Darby Bible
Genesis 31:19
19And Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim that [belonged] to her father.
Genesis 31:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
- New International Version (NIV)When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s.
Context of Genesis 31:19
17And Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels, 18and carried away all his cattle, and all his property that he had acquired — the cattle of his possessions that he had acquired in Padan-Aram, to go to Isaac his father, into the land of Canaan. And Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim that [belonged] to her father. 20And Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he fled. 21And he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face [toward] mount Gilead.
Read all of Genesis 31Genesis 31:19 word by word
וְלָבָ֣ן הָלַ֔ךְ לִגְזֹ֖ז אֶת־צֹאנ֑וֹ וַתִּגְנֹ֣ב רָחֵ֔ל אֶת־הַתְּרָפִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְאָבִֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Genesis 31:19
- Genesis 31:30And now that thou must needs be gone, because thou greatly longedst after thy father's house, why hast thou stolen my gods?
- Genesis 35:2And Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments;
- Joshua 24:2And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.
- Judges 17:4Now he restored the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred silver-pieces and gave them to the founder, and he made of them a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah.
- Judges 18:14Then the five men that had gone to spy out the country of Laish spoke and said to their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? And now ye know what to do.
- 1 Samuel 19:13And Michal took the image, and laid it in the bed, and put the net of goats' [hair] at its head, and covered it with the coverlet.
- Ezekiel 21:21For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shaketh [his] arrows, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.
- Hosea 3:4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without statue, and without ephod and teraphim.
Commentaries on Genesis 31:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19Laban went to shear his sheep - Laban had gone; and this was a favorable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived. Rachel had stolen the images - תרפים teraphim . What the teraphim were is utterly unknown. In Genesis 31:30; they are termed אלהי elohai, gods; and to some it appears very likely that they were a sort of images devoted to superstitious purposes, not considered as gods, but as representatives of certain…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-55Verses 1-55 - Jacob‘s Flight from Haran 19. תרפים terāpı̂ym Teraphim. This word occurs fifteen times in the Old Testament. It appears three times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the Pentateuch. It is always in the plural number. The root does not appear in Biblical Hebrew. It perhaps means “to live well,” intransitively (Gesenius, Roedig.), “to nourish,” transitively (Furst). The teraphim were symbols or representatives of the Deity, as Laban calls…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20Rachel stole her father’s household idols: She might have wanted to recover some of the wealth Laban wasted. She may have also worshiped idols (compare 35:2–4). Having the idols might have meant claiming the family inheritance, as later customs indicate. Laban seemed to feel insecure without them. Whatever her reasons, Rachel's theft nearly caused disaster for the family when Laban overtook them. A wordplay shows that Rachel and Jacob were very…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-211. he heard the words of Laban's sons--It must have been from rumor that Jacob got knowledge of the invidious reflections cast upon him by his cousins; for they were separated at the distance of three days' journey.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 31:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries