51
Labanלָבָןsaidוַיֹּאמֶרto Jacob,לְיַעֲקֹב“Look atהִנֵּהthisהַזֶּהheap,הַגַּלand look atוְהִנֵּהthe standing stoneהַמַצֵּבָהthatאֲשֶׁרI have set upיָרִיתִיbetween meבֵּינִיand you.וּבֵינֶךָ
Genesis 31:51
Study it in the app“Laban said to Jacob, “Look at this heap, and look at the standing stone that I have set up between me and you.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Genesis 31:51, word by word
- Labanלָבָןlavan
Laban
Laban, brother of Rebekah and father of Leah and Rachel, Jacob's father-in-law, who lived in Haran. Also a place in the wilderness.
Where else “lavan” appears- saidיֹּאמֶרyomer
say
To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.
Where else “yomer” appears- to 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- heapגַּלgal
heap
Stones piled up, or ruins.
Where else “gal” appears- the 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- I have set upיָרִיתִיyariti
cast
To hurl something, or set it firmly in place, like a stone.
Where else “yariti” appears
The context
50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, though no one is with us, see, Elohim is witness between me and you.”
51 · This verse (above)
52This heap is a witness, and the standing stone is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this standing stone to me, for harm.
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?