The Covenant Between Jacob And Laban. Laban said: ”So come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a [memorial] pillar. Gen 31:44-45
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
II. GOD AND THE CHOSEN FAMILY, Genesis 12-50
2. The History of Isaac and Jacob, Genesis 25:19-35:29
58. What were the purpose and spirit of the parting covenant between Laban and Jacob?
JACOB FLEES FROM LABAN
Laban answered Jacob, “These women [that you married] are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, these flocks are [from] my flocks, and all that you see [here] is mine. But what can I do today to these my daughters or to their children to whom they have given birth?
So come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a [memorial] pillar.
Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound [of stones], and they ate [a ceremonial meal together] there on the mound [of stones]. [Pro_16:7]
Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha (stone monument of testimony in Aramaic), but Jacob called it Galeed.
Laban said, “This mound [of stones] is a witness [a reminder of the oath taken] today between you and me.” Therefore he [also] called the name Galeed,
and Mizpah (watchtower), for Laban said, “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent from one another.
If you should mistreat (humiliate, oppress) my daughters, or if you should take other wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us [as a witness], see and remember, God is witness between you and me.”
Laban said to Jacob, “Look at this mound [of stones] and look at this pillar which I have set up between you and me.
This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this mound to harm you, and that you will not pass by this mound and this pillar to harm me.
The God of Abraham [your father] and the God of Nahor [my father], and the god [the image of worship] of their father [Terah, an idolater], judge between us.” But Jacob swore [only] by [the one true God] the Fear of his father Isaac. [Jos_24:2]
Then Jacob offered a sacrifice [to the LORD] on the mountain, and called his relatives to the meal; and they ate food and spent the night on the mountain.
Early in the morning Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters [goodbye] and pronounced a blessing [asking God’s favor] on them. Then Laban left and returned home.
THE COVENANT BETWEEN JACOB AND LABAN
In our time covenants are engrossed on parchment, so that there may be written documentary evidence accessible, to prove that certain transactions have taken place. The same object was conserved, where the art of writing was confined to the few, by the erection of monuments, whose existence was associated with the agreements into which men had entered with one another. Though these two men were far below the Christian ideal of character, it is evident that they lived in an habitual recognition of God and the eternal sanction of His presence. The Lord was to watch between them. God was to be witness and judge. The third generation looked back on the days of Terah with reverential awe and loyalty, and commemorated their grandfather Terah’s God.
Comments by
WILLIAM MACDONALD
Believers Bible Commentary
On
Genesis 31:43-55
II. THE PATRIARCHS OF ISRAEL (Chaps. 12-50)
C. Jacob (27:1–36:43)
5. Jacob’s Return to Canaan (Chap. 31)
31:43-50 Laban avoided the issue by lamely protesting that he would not harm his own daughters, grandchildren, or cattle, then suggested that they should make a pact. It was not a gracious, friendly covenant, asking the Lord to watch over them while they were separated. Rather, it was a compact between two cheats, asking the Lord to make sure that they did what was right when they were out of sight from one another! It was, in effect, a nonaggression treaty, but it also charged Jacob not to treat Laban’s daughters harshly nor to marry other wives. Laban called the pillar of stones marking the pact Jegar Sahadutha, an Aramaic expression. Jacob called it Galeed, a Hebrew word. Both words mean “the heap of witness.” Neither man was to pass the stone-heap to attack the other.
31:51-55 Laban swore by the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father, Terah. The capitalization of God in the NKJV (also Moffatt, NIV, etc.) indicates that the translators felt Laban was referring to the one true God that Abraham came to know. However, since the Hebrew does not have upper and lower case letters, we can’t tell if Laban might have been referring to the pagan gods which these men had worshiped in Ur. Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac—that is, the God whom Isaac feared. Isaac had never been an idolater. Jacob first offered a sacrifice, then made a banquet for all those present and camped all that night on the mountain.
Early in the morning, Laban kissed his grandchildren and daughters goodbye and left for home.
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