Genesis 31:17 Commentary and Bible Study

Once he had the agreement of his wives to come with him, Jacob left no time in setting off. This was going to be a secret departure to avoid the trouble which he anticipated. There were going to be trials associated with arriving at the other end of his journey, but for now, he was focused on the difficulties associated with leaving. He took nothing that was not his, nothing that the Lord had not given him. The passage refers more than once to the cattle which Jacob had acquired, as if to emphasise that God had enriched him in spite of Laban’s stinginess and deceitfulness. Jacob seems to know that Isaac is still alive – it was another thirty years until he would die.He waited until an opportune moment when Laban had gone to shear his flocks and was away from home, and then he slipped away secretly. The events that follow show that his secrecy was fully justified, for if God had not restrained him Laban would certainly have done Jacob harm. Jacob fled, as one that was in danger of being pursued. He was forced to behave in this way because of the Laban’s past record. He fled and passed over the Euphrates River on his way back to Canaan, and set out for Gilead, the mountainous region to the east of the Jordan between Galilee and the Dead Sea. Unknown to Jacob, Rachel had stolen the images, the household gods, the teraphim, that belonged to her father. Why did she take these? Was she still an idolater herself, practicing devotion to household these gods? Maybe she was, even though she had named her first child, Joseph, with a name that gave credit to God. But other suggestions have been made: she wished to purge Laban’s household from idolatry – that is unlikely given her expressed hostility towards her father; she stole the idols for their financial value – wealth in those days was counted much more in flocks and herds; she stole them because there were title deeds to property – but she was never going to return to that region again; she did it to spite Laban, although she set no value on them herself; she superstitiously wished to deprive her father of the protection the idol would give him. The most likely explanation is that she did indeed attach some superstitious importance to them as idols, and wanted the protection, benefit they would give.