English Standard Version
Genesis 31:38
38These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks.
Genesis 31:38 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)“I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
- New King James Version (NKJV)These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“For twenty years I have been with you, caring for your flocks. In all that time your sheep and goats never miscarried. In all those years I never used a single ram of yours for food.
Context of Genesis 31:38
36Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.
Read all of Genesis 31Genesis 31:38 word by word
זֶה֩ עֶשְׂרִ֨ים שָׁנָ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ רְחֵלֶ֥יךָ וְעִזֶּ֖יךָ לֹ֣א שִׁכֵּ֑לוּ וְאֵילֵ֥י צֹאנְךָ֖ לֹ֥א אָכָֽלְתִּי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- This twentyעֶשְׂרִים‛eώrîym · twentyH6242
- yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
- with thee; thy ewesרָחֵלrâchêl · eweH7353
- and thy she goatsעֵז‛êz · goatH5795
- have not cast their youngשָׁכֹלshâkôl · be bereavedH7921
- and the ramsאַ֫יִל'ayil · ramH352
- of thy flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
- have I not eatenאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
Cross-references for Genesis 31:38
- Genesis 31:41These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
- Genesis 30:27But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.
- Exodus 23:26None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
- Deuteronomy 28:4Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
- Ezekiel 34:2"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
Commentaries on Genesis 31:38
- 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
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 36-42Verses 36-42 If Jacob were willingly consumed with heat in the day, and frost by night, to become the son-in-law of Laban, what should we refuse to endure, to become the sons of God? Jacob speaks of God as the God of his father; he thought himself unworthy to be regarded, but was beloved for his father's sake. He calls him the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac; for Abraham was dead, and gone to that world where perfect love casts out fear; but Isaac…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 36-42Jacob answered by accusing Laban of making false charges and humiliating him. Now Laban was the one who had to answer, because his charges were insulting and seemed to have no basis.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3838. The rams of thy flock have I not eaten--Eastern people seldom kill the females for food except they are barren.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 31:38
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries