, a respectful closure is possible.

Fun facts

  • The 'household idols' (teraphim) stolen by Rachel likely held both religious and legal value — documents from Nuzi, in ancient Mesopotamia, suggest that possessing these family idols could be associated with inheritance rights, which may explain why Rachel took them.
  • The double name given to the heap of witness — 'Galeed' in Hebrew (by Jacob) and 'Jegar-sahadutha' in Aramaic (by Laban) — shows a real linguistic difference between the two branches of the family, already speaking different dialects after generations of geographic separation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Gênesis 31:1Jacob hears Laban’s sons complaining that he grew rich at their father’s expense — the first sign that the atmosphere in Laban’s house is turning hostile.
  2. Gênesis 31:2Besides the cousins’ comment, Jacob also notices the change in Laban’s own face — the signs of tension come from more than one direction.
  3. Gênesis 31:3God directly commands Jacob to return to the land of his fathers, with the promise to be with him — it is this divine call that confirms the time has come to leave, not just the bad atmosphere with Laban.
  4. Gênesis 31:4Jacob calls his wives out to the field, away from home and prying ears, to plan the departure in secret.
  5. Gênesis 31:5Jacob explains to them their father’s change in behavior, but points out that the God of his family has been with him the whole time, despite it.
  6. Gênesis 31:6He reminds his wives how faithfully he served their father — laying the groundwork to explain why he now needs to leave.
  7. Gênesis 31:7Jacob complains that Laban changed his wages “ten times” — but this is an expression meaning “many times over,” not a literal count of ten occasions. He is saying that every time they struck a deal about the color of the animals that would be his, his father-in-law changed the rules to keep the best ones, a complaint that Laban never played fair.
  8. Gênesis 31:8Jacob recounts that every time Laban changed the terms of the wages — sometimes speckled, sometimes striped — the animals were born exactly that way, crediting this to God’s action, not to his own technique with the branches told in the previous chapter.
  9. Gênesis 31:9Jacob sums up his own version of events: it was not his own cleverness, it was God who took the livestock from Laban and gave it to him.
  10. Gênesis 31:10Jacob recounts a dream in which he sees the male goats mating with the flock already streaked and speckled — a supernatural confirmation, in his telling, of the result that had already happened in practice.
  11. Gênesis 31:11In the dream, it is “the angel of God” who speaks to Jacob, calling him by name — a direct encounter that reinforces the weight of the message that follows.
  12. Gênesis 31:12The angel confirms to Jacob that He has seen everything Laban has done — a way of saying that his father-in-law’s injustice had not gone unnoticed by God.
  13. Gênesis 31:13The angel identifies Himself as “the God of Bethel,” recalling the place of Jacob’s vow in chapter 28, and orders him to return to the land of his own kindred.
  14. Gênesis 31:14Rachel and Leah answer together, and their own question already reveals the answer: they see no inheritance left waiting for them in their father’s house.
  15. Gênesis 31:15The two feel treated like strangers — the phrase “sold us” suggests that Laban received Jacob’s labor as if it were payment for them, without passing anything on to his own daughters.
  16. Gênesis 31:16Rachel and Leah conclude that all the wealth taken from Laban rightfully belongs to them and their children — and so they fully support Jacob’s plan to leave.
  17. Gênesis 31:17Jacob arranges the departure by putting his children and wives on the camels — the typical transport of a nomadic family on a long journey.
  18. Gênesis 31:18Jacob takes all the livestock and the goods gained in Padan-aram back to the land of Canaan, toward Isaac — the journey home that the dream of the ladder, twenty years earlier, had already promised.
  19. Gênesis 31:19The “images” Rachel steals from Laban were household idols, common at the time — they could serve as protection for the family or even as a kind of proof of who would inherit the father’s estate. There is no way to know for certain why she took them; it may have been religious attachment, a wish to harm her father, or a way to secure her husband’s inheritance.
  20. Gênesis 31:20Jacob leaves without telling Laban — the underlying Hebrew idiom literally says he “stole the heart” of Laban, meaning he deceived him by hiding his intention to leave; the KJV renders it as stealing away “unawares.”
  21. Gênesis 31:21Jacob flees with everything he owns, crosses the river, and heads straight for the mountains of Gilead — a quick and determined escape.
  22. Gênesis 31:22Only on the third day does Laban learn that Jacob has fled — the head start Jacob gained before the pursuit began.
  23. Gênesis 31:23Laban gathers his kinsmen and pursues Jacob for seven days, catching up with him already in the mountains of Gilead.
  24. Gênesis 31:24God intervenes directly, warning Laban in a dream not to speak to Jacob “either good or bad” — a protection that keeps the confrontation from turning violent.
  25. Gênesis 31:25The two groups pitch their tents on the same mountain — the confrontation that follows happens face to face, not through messengers.
  26. Gênesis 31:26Laban accuses Jacob of having carried off his daughters “as captives taken with the sword,” an emotional exaggeration to describe the sudden, unannounced departure.
  27. Gênesis 31:27Laban complains that, had he known, he would have sent Jacob away “with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp” — the tone is one of hurt at not having had the chance to say a proper goodbye.
  28. Gênesis 31:28He especially laments not being allowed to kiss his own grandchildren and daughters before their departure — a personal detail that humanizes Laban’s anger.
  29. Gênesis 31:29Laban admits he has more than enough power to harm Jacob, but reveals that God warned him the night before not to touch him — the threat is real, but held in check.
  30. Gênesis 31:30Only now does the true extra motive for the pursuit come out: Laban’s household idols (teraphim), which disappeared along with Jacob’s family.
  31. Gênesis 31:31Jacob explains that he fled out of fear that Laban would take his daughters by force if he knew of the departure in advance.
  32. Gênesis 31:32Not knowing that Rachel had stolen the idols, Jacob promises that whoever is found with them will die — a dangerous wager that nearly costs his own wife her life.
  33. Gênesis 31:33Laban searches tent after tent — Jacob’s, Leah’s, the maidservants’ — finding nothing, until only Rachel’s tent is left.
  34. Gênesis 31:34Rachel hides the idols beneath herself, sitting on the camel’s furniture, while her father searches all around without suspecting the hiding place.
  35. Gênesis 31:35“The custom of women” is a polite, ancient way of saying she was menstruating — a reason considered sufficient, in that culture, for someone to remain seated and not rise before a visitor or a search. With this excuse, Rachel stays seated on the saddle where she had hidden the idols, and her father finds nothing.
  36. Gênesis 31:36Free of the accusation over the idols, Jacob turns the tables and confronts Laban in return, angrily asking what crime he had committed to deserve such a furious pursuit.
  37. Gênesis 31:37Jacob challenges Laban to show, in front of everyone, anything that had been stolen from him — knowing the search had found nothing.
  38. Gênesis 31:38Jacob lists twenty years of honest service: he never ate the rams of Laban’s own flock, proof that he never took advantage of the work.
  39. Gênesis 31:39He recalls that he always paid out of his own pocket for animals torn apart by wild beasts, instead of deducting them from Laban’s flock — going beyond what the law of the time required of a hired shepherd.
  40. Gênesis 31:40Jacob describes the harsh conditions of the work — heat by day, frost by night, sleepless nights — to show the real price he paid over twenty years of service.
  41. Gênesis 31:41Jacob sums up the account: fourteen years for the two daughters, six for the flock, and his wages changed ten times by Laban himself — making clear who really deceived whom.
  42. Gênesis 31:42Jacob credits God, called here “the fear of Isaac,” with all the protection that kept Laban from sending him away with nothing — including the divine rebuke of the night before.
  43. Gênesis 31:43Laban answers by claiming everything as his own — daughters, grandchildren, flock — but admits, in practice, that he can do nothing against his own descendants.
  44. Gênesis 31:44Faced with the impasse, Laban proposes a formal covenant between the two, something to serve as a witness sealing their separation in peace.
  45. Gênesis 31:45Jacob sets up a stone as a pillar — the same kind of gesture he had already made at Bethel, in chapter 28, to mark an important moment.
  46. Gênesis 31:46Jacob asks his kinsmen to gather stones into a heap and eat there together — the shared meal was itself part of the ritual sealing an agreement.
  47. Gênesis 31:47“Jegar-sahadutha” is Aramaic, Laban’s language, and “Galeed” is Hebrew, Jacob’s language — each gives a different name to the same heap of stones, but both names mean the same thing: heap of witness. The piled stones worked as a visible contract, something anyone passing by would recognize as a sign of the agreement between the two.
  48. Gênesis 31:48Laban declares the heap of stones a witness to the covenant between them — hence the name Galeed, which combines the idea of “heap” with “witness” in Hebrew.
  49. Gênesis 31:49The place also receives the name Mizpah, meaning watchtower — Laban asks that the Lord watch between the two of them once they are apart, since they will no longer be able to check on each other closely.
  50. Gênesis 31:50Laban conditions the peace on two things: that Jacob not afflict his daughters, and that he take no other wives besides them — a final request for protection from the one who is leaving.
  51. Gênesis 31:51Laban reaffirms the meaning of the heap and the pillar, pointing to them physically as visible proof of the agreement sealed there.
  52. Gênesis 31:52The pact is one of non-aggression: neither of them is to pass that point with harmful intent toward the other — a symbolic border between the two families.
  53. Gênesis 31:53“The fear of Isaac” is a rare title for God, used only here and shortly before, in the same chapter. It is not a different god — it is a way of describing the almost reverent awe Isaac held for God, and it is by this same God that Jacob swears in closing the agreement with Laban.
  54. Gênesis 31:54Jacob offers a sacrifice on the mountain and invites Laban’s kinsmen to eat — a gesture of peaceful closure after so much tension.
  55. Gênesis 31:55Laban says goodbye at dawn, kissing his grandchildren and daughters and blessing them before returning home — a calm ending to a pursuit that began full of anger.

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