Genesis 31:16

The NET Bible®

Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do."

King James Version
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Lexham English Bible
For all the wealth that God has taken away from our father, it belongs to us and to our sons. So now, all that God has said to you, do."

New Century Version
God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you to do."

Amplified Bible
"Surely all the riches which God has taken from our father are ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has told you to do, do it."

New American Standard Bible
"Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has told you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore all the riches, which God hath taken from our father, is ours and our childrens: nowe then whatsoeuer God hath saide vnto thee, doe it.

Legacy Standard Bible
Surely all the riches which God has delivered over to us from our father belong to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

Contemporary English Version
Now do whatever God tells you to do. Even the property God took from our father and gave to you really belongs to us and our children.

Complete Jewish Bible
Nevertheless, the wealth which God has taken away from our father has become ours and our children's anyway; so whatever God has told you to do, do."

Darby Translation
For all the wealth that God has taken from our father is ours and our children's; and now whatever God has said to thee do.

Easy-to-Read Version
God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So you should do whatever God told you to do."

English Standard Version
All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do."

George Lamsa Translation
For all the riches which God has selected from our father belong to us and our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.

Good News Translation
All this wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our children. Do whatever God has told you."

Christian Standard Bible®
In fact, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you.”

Literal Translation
For all the wealth which God has taken from our father, it is for us and for our sons. And now all that which God has said to you, do.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore hath God withdrawe or fathers riches from him vnto vs & oure children. What so euer now God hath sayde vnto the, that do.

American Standard Version
For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Bible in Basic English
For the wealth which God has taken from him is ours and our children's; so now, whatever God has said to you, do.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therfore all the ryches whiche God hath taken from our father, that is ours and our chyldrens: nowe then whatsoeuer God hath sayde vnto thee, that do.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.'

King James Version (1611)
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our childrens: now then whatsoeuer God hath said vnto thee, doe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
All the wealth and the glory which God has taken from our father, it shall be our’s and our children’s; now then do whatsoever God has said to thee.

English Revised Version
For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Berean Standard Bible
Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But God took awei the richessis of oure fadir, and yaf tho to vs, and to oure sones; wherfor do thou alle thingis whiche God hath comaundide to thee.

Young's Literal Translation
for all the wealth which God hath taken away from our father, it [is] ours, and our children's; and now, all that God hath said unto thee -- do.'

Update Bible Version
For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our son's: now then, whatever God has said to you, do.

Webster's Bible Translation
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that [is] ours, and our children's: now then whatever God hath said to thee, do.

World English Bible
For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do."

New King James Version
For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children's; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it."

New Living Translation
All the wealth God has given you from our father legally belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and do whatever God has told you."

New Life Bible
All the riches that God has taken away from our father belong to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you to do."

New Revised Standard
All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Surely all the riches which God hath stripped off from our father, unto us, it belongeth, and unto our sons, - Now, therefore, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But God hath taken our father’s riches, and delivered them to us, and to our children: wherefore, do all that God hath commanded thee.

Revised Standard Version
All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

Contextual Overview

¹ Jacob heard that Laban's sons were complaining, "Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich at our father's expense!" ² When Jacob saw the look on Laban's face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. ³ The Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you." ⁴ So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah to come to the field where his flocks were. ⁵ There he said to them, "I can tell that your father's attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I've worked for your father as hard as I could, ⁷ but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. ⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wage,' then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,' then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. ⁹ In this way God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰ "Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

which God: Genesis 31:1, Genesis 31:9, Genesis 30:35-43

whatsoever: Psalms 45:10

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:26 - carried Genesis 32:5 - have oxen Genesis 32:14 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 31:9
In this way God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me.

Psalms 45:10
Listen, O princess! Observe and pay attention! Forget your homeland and your family!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For all the riches which God hath taken from our father,.... And given to Jacob for his labour:

that [is] ours, and our children's; it belonged to us by the law of nature, before it came into thine hands; and our right unto it is still more manifest, and is confirmed by the service thou hast done for it, by which means it came into thy possession; and therefore it is no point of conscience with us, nor need it be any with thee especially, to go off with it:

now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do; for that must needs be right: this was well spoken indeed; they mean, that he should leave their father's house, and go into the land of Canaan, as God had directed him; and they signified that they were willing: to go along with him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob’s Flight from Haran

19. תרפים t^erāpı̂ym, Teraphim. This word occurs fifteen times in the Old Testament. It appears three times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the Pentateuch. It is always in the plural number. The root does not appear in Biblical Hebrew. It perhaps means “to live well,” intransitively (Gesenius, Roedig.), “to nourish,” transitively (Furst). The teraphim were symbols or representatives of the Deity, as Laban calls them his gods. They seem to have been busts (προτομαί protomai, Aquila) of the human form, sometimes as large as life 1 Samuel 19:13. Those of full size were probably of wood; the smaller ones may have been of metal. In two passages Judges 17:1-13; Judges 18:0; Hosea 3:4 they are six times associated with the ephod. This intimates either that they were worn on the ephod, like the Urim and Thummim, or more probably that the ephod was worn on them; in accordance with which they were employed for the purposes of divination Genesis 30:27; Zechariah 10:2. The employment of them in the worship of God, which Laban seems to have inherited from his fathers Joshua 24:2, is denounced as idolatry 1 Samuel 15:23; and hence, they are classed with the idols and other abominations put away by Josiah 2 Kings 23:24.

47. שׂהדוּתא יגר y^egar-śâhădûtā', Jegar-sahadutha, “cairn of witness” in the Aramaic dialect of the old Hebrew or Shemite speech. גלעד gal‛ēd, Gal‘ed; and גלעד gı̂l‛ād, Gil‘ad, “cairn of witness” in Hebrew especially so called (see Genesis 11:1-9).

49. מצפה mı̂tspâh, Mizpah, “watch-tower.”

Jacob had now been twenty years in Laban’s service, and was therefore, ninety-six years of age. It has now become manifest that he cannot obtain leave of Laban to return home. He must, therefore, either come off by the high hand, or by secret flight. Jacob has many reasons for preferring the latter course.

Genesis 31:1-13

Circumstances at length induce Jacob to propose flight to his wives. His prosperity provokes the envy and slander of Laban’s sons, and Laban himself becomes estranged. The Lord now commands Jacob to return, and promises him his presence to protect him. Jacob now opens his mind fully to Rachel and Leah. Rachel, we observe, is put first. Several new facts come out in his discourse to them. Ye know - Jacob appeals to his wives on this point - “that with all my might I served your father.” He means, of course, to the extent of his engagement. During the last six years he was to provide for his own house, as the Lord permitted him, with the full knowledge and concurrence of Laban. Beyond this, which is a fair and acknowledged exception, he has been faithful in keeping the cattle of Laban. “Your father deceived me, and changed my wages ten times;” that is, as often as he could.

If, at the end of the first year, he found that Jacob had gained considerably, though he began with nothing, he might change his wages every following half-year, and so actually change them ten times in five years. In this case, the preceding chapter only records his original expedients, and then states the final result. “God suffered him not to hurt me.” Jacob, we are to remember, left his hire to the providence of God. He thought himself bound at the same time to use all legitimate means for the attainment of the desired end. His expedients may have been perfectly legitimate in the circumstances, but they were evidently of no avail without the divine blessing. And they would become wholly ineffectual when his wages were changed. Hence, he says, God took the cattle and gave them to me. Jacob seems here to record two dreams, the former of which is dated at the rutting season. The dream indicates the result by a symbolic representation, which ascribes it rather to the God of nature than to the man of art. The second dream makes allusion to the former as a process still going on up to the present time. This appears to be an encouragement to Jacob now to commit himself to the Lord on his way home. The angel of the Lord, we observe, announces himself as the God of Bethel, and recalls to Jacob the pillar and the vow. The angel, then, is Yahweh manifesting himself to human apprehension.

Genesis 31:14-19

His wives entirely accord with his view of their father’s selfishness in dealing with his son-in-law, and approve of his intended departure. Jacob makes all the needful preparations for a hasty and secret flight. He avails himself of the occasion when Laban is at a distance probably of three or more days’ journey, shearing his sheep. “Rachel stole the teraphim.” It is not the business of Scripture to acquaint us with the kinds and characteristics of false worship. Hence, we know little of the teraphim, except that they were employed by those who professed to worship the true God. Rachel had a lingering attachment to these objects of her family’s superstitious reverence, and secretly carried them away as relics of a home she was to visit no more, and as sources of safety to herself against the perils of her flight.

Genesis 31:20-24

Laban hears of his flight, pursues, and overtakes him. “Stole the heart,” κλέπτειν νοῦν kleptein noun. The heart is the seat of the understanding in Scripture. To steal the heart of anyone is to act without his knowledge. The river. The Frat, near which, we may conclude, Jacob was tending his flocks. Haran was about seventy miles from the river, and therefore, Laban’s flocks were on the other side of Haran. “Toward mount Gilead;” about three hundred miles from the Frat. “On the third day.” This shows that Laban’s flocks kept by his sons were still three days’ journey apart from Jacob’s. His brethren - his kindred and dependents. “Seven days’ journey.” On the third day after the arrival of the messenger, Laban might return to the spot whence Jacob had taken his flight. In this case, Jacob would have at least five days of a start; which, added to the seven days of pursuit, would give him twelve days to travel three hundred English miles. To those accustomed to the pastoral life this was a possible achievement. God appears to Laban on behalf of Jacob, and warns him not to harm him. “Not to speak from good to bad” is merely to abstain from language expressing and prefacing violence.

Genesis 31:25-32

Laban’s expostulation and Jacob’s reply. What hast thou done? Laban intimates that he would have dismissed him honorably and affectionately, and therefore, that his flight was needless and unkind; and finally charges him with stealing his gods. Jacob gives him to understand that he did not expect fair treatment at his hands, and gives him leave to search for his gods, not knowing that Rachel had taken them.

Genesis 31:33-42

After the search for the teraphim has proved vain, Jacob warmly upbraids Laban. “The camel’s saddle.” This was a pack-saddle, in the recesses of which articles might be deposited, and on which was a seat or couch for the rider. Rachel pleads the custom of women as an excuse for keeping her seat; which is admitted by Laban, not perhaps from the fear of ceremonial defilement Leviticus 15:19-27, as this law was not yet in force, but from respect to his daughter and the conviction that in such circumstances she would not sit upon the teraphim. “My brethren and thy brethren” - their common kindred. Jacob recapitulates his services in feeling terms. “By day the drought;” caused by the heat, which is extreme during the day, while the cold is not less severe in Palestine during the night. “The fear of Isaac” - the God whom Isaac fears. Judged - requited by restraining thee from wrong-doing.

Genesis 31:43-47

Laban, now pacified, if not conscience-stricken, proposes a covenant between them. Jacob erects a memorial pillar, around which the clan gather a cairn of stones, which serves by its name for a witness of their compact. “Jegar-sahadutha.” Here is the first decided specimen of Aramaic, as contradistinguished from Hebrew. Its incidental appearance indicates a fully formed dialect known to Jacob, and distinct from his own. Gilead or Galeed remains to this day in Jebel Jel’ad, though the original spot was further north.

Genesis 31:48-54

The covenant is then completed. And Mizpah. This refers to some prominent cliff from which, as a watch-tower, an extensive view might be obtained. It was in the northern half of Gilead Deuteronomy 3:12-13, and is noticed in Judges 11:29. It is not to be confounded with other places called by the same name. The reference of this name to the present occurrence is explained in these two verses. The names Gilead and Mizpah may have arisen from this transaction, or received a new turn in consequence of its occurrence. The terms of the covenant are now formally stated. I have cast. The erection of the pillar was a joint act of the two parties; in which Laban proposes, Jacob performs, and all take part. “The God of Abraham, Nahor, and Terah.” This is an interesting acknowledgment that their common ancestor Terah and his descendants down to Laban still acknowledged the true God even in their idolatry. Jacob swears by the fear of isaac, perhaps to rid himself of any error that had crept into Laban’s notions of God and his worship. The common sacrifice and the common meal ratify the covenant of reconciliation.