Genesis 31:44-54
44So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, ▼▼ Heb “cut a covenant.”
you and I, and it will be ▼▼ The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition לְ (le) means “become.”
proof that we have made peace.” ▼▼ Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 46Then he ▼
▼ Heb “Jacob”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. ▼ They ate there by the pile of stones. 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ▼▼ Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”
but Jacob called it Galeed. ▼▼ Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.
48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement ▼
▼ Heb “a witness between me and you.”
today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 49It was also called Mizpah ▼▼ Heb “and Mizpah.”
because he said, “May the Lord watch ▼▼ The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.
between us ▼▼ Heb “between me and you.”
when we are out of sight of one another. ▼▼ Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”
50If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize ▼▼ Heb “see.”
that God is witness to your actions.” ▼▼ Heb “between me and you.”
51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ▼
▼ Heb “and Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between men and you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
52“This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. ▼▼ Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”
53May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ▼▼ The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.
the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ▼ 54Then Jacob offered a sacrifice ▼▼ The construction is a cognate accusative with the verb, expressing a specific sacrifice.
on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. ▼▼ Heb “bread, food.” Presumably this was a type of peace offering, where the person bringing the offering ate the animal being sacrificed.
They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.
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