Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Jacob flees secretly with his whole family from Haran to Canaan; Laban pursues him. Hence, at verse 26, they quarrel on both sides; and finally, at verse 44, he enters into a covenant with Jacob in Gilead.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 31:1-55
1. Now after he heard the words of the sons of Laban saying: Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from his wealth he has become enriched and famous: 2. he also noticed the face of Laban, that he was not toward him as yesterday and the day before, 3. especially since the Lord said to him: Return to the land of your fathers, and to your kindred, and I will be with you. 4. He sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field where he was pasturing the flocks, 5. and said to them: I see your father's face, that it is not toward me as yesterday and the day before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6. And you yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength. 7. But your father has also cheated me, and changed my wages ten times; and yet God did not allow him to harm me. 8. If at any time he said: The spotted ones shall be your wages, all the sheep bore spotted offspring. But when on the contrary he said: You shall take the white ones for your wages, all the flocks bore white ones. 9. And God took away the substance of your father and gave it to me. 10. For after the time of the sheep's conceiving had come, I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream the males mounting the females, spotted and speckled and of diverse colors. 11. And the angel of God said to me in a dream: Jacob! And I answered: Here I am. 12. He said: Lift up your eyes and see all the males mounting the females, spotted, speckled, and sprinkled. For I have seen all that Laban has done to you. 13. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the stone and made a vow to Me. Now therefore arise and go out from this land, returning to the land of your birth. 14. And Rachel and Leah answered: Do we have anything remaining in the wealth and inheritance of our father's house? 15. Has he not treated us as strangers, and sold us, and consumed our price? 16. But God has taken away the riches of our father and given them to us and to our children; therefore do all that God has commanded you. 17. So Jacob arose, and having placed his children and wives upon camels, he departed. 18. And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatever he had acquired in Mesopotamia, going to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. 19. At that time Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols of her father. 20. And Jacob would not confess to his father-in-law that he was fleeing. 21. And when he had departed, both he himself and all that was his, and having crossed the river was heading toward Mount Gilead, 22. it was reported to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23. Who, taking his kinsmen with him, pursued him for seven days and overtook him on Mount Gilead. 24. And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take care that you speak nothing harsh against Jacob. 25. And already Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain; and when Laban had overtaken him with his kinsmen, he pitched his tent on the same Mount Gilead, 26. and said to Jacob: Why have you acted this way, driving away my daughters secretly as if captives taken by the sword? 27. Why did you wish to flee without my knowledge, and not tell me, so that I might escort you with joy and songs and timbrels and harps? 28. You did not allow me to kiss my sons and daughters: you have acted foolishly; and now indeed 29. my hand has the power to repay you with evil; but the God of your father said to me yesterday: Take care that you speak nothing harsh against Jacob. 30. Granted, you desired to go to your own, and you longed for your father's house: but why have you stolen my gods? 31. Jacob answered: Because I departed without your knowledge, I feared that you would violently take away your daughters. 32. But as for your accusation of theft against me, with whomever you find your gods, let him be slain before our kinsmen. Search whatever of yours you find with me, and take it away. Saying this, he did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols. 33. So Laban entered the tent of Jacob and of Leah and of both maidservants, but found nothing. And when he had entered the tent of Rachel, 34. she quickly hid the idols under the camel's saddle-blankets and sat on top of them; and to him searching the whole tent and finding nothing, 35. she said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, because the custom of women is upon me now. Thus the eagerness of the searcher was foiled. 36. And Jacob, swelling with anger, said with reproach: For what fault of mine, and for what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me, 37. and searched through all my household goods? What have you found of all the possessions of your house? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, and let them judge between me and you. 38. Was it for this that I was with you twenty years? Your sheep and goats were not barren; the rams of your flock I did not eat; 39. nor did I show you what was seized by beasts — I made good every loss; whatever was stolen, you demanded it of me; 40. day and night I was scorched by heat and frost, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41. And so for twenty years I served you in your house, fourteen for your daughters and six for your flocks; you also changed my wages ten times. 42. Unless the God of my father Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had been with me, perhaps you would have sent me away now empty-handed; God has looked upon my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you yesterday. 43. Laban answered him: The daughters are mine, and the sons, and your flocks, and all that you see are mine: what can I do to my own daughters and grandchildren? 44. Come then, let us enter into a covenant, that it may be a testimony between me and you. 45. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46. And he said to his kinsmen: Gather stones. And gathering them they made a mound, and they ate upon it; 47. which Laban called the Mound of the Witness, and Jacob called the Heap of Testimony, each according to the property of his own language. 48. And Laban said: This mound shall be a witness between me and you today, and therefore its name was called Gilead, that is, the Mound of the Witness. 49. Let the Lord look upon and judge between us when we shall have departed from one another. 50. If you shall afflict my daughters, or if you shall bring in other wives over them, no witness of our covenant is there apart from God, who is present and watches. 51. And he said again to Jacob: Behold this mound and the stone which I have set up between me and you; 52. it shall be a witness: this mound, I say, and this stone, let them be for a testimony, whether I shall cross over it coming toward you, or you shall pass beyond it, planning evil against me. 53. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, let Him judge between us — the God of their father. So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. 54. And having sacrificed victims on the mountain, he called his kinsmen to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they remained there. 55. But Laban, rising in the night, kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them, and returned to his own place.
Verse 1: He Took
1. HE TOOK. — In Hebrew לקח lacach, that is, "he received" or "he stole." This is a slander: for through envy they accuse Jacob of theft, and call theft what was his just wages and riches given him by God.
Verse 3: And I Will Be with You
3. AND I WILL BE WITH YOU. — "What could he lack," says St. Ambrose, "for whom the fullness of all things is present" — indeed the ocean itself, namely God?
Verse 7: He Changed My Wages Ten Times
7. HE CHANGED MY WAGES TEN TIMES. — "Ten," that is, many times, so that a definite number is used for an indefinite one; for the number ten signifies multitude and perfection. So say Origen, Eusebius, Diodorus, and Procopius. Thus often the rich deal with the poor, so that they keep neither their agreements nor their promises, except insofar as it serves their own interests; hence Terence says: "I know those words of yours: I want, I don't want; I don't want, I want — what was just now ratified, let it be void."
Secondly, properly and precisely, Laban changed the agreement and wages of Jacob ten times; for Jacob reproaches Laban with the same thing in verse 41. For, as verse 41 shows, Jacob served Laban for 20 years — namely, 14 years for each wife, and 6 years for the flocks and sheep. Now the sheep gave birth twice a year, and each time, by a special providence of God, Jacob was enriched according to the agreement. Seeing this, Laban rescinded and changed the agreement each time; therefore in five years he changed the pact ten times, whence in the sixth year, wearied of this changing, Jacob fled. The Septuagint, instead of "ten times," renders deka amnon, "ten lambs," that is, ten times at which lambs were born, say some; for thus Virgil says: "After some time, seeing my kingdoms, I shall marvel at the ears of grain," signifying harvests by the ears of grain, and years by the harvests. So says St. Augustine, Question 95.
But it is more likely that the Septuagint is corrupted here, and that instead of deka amnon one should restore deka mnon, that is, "ten minas"; for the Septuagint seems to have wished to retain the Hebrew monim and explain it as minas. So says Eugubinus, as if to say: "With ten, that is many, minas of gold — with a great sum — your father defrauded me, by changing and reversing my wages."
Tropologically, Laban represents the world; the world afflicts Jacob, that is, the faithful, whom it had previously loved and advanced in the hope of its own profit, because it sees itself subsequently frustrated in that hope.
Verse 8: The Spotted Sheep
8. In Hebrew עקדים, sheep whose entire body was spotted, seem to be contrasted with נקדים, sheep whose legs, indeed only the ankles of the feet, were spotted.
Verse 12: See All the Spotted Males
12. SEE ALL THE SPOTTED MALES. — By this vision and symbol the angel was signifying that many-colored offspring would be born to Jacob, and at the same time, as it seems, he taught him the method of doing this through peeled rods, although Scripture does not express this here, being content with the narration of the whole matter which it gave in the preceding chapter.
FOR I HAVE SEEN ALL THAT LABAN HAS DONE TO YOU. — "Here we learn," says St. Chrysostom, Homily 57, "that when injury is done to us, and we are meek, gentle, and patient, we enjoy greater and more abundant divine help. Therefore let us not struggle against those who oppress us and wish to slander us; but let us bear it nobly, knowing that the Lord of all will not despise us, provided we acknowledge His benevolence. For 'Vengeance is Mine,' He says, 'and I will repay.'"
Verse 13: The God of Bethel
13. THE GOD OF BETHEL — who appeared to you leaning upon the ladder at Bethel, chapter 28.
AND YOU MADE A VOW. — God recalls Jacob's vow, to signify that it was pleasing to Him, and that on account of it He had blessed Jacob and enriched him; and to remind him to continue and fulfill his vow.
Verse 14: Do We Have Anything?
14. DO WE HAVE ANYTHING? — Has not our father practically disinherited us? First, by giving us to you as wives without a dowry. Secondly, by taking for himself the entire price for which you purchased us as wives, namely the labor of your 14 years of servitude, so that he seems not so much to have given us in marriage with a dowry assigned, as a father should, but rather to have sold us like a slave-dealer.
Verse 17: Having Placed the Children
17. HAVING PLACED THE CHILDREN. — For they were young: the eldest, Reuben, was 13 years old; the youngest, Joseph, was six years old.
Tropologically, learn from this that when envy arises, the just person should avoid it: for it is better for him to depart without strife than to remain in quarreling, says Ambrose, Book 2 On Jacob, chapter 5. Again, God permits His own to be harassed here by adversities, slanders, and exiles, so that they may yearn for the heavenly homeland, says Rupertus: for the evils that press upon us here compel us to go to God.
Verse 18: Going to Isaac His Father
18. GOING TO ISAAC HIS FATHER. — Jacob was heading there, but on the journey he spent nearly a decade, dwelling in Shechem and in Bethel. So says Abulensis.
Verse 19: She Stole the Idols
19. SHE STOLE THE IDOLS. — You may ask, why did Rachel do this? First, Aben Ezra answers that she stole her father's idols lest her father, by consulting them or divining by their inspection, should be able to discover by which route Jacob and his family had departed and fled, so that he would not be able to pursue them.
Secondly, St. Basil (at the beginning of his commentary on Proverbs), Nazianzen (Oration 2 On the Pasch), Theodoret, and Pererius think she did this to take away from her father the occasion of idolatry.
Thirdly, more probably, St. Chrysostom (Homily 57), Gennadius, Rupertus, Cajetan, and Oleaster think she took the idols not so much as her father's but as her own household gods, because she was devoted to them and hoped for a fortunate journey and every good thing from them; for her father Laban and his household, and consequently Rachel too, along with the true God also worshiped idols after the custom of their people, as is evident from chapter 35, verse 2, where at last Jacob abolished these idols.
Fourthly, Rachel stole these idols because they were precious, namely made of gold; and so she stole gold — that is, she took it secretly — but justly, as her dowry and as wages owed to her husband. So says Pererius.
IDOLS. — In Hebrew it is תרפים theraphim, which signifies human statues, or statues having a human form, as is evident from 1 Samuel 19:13; hence Aquila translates it morphomata, that is, "figurations"; the Chaldean translates it "images."
Secondly, the name theraphim was by usage appropriated to those statues which gave oracular responses through the agency of demons, as is evident from Judges 18:18; hence translators generally render it as "idols." So the Septuagint, our Translator, and others, and even Calvin himself. Therefore the same Calvin says foolishly: "Theraphim are images such as the Papists have" — for the Papists do not have and worship images as idols or as gods, as Laban had and worshiped these theraphim, as is evident from verse 30. I shall say more about the Theraphim on Judges 18.
Verse 20: He Would Not Confess
20. AND HE WOULD NOT CONFESS. — In Hebrew it reads, "Jacob stole the heart of Laban": the heart, that is, the riches which were like the heart of Laban, and which he loved as his own heart, says Lipomanus.
But I say it is a Hebraism: "He stole the heart of Laban," that is, without Laban's knowledge or awareness, he fled stealthily and secretly, as if he had taken away with him the heart, that is, the knowledge and awareness of Laban. Hence the Chaldean translates it "he concealed"; the Septuagint, "he hid." Thus Seneca in the Agamemnon says: "Brother, I shall steal your countenance with a garment" — "I shall steal," that is, "I shall conceal."
Cajetan adds that Laban had determined in his heart not to allow Jacob to take from Haran the riches he had acquired there. Hence in verse 42 Jacob says to him: "Perhaps you would have sent me away empty-handed"; and because Jacob, departing secretly, rendered void this plan of Laban, it is therefore said that he stole his heart, in which that plan lay hidden, and took it secretly with him: this is a metonymy.
Verse 21: Having Crossed the River
21. HAVING CROSSED THE RIVER — namely the Euphrates, which surrounds Haran and Mesopotamia. Jacob did this not by a miracle, as the Jews pretend, but by an ordinary boat.
Verse 23: On Mount Gilead
23. ON MOUNT GILEAD — which afterward in verse 48 was called Gilead. This is prolepsis. On Gilead, see Adrichomius in his Terra Sancta.
Verse 25: Kinsmen
25. KINSMEN — with a strong band of relatives, servants, and fellow citizens.
Verse 26: Why Have You Acted This Way?
26. HE SAID (Laban) TO JACOB: WHY HAVE YOU ACTED THIS WAY? — See here once again in the words of Laban the character of the world. For first, although he knew that by his own treachery he had given the just man reason to flee, he nevertheless conceals this and casts all blame upon the just man; and when he ought to beg pardon for his fault and be reconciled with the just man, he instead accuses him. Thus the world conceals its own sins and casts all blame upon the pious. Thus Ahab accuses Elijah of troubling Israel, when the impious king himself was the cause of the evils by his own sins. Secondly, Laban pretends to be a friend when he was an adversary: "That I might escort you," he says, "with joy and songs," etc. Thus the world speaks one way and thinks another: woe to the double-hearted! Thirdly, he reveals his own impiety and folly when he says: "Why have you stolen my gods?" It is impiety that he worships idols; it is folly that he calls them gods, when they cannot protect themselves from thieves. Fourthly, he says: "You have acted foolishly"; thus to the world whatever the pious do seems foolish. The just man did not act foolishly in seeking his homeland when oppressed, but the world acts foolishly in despising the heavenly homeland. Fifthly, it is arrogance when he says: "My hand has the power to repay you with evil"; thus the world always presumes upon its power, though it knows it can do nothing against God. "His arrogance," says Isaiah (chapter 16), "is greater than his strength." Yet finally, whether he wants to or not, he is forced to confess the truth, namely that he is restrained and held back by the Lord. Hence St. Chrysostom (Homily 57) shows by many examples how God cares for Jacob and other just persons, so that He not only tames fierce men but even domesticates wild beasts themselves, lest they harm them: "For the hand of God," he says, "is more powerful than all things; it fortifies us on every side and makes us invincible. This was demonstrated also in this just man. For he who with such fury wanted to seize Jacob and exact punishment for his flight, not only speaks nothing harsh against him, but addresses him gently as a father does a son, saying: 'What have you done? Why did you depart secretly?' See what a great change! See how he who was raging like a beast now imitates the gentleness of sheep."
WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE. — In Hebrew it again reads, "you have stolen my heart," about which I spoke at verse 20.
AS CAPTIVES BY THE SWORD — as if taken in war, and therefore slaves or bondwomen.
Verse 28: My Sons
28. MY SONS — that is, grandsons from his daughters.
Verse 32: Search Whatever You Find with Me
32. SEARCH WHATEVER OF YOURS YOU FIND WITH ME, AND TAKE IT AWAY. — Mystically, St. Ambrose (Book 2 On Jacob, chapter 5) says: "Laban came to him — that is, 'the whitened one,' namely Satan (for Satan also transforms himself into an angel of light) — and began to demand back what was his. Jacob replied: 'I have nothing of yours. Search if you recognize any of your vices and crimes; I have carried off none of your deceits, nor do I share in any of your guile: I have fled all your things as a contagion.' And Laban searched, and found nothing of his own. How blessed the man in whom the enemy finds nothing he could call his own, in whom the devil discovers nothing he could recognize as his! This seemed impossible in a human being, but he was bearing the type of Him who said in the Gospel: 'The prince of this world comes, and in Me he will find nothing.' For whatever belongs to the devil is nothing, since it can have no permanence or substance."
Verse 34: Under the Saddle-Blankets
34. UNDER THE SADDLE-BLANKETS — under the pack-saddle. Rachel sat upon the camel saddle on which she was accustomed to ride, and which had been placed in her tent for the night, as upon some kind of seat or more comfortable couch. For these saddles are usually equipped with cushions and other furnishings. Moreover, the statues of the household gods were small (cf. Virgil, Aeneid 2:716), so they could easily be hidden in such a camel saddle.
Verse 35: According to the Custom of Women
35. ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF WOMEN — as if to say: I am suffering from the menstrual flow, and therefore I cannot rise because of my weakness.
Verse 36: And Swelling with Anger
36. AND SWELLING — with just anger and indignation, Jacob, otherwise the meekest of men: for injured patience becomes fury.
Verse 39: Nor Did I Show You What Was Seized
39. NOR DID I SHOW YOU WHAT WAS SEIZED BY A BEAST. — The pastoral law is that if livestock is killed by wild beasts without the shepherd's fault, upon showing the owner some remaining part, the shepherd is freed from liability; for each thing perishes at the loss of its own owner, unless the fault of the guardian intervenes. But the harsh and unjust Laban did not observe this law, who wanted Jacob not only to bear the fault, but also to bear the loss from accident. For this is what Jacob reproaches him with, saying: "Whatever was lost by theft, you demanded it of me." Otherwise, by pastoral law, the shepherd is obliged to rescue a sheep snatched by a wolf, bear, etc., and to protect the sheep if he can; and if he is negligent, he is bound to make restitution for the stolen sheep. So David, while tending sheep, killed a lion and a bear that attacked them (1 Samuel 17:34). Much more will God demand souls from pastors who have care of them, if through their negligence they allow them to be snatched by the devil and driven headlong, as Ezekiel teaches in chapter 3, verse 17, and throughout chapter 34. The same judgment applies to princes and magistrates, who are bound to protect the safety, persons, and fortunes of their subjects. It is therefore their duty to keep perpetual watch for the protection and custody of their people. "The care of the prince" (says Seneca) "keeps watch for the safety of each individual." Such was Caesar, of whom the same Seneca says (in the book On the Brevity of Life): "His diligence protected the houses of all, his labor secured the leisure of all, his industry provided the pleasures of all, his occupation ensured the vacation of all." Plato also wishes princes to be such, in Book 7 of the Laws.
Verse 40: I Was Scorched by Heat and Frost
40. I WAS SCORCHED BY HEAT AND FROST. — Some read badly "I was burned": for just as heat, so also cold burns, that is, it stings, torments, dries out, and, as the Hebrew has it, אכלני achalani, that is, "it consumed me and devoured me, it harmed me." Hieronymus Magius assigns the physical cause in Book 1 of the Miscellanea, chapter 17. Thus the Poet says: "Mountain snows were burning." And Tacitus, Annals Book 15: "The limbs of many were burned by the force of the cold." St. Basil (Homily on the 40 Martyrs): "By the cold," he says, "they were entirely scorched." And Ecclesiasticus, speaking of the north wind (chapter 43:23): "It will scorch the desert and extinguish what is green," that is, "like a fire." Hence also pruina [hoar-frost] is said to come from perurendo [burning through], because it burns herbs and crops, says Festus. As burning as the daytime heat is in the East, so severe and dangerous is the nighttime cold, which usually arises before dawn when the dew falls: a fact attested by all who have traveled to those regions.
AND SLEEP FLED. — It is the duty of a good shepherd to be vigilant and to keep watch over the flock at night. How watchful, then, must a bishop and pastor be, who feeds the sheep of God! says St. Damasus, Epistle 4. Jacob therefore is the archetype of a good steward, whom Aristotle describes thus in the Economics: "It is fitting for the master to rise before the servant and go to bed later; and never to leave the house unguarded — just as one would not leave a city unguarded when necessary — neither by day nor by night; and to rise before dawn, which is most beneficial for health, for the care of the household, and for the pursuit of philosophy." Likewise Cato (On Agriculture, chapter 5) and Cicero (On Divination, Book 2) give this precept to the farm manager: "Let him be the first to rise from bed, the last to go to bed." Xenophon reports in the Economics that a certain foreigner, when asked what makes a horse fit and vigorous, replied: "The master's eye." Agesilaus, king of the Lacedaemonians, knew how to govern his sleep, and, as Xenophon says, used sleep not as a master but as a subordinate in his affairs. So the shepherds kept watch, to whom first the birth of Christ was announced by an angel. So Paul says to Timothy: "But you, be watchful, labor in all things." So the pagans compare the good shepherd to Argus, who was a shepherd all eyes, indeed filled with eyes on every side. Homer, in the Iliad Book 2, sings that Jupiter, the God of gods, while gods and men slept, was sleepless and pondered how to exalt Achilles. Thus of the true God, David sings in Psalm 121: "Behold, He will neither slumber nor sleep, who guards Israel." The king of the Persians had a chamberlain who, waking the king in the morning, would say: "Rise, O king, and attend to those matters which Mesoromasdes" — your God — "wished you to attend to"; Plutarch is the witness, in his book On the Education of Princes. Rightly therefore Homer in the passage cited: "It does not befit a counselor to sleep the whole night through, to whom peoples have been entrusted and so many matters are to be managed."
If therefore "the life of mortals is a vigil," how much more ought the life of princes and prelates to be a vigil. Thus St. Dominic prayed at night keeping vigil, and went around all the cells and quarters of his brothers. Indeed, cleanliness befits women, labor befits men. For this reason Jacob is rightly established as a model of labor by St. Gregory (Homily 15 on Ezekiel), and he says that Jacob merited thereby the victory in the wrestling with the angel in chapter 32. "How is laborious strength to be obtained?" he says. "Let us recall Jacob, who, after he learned to serve a man strenuously, was also brought to such a virtue that he could not be overcome by the wrestling angel."
Verse 41: Ten Times
41. TEN TIMES. — Josephus claims that Laban violated the agreements and took away the better offspring already born that were owed to Jacob by the pact; but he is mistaken, for in that case Jacob could not have become so wealthy. Therefore Origen, Eusebius, and St. Jerome more correctly judge that Laban changed the pact ten times for the future, demanding for himself such offspring as he saw had already been born and had come to Jacob.
Verse 42: The Fear of Isaac
42. UNLESS THE GOD OF MY FATHER ABRAHAM AND THE FEAR OF ISAAC HAD BEEN WITH ME. — You may ask, what is the "Fear of Isaac"? First, Aben Ezra and Cajetan answer that it is the fear and reverence with which Isaac feared, worshiped, and revered God — as if to say: By the merit of the fear, that is, the piety, reverence, and devotion of Isaac, by which he prayed to God for his son Jacob, Jacob was freed from Laban and prospered. This fear of the saints, then, is an act of religion and reverence, and arises from the love of God; indeed it is an act of charity, sometimes commanded, sometimes elicited; for because the saints supremely love God, they therefore supremely fear to offend Him, and supremely worship and revere Him.
Secondly, others think this fear was the reverence with which Jacob honored his father Isaac, and feared and revered him: for through this reverence and filial piety toward his father Isaac, Jacob merited before God to be freed and protected by Him.
Thirdly, and genuinely, God, who was the God of Abraham, is called the Fear of Isaac — as if to say: God whom Abraham worshiped, and whom Isaac feared and revered as the supreme Deity and supreme Majesty. Thus Isaiah (chapter 8, verse 13) calls God the terror and dread of Israel, whom the Israelites worshiped and revered with fear and dread.
Therefore "fear" here is taken metonymically for the object of fear, namely for God. Thus the Gentiles called Jupiter the fear of men, whom men dread as witness, judge, and avenger, "whose deity they fear to swear by and to deceive." For thus Jacob in verse 53 swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, just as Laban swore by the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor. Thus God in the Psalms is called "my hope," "my patience," that is, the one in whom I hope, on whose account I suffer. So say Theodoret, the Chaldean, and St. Augustine.
HE REBUKED YOU YESTERDAY — when He appeared to you, warning you not to say or do anything harsh to me, verse 29.
Verse 43: What Can I Do?
43. WHAT CAN I DO? — as if to say: Fatherly love and affection do not permit me to harm my daughters and grandchildren. For so the Hebrew reads; but our Translator renders it "sons and grandsons," where "and" means "that is": for Laban calls his grandchildren sons, because he had just said to Jacob: "The sons and flocks and all that you see are mine," namely because they descend from me as their grandfather and first possessor.
Verse 44: That It May Be a Testimony
44. THAT IT MAY BE A TESTIMONY — a memorial of the covenant made between us.
Verse 45: As a Pillar
45. AS A PILLAR — as a sign and monument. On the word "pillar," see what was said at chapter 28:18.
Verse 46: A Mound
46. A MOUND — a long, wide, and flat heap: for they ate upon it as upon a table.
Verse 47: The Mound of the Witness
47. WHICH LABAN CALLED THE MOUND OF THE WITNESS, AND JACOB THE HEAP OF TESTIMONY, EACH ACCORDING TO THE PROPERTY OF HIS OWN LANGUAGE. — Jacob and Laban imposed the same name on this mound as regards meaning and substance, but different as regards sound and language. For Laban the Syrian called it in Syriac יגר שהדותא iegar sahaduta, that is, "the heap or mound of testimony"; but Jacob the Hebrew called it in Hebrew גלעד galed, that is, "the mound of the witness"; for gal means "mound" and ed means "witness." Now in substance, "the mound of testimony" is the same as "the mound of the witness": for a stone cannot be a witness in any other way than if it is set up and placed as a testimony of something. Perhaps also through carelessness of copyists the names have been transposed here, so that "witness" was put in place of "testimony" and vice versa; for properly and precisely Laban called this mound iegar sahaduta, that is, "the mound of testimony"; Jacob however called it galed, that is, "the heap or mound of the witness." Because therefore this mound was erected as a testimony of the covenant made between Jacob and Laban, it was hence called Gilead, that is, "the mound of the witness," and from it the mountain itself, the city, and the entire region were called Gilead, or Gileaditis.
Verse 48: Its Name Was Called Gilead
48. ITS NAME WAS CALLED GILEAD, THAT IS, THE MOUND OF THE WITNESS. — In the Hebrew there is only "Gilead," but our Translator explains the Hebrew name Gilead, adding "that is, the mound of the witness." The Hebrew adds "and Mizpah," that is, "and the watchtower," because Laban said: "Let the Lord watch, and look upon, and judge between us." Two names therefore were given to this mound: first, Galed, that is, "the mound of the witness"; second, Mizpah, that is, "the watchtower," or as the Septuagint translates, he horasis, that is, "the vision" — as if Laban were saying: Henceforth I will not be able to watch over you and your affairs, O Jacob; for I shall depart and be separated from you. Therefore fear God, who is the watchman of this our covenant and oath, to judge and avenge if either of us should violate it, namely: "The watchman stands above, who on all our days observes our actions, from the first light until evening." This is our Mizpah.
Verse 51: The Stone Which I Have Set Up
51. THE STONE WHICH I HAVE SET UP — on one side of the aforementioned mound, facing Mesopotamia, Laban set up his stone; on the other side, facing Canaan, Jacob set up another stone, his own: so that these two stones would be like pillars and boundary markers, which neither party was permitted to cross to harm the other.
Verse 53: The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor
53. THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND THE GOD OF NAHOR, LET HIM JUDGE BETWEEN US, AND THE GOD OF THEIR FATHER — namely the God of Terah, who was the father of Abraham and Nahor.
Note: Laban along with the true God of Abraham worshiped the idols of his father Nahor. Hence he also adds the gods of their common great-grandfather, namely Terah, as gods ancestral and hereditary to both sides. For Terah in Chaldea worshiped the true God with Abraham, but in Haran he worshiped idols with Nahor, as I said at the end of chapter 11. But Jacob rejects these, and swears only by the Fear of Isaac, that is, by God whom Isaac and Abraham feared and worshiped. See what was said at verse 42.
Note: Just as it was lawful for Jacob to receive from Laban, so it is lawful for any believer to accept, indeed to demand in necessity, an oath from an unbeliever, even if he knows the unbeliever will swear by false gods: just as in necessity it is lawful to seek a loan from one whom you know will not give it except with a stipulation of interest. For just as in this case one only demands the loan and merely permits and tolerates the interest, so also in the other case one only demands the oath, and merely permits and tolerates that it be made by false gods, and this for a just cause, namely necessity.
Verse 54: Having Sacrificed Victims
54. AND HAVING SACRIFICED VICTIMS — peace offerings offered for the peace, reconciliation, and covenant that had been made with Laban his father-in-law, whence from the same God would preserve, strengthen, and perpetuate it for him.
55. BY NIGHT — that is, early in the morning. He prepared a feast. Therefore with these sacrificial victims Jacob gave thanks to God for the peace that had been established, and at the same time he asked that God would preserve, strengthen, and perpetuate it.
TO HIS OWN PLACE — that is, to Haran.