Genesis 31:31 Commentary and Bible Study

Jacob admits that he was afraid, and that his fear had made him do something which would not normally be considered kind or friendly or the right way to behave in taking a man’s two daughters away, probably never to see them again. As Calvin says, he ‘leaves it undetermined whether or not his fear was culpable.’ In referring to his wives as ‘thy daughters’ – Laban’s daughters – he admits that under normal circumstances this would not have been the right way to behave. He could hardly be so callous as to deny that there was any family affection between Laban and his daughters, and yet he had snatched them away in choosing that moment to depart. But the blame for this situation lay with Laban and his sons and their demeanour towards Jacob.But then he takes a very strong position on the stealing of the idols. ‘With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live.’ He would hardly have said this if he knew what Rachel had done. This strong expression ought to have assured Laban that Jacob himself was innocent in stealing his gods, but should Jacob have said this without knowing the truth of the matter? No, he should rather have waited for the investigation which was bound to follow. Calvin reminds us of the importance of being sure about our facts before speaking with such certainty about something as important as this.Rachel must either have heard this conversation or learned of it soon afterwards, but it sadly resulted in another act of deception on her part. Laban searches each tent in turn. Each wife had their own tent, including the two maids, who are naturally travelling with Jacob’s party. Laban finally came to Rachel’s tent, but she had had time to think what to do with the idol and it was small enough to be hidden under her seat. She could not move she said – even though she had just actively hidden the image – because she was indisposed. So the image was not found and Jacob’s word that the thief would die was not tested. For now her life was spared, although she did die during the birth of her next child, but the Scripture says nothing to connect the two things.