Bibelkommentare

“ Like sword-booty; ” i.e., like prisoners of war (2 Kings 6:22) carried away unwillingly and by force.

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ידי לאל ישׁ : “ there is to God my hand ” (Micah 2:1; cf. Deuteronomy 28:32; Nehemiah 5:5), i.e., my hand serves me as God (Habakkuk 1:11; Job 12:6), a proverbial expression for “the power lies in my hand.”

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“ And now thou art gone (for, if thou art gone), because thou longedst after thy father's house, why hast thou stolen my gods? ” The meaning is this: even if thy secret departure can be explained, thy stealing of my gods cannot.

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“ Except the God of my father...had been for me, surely thou wouldst now have sent me away empty. God has seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and last night He judged it.” By the warning given to Laban, God pronounced sentence upon the matter between Jacob and Laban, condemning the course which Laban had pursued, and still intended to pursue, towards Jacob; but not on that account sanctioning all that Jacob had done to increase his own possessions, still less confirming Jacob's assertion that the vision mentioned by Jacob (Genesis 31:11, Genesis 31:12) was a revelation from God. But as Jacob had only met cunning with cunning, deceit with deceit, Laban had no right to punish him for what he had done. Some excuse may indeed be found for Jacob's conduct in the heartless treatment he received from Laban, but the fact that God defended him from Laban's revenge did not prove it to be right. He had not acted upon the rule laid down in Proverbs 20:22 (cf. Romans 12:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:15).

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