45
So Jacobוַ יַעֲקֹבtookיִּקַּחa stoneאָבֶןand set it upוַיְרִימֶהָas a standing stone.מַצֵּבָה
Genesis 31:45
Study it in the app“So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a standing stone.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Genesis 31:45, word by word
- So Jacobיַעֲקֹבyaakov
Jacob
Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau and father of the twelve tribes. In Hebrew "Yaakov" sounds like "heel" and "supplant" (Genesis 25:26; 27:36). God later gave him the name Israel; the name also stands for his descendants, the people of Israel.
Where else “yaakov” appears- tookיִּקַּחyikach
take
To grasp something in the hand to carry or use it.
Where else “yikach” appears- a stoneאָבֶןaven
stone
A piece of rock, large or small, used for building, marking or throwing.
Where else “aven” appears- and set it upיְרִימֶyerime
lift up
To put on high: to raise the voice, praise God, or be God lifting up the lowly.
Where else “yerime” appears- as a standing stoneמַצֵּבָהmatseva
standing stone
Standing stone: a stone set upright as a memorial of something, of a meeting with God or of a covenant. Later laws forbid the standing stones of Canaanite worship, which were objects of worship.
Where else “matseva” appears
The context
44So now, come, let us make a covenant, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.”
45 · This verse (above)
46And Jacob said to his brothers, “Gather stones.” They took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.
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?