Section 64 of 10431:22–42Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 31:22–42

And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.

And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.

Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 31:22–42

Laban Pursues and Searches Jacob's Camp

Power to harm, a search that fails, a twenty-year case

Laban overtakes Jacob with kin enough to do harm, but God has already warned him not to threaten Jacob. He accuses Jacob of taking daughters and gods. Jacob, not knowing about Rachel, invites a search and even declares that the thief should die.

Rachel conceals the teraphim. The failed search lets Jacob name twenty years of costly service: heat, cold, lost animals absorbed, wages changed. God has seen. Jacob's broad defense is truthful about labor and incomplete about the theft.

How this should shape us

Assess both a powerful person's gentle words and their capacity to harm. Document specific labor and loss. Avoid sweeping vows made from incomplete knowledge.

Teach it back

Explain how Genesis 31:22–42 moves from pursuit to divine restraint, accusation, search, and Jacob's labor defense. Include Laban's admitted power, Jacob's fear and ignorance, Rachel's concealed teraphim and menstrual claim, the failed search, the twenty-year complaint, and what the passage leaves uncertain.

Explain the section in your own words

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Best judgment:

How certain? very strong

Best judgment:

How certain? uncertain

Best judgment:

How certain? uncertain

Best judgment:

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Displayed wording, unit boundary, pursuit, warning, accusations, search, labor defense, later narrative, shepherd-liability, and menstrual-purity comparisons.

Genesis 31:22–42 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 28:10–22; 29:15–30; 30:25–43; 31:1–21, 43–55; 35:1–20; Exodus 22:10–13; and Leviticus 15:19–23

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Hebrew idioms, knowledge states, search language, physical labor terms, divine title, and final divine-action wording.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 31:22–42; morphology and wording for pursued, good or bad, power of my hand, longed, take by force, let him not live, camel equipment, way of women, chode, judge, torn, heat, cold, Fear of Isaac, affliction, labor, and rebuked

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Pursuit chronology, Gilead, good-to-bad idiom, family and farewell rhetoric, longing, force, death oath, tent order, camel saddle, menstruation, labor conditions, Fear of Isaac, and rebuke translation details.

NET Bible, Genesis 31:22–42 and translator notes, especially notes on 31:23–35 and 31:38–42

Genesis

Supports: Final-form placement, Bethel-promise continuity, movement from danger to restraint, and transition into the boundary covenant.

Genesis commentary, section Jacob Returns to Canaan, Genesis 31:1–55, especially pursuit, confrontation, search, labor complaint, divine protection, and covenant transition

Genesis

Supports: Literary placement and commentary navigation only; no unseen page-level claim is attributed.

Genesis, official Cambridge introduction and table-of-contents locator for Genesis 25:19–35:29

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob — Study Guide

Supports: Modern critical counterpoint for power, labor, deception, character complexity, and the larger Jacob movement.

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob study guide, sections on Jacob and Laban, trickster characterization, family power, wages, flight, confrontation, and return

Jacob's Struggle at Jabbok: The Limits of Strategy

Supports: Jacob's strategy, Laban power imbalance, underdog setting, and the narrative's movement beyond human control.

Meira Z. Kensky, TheTorah.com (2021; updated 2026), Jacob the Strategist, Getting the Better of Laban, prayer, and limits of control

Another Look at Rachel's Theft of the Teraphim

Supports: Specialist restraint concerning Rachel's motive, teraphim function, automatic inheritance claims, and Jacob's lack of knowledge.

Moshe Greenberg, Journal of Biblical Literature 81.3 (1962), pages 239–248, especially pages 239–245 on Rachel's theft and proposed motives and pages 246–248 on Nuzi, inheritance, possession, and narrative silence

Rachel's Teraphim: A Critique of the Northern Kingdom

Supports: Household-cult, divinatory, archaeological, literary, and possible polemical settings for teraphim, with limits on identifying Rachel's motive.

Erin D. Darby, TheTorah.com (2021; updated 2026), Rachel and Laban sections plus biblical and archaeological discussion of teraphim

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Displayed wording, unit boundary, pursuit, warning, accusations, search, labor defense, later narrative, shepherd-liability, and menstrual-purity comparisons.

Exact location: Genesis 31:22–42 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 28:10–22; 29:15–30; 30:25–43; 31:1–21, 43–55; 35:1–20; Exodus 22:10–13; and Leviticus 15:19–23

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Hebrew idioms, knowledge states, search language, physical labor terms, divine title, and final divine-action wording.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 31:22–42; morphology and wording for pursued, good or bad, power of my hand, longed, take by force, let him not live, camel equipment, way of women, chode, judge, torn, heat, cold, Fear of Isaac, affliction, labor, and rebuked

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Pursuit chronology, Gilead, good-to-bad idiom, family and farewell rhetoric, longing, force, death oath, tent order, camel saddle, menstruation, labor conditions, Fear of Isaac, and rebuke translation details.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 31:22–42 and translator notes, especially notes on 31:23–35 and 31:38–42

Open NET Genesis 31 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form placement, Bethel-promise continuity, movement from danger to restraint, and transition into the boundary covenant.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, section Jacob Returns to Canaan, Genesis 31:1–55, especially pursuit, confrontation, search, labor complaint, divine protection, and covenant transition

Open source ↗

modern scholarly commentary publisher material

Genesis

Bill T. Arnold

Cambridge University Press, 2009

Supports: Literary placement and commentary navigation only; no unseen page-level claim is attributed.

Exact location: Genesis, official Cambridge introduction and table-of-contents locator for Genesis 25:19–35:29

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob — Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026

Supports: Modern critical counterpoint for power, labor, deception, character complexity, and the larger Jacob movement.

Exact location: Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob study guide, sections on Jacob and Laban, trickster characterization, family power, wages, flight, confrontation, and return

Open source ↗

modern jewish open final form literary study

Jacob's Struggle at Jabbok: The Limits of Strategy

Meira Z. Kensky

TheTorah.com SBL e-journal, 2021; updated 2026

Supports: Jacob's strategy, Laban power imbalance, underdog setting, and the narrative's movement beyond human control.

Exact location: Meira Z. Kensky, TheTorah.com (2021; updated 2026), Jacob the Strategist, Getting the Better of Laban, prayer, and limits of control

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open philological legal study

Another Look at Rachel's Theft of the Teraphim

Moshe Greenberg

Journal of Biblical Literature 81.3, pages 239–248, 1962

Supports: Specialist restraint concerning Rachel's motive, teraphim function, automatic inheritance claims, and Jacob's lack of knowledge.

Exact location: Moshe Greenberg, Journal of Biblical Literature 81.3 (1962), pages 239–248, especially pages 239–245 on Rachel's theft and proposed motives and pages 246–248 on Nuzi, inheritance, possession, and narrative silence

Open source ↗

modern scholarly open archaeological and literary study

Rachel's Teraphim: A Critique of the Northern Kingdom

Erin D. Darby

TheTorah.com SBL e-journal, 2021; updated 2026

Supports: Household-cult, divinatory, archaeological, literary, and possible polemical settings for teraphim, with limits on identifying Rachel's motive.

Exact location: Erin D. Darby, TheTorah.com (2021; updated 2026), Rachel and Laban sections plus biblical and archaeological discussion of teraphim

Open source ↗

Genesis 31:22–42, King James Version

Power to harm, a search that fails, a twenty-year case

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

Genesis

Genesis 25–35, 46–49: Jacob — Study Guide

Jacob's Struggle at Jabbok: The Limits of Strategy

Another Look at Rachel's Theft of the Teraphim

Rachel's Teraphim: A Critique of the Northern Kingdom