44
So now,וְעַתָּהcome,לְכָהlet us makeנִכְרְתָהa covenant,בְרִיתIאֲנִיand you,וָאָתָּהand let it beוְהָיָהa witnessלְעֵדbetween meבֵּינִיand you.”וּבֵינֶךָ
Genesis 31:44
Study it in the app“So now, come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.””
With the Hebrew beneath
Genesis 31:44, word by word
- comeלְכָlecha
go
To head for a place, to leave where one is in order to reach another.
Where else “lecha” appears- let us makeנִכְרְתָהnichrta
make a covenant
Literally "cut": to seal a solemn agreement, splitting animals.
Where else “nichrta” appears- a covenantבְרִיתverit
covenant
The commitment God makes with his people, with promises and commands.
Where else “verit” appears- and let it beהָיָהhaya
be
To be: "I will be their Elohim".
Where else “haya” appears- a witnessעֵדed
witness
Someone who vouches for what he saw; YHWH is one too.
Where else “ed” appears
The context
43Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the sons are my sons, the flock is my flock, and all that you see is mine. But to my daughters what can I do to these today, or to their children whom they have borne?
44 · This verse (above)
45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a standing stone.
To study Genesis 31 in a group
1. What it says
Why did Jacob leave Laban’s house, and what did Elohim say to Laban in a dream (vv. 3, 24)?
2. What it means
What does the heap of stones mean as a witness between Jacob and Laban (vv. 44-50)?
3. How I live it
How can you close a conflict with someone in a clear and peaceful way?