English Standard Version
Genesis 31:39
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.
Genesis 31:39 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.
- New King James Version (NKJV)That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
- New Living Translation (NLT)If any were attacked and killed by wild animals, I never showed you the carcass and asked you to reduce the count of your flock. No, I took the loss myself! You made me pay for every stolen animal, whether it was taken in broad daylight or in the dark of night.
Context of Genesis 31:39
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. 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. What 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. 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.
Read all of Genesis 31Genesis 31:39 word by word
טְרֵפָה֙ לֹא־הֵבֵ֣אתִי אֵלֶ֔יךָ אָנֹכִ֣י אֲחַטֶּ֔נָּה מִיָּדִ֖י תְּבַקְשֶׁ֑נָּה גְּנֻֽבְתִ֣י י֔וֹם וּגְנֻֽבְתִ֖י לָֽיְלָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- That which was tornטְרֵפָהţerêphâh · torn animalH2966
- I broughtבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
- not unto thee; I bare the lossחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
- of it; of my handיָדyâd · handH3027
- didst thou requireבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
- stolenגָּנַבgânab · to stealH1589
- by dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- by nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
Cross-references for Genesis 31:39
- Exodus 22:10"If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it,
- Leviticus 22:8He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.'
- 1 Samuel 17:34But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
- John 10:12He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
- Luke 2:8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Commentaries on Genesis 31:39
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 39That which was torn - of my hand didst thou require it - This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Exodus 22:10, Exodus 22:13. And it is very likely that this law was in force from the earliest times.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
- 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. 3939. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee--The shepherds are strictly responsible for losses in the flock, unless they can prove these were occasioned by wild beasts.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 31:39
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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