Genesis 31:17-21
Summary for Gen 31:17-21: 31:17-21 a Jacob left Laban secretly out of fear of reprisal (31:31 b).Summary for Gen 31:19-20: 31:19-20 c Rachel stole her father’s household idols: Rachel probably wanted to regain some of the assets Laban had squandered; possibly she also worshiped idols (cp. 35:2-4 d). To have the idols may have signified claiming the family inheritance, as customs in subsequent periods indicate. Laban apparently felt vulnerable without them. Whatever her reasons, Rachel’s theft almost brought disaster on the fleeing family when Laban caught up with them.
• A wordplay shows that Rachel and Jacob were very much alike—Rachel stole (Hebrew wattignob) Laban’s household gods, and Jacob outwitted (Hebrew wayyignob, “stole the heart of, deceived”) Laban.
31:21 e The journey took the family from Haran southwest to the land of Gilead, just east of the Jordan River in the north of today’s kingdom of Jordan.
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