English Standard Version
Genesis 31:44
44Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me."
Genesis 31:44 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
- New International Version (NIV)Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”
Context of Genesis 31:44
42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night." 43Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me." 45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
Read all of Genesis 31Genesis 31:44 word by word
וְעַתָּ֗ה לְכָ֛ה נִכְרְתָ֥ה בְרִ֖ית אֲנִ֣י וָאָ֑תָּה וְהָיָ֥ה לְעֵ֖ד בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 31:44
- Genesis 15:18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
- Genesis 21:22At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do.
- Genesis 26:28They said, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,
- 1 Samuel 20:14If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die;
- Genesis 31:48Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he named it Galeed,
- Genesis 21:30He said, "These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well."
- Deuteronomy 31:19"Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel.
- Joshua 22:27but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, "You have no portion in the Lord."'
- Joshua 24:25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem.
Commentaries on Genesis 31:44
- 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. 43-55Verses 43-55 Laban could neither justify himself nor condemn Jacob, therefore desires to hear no more of that matter. He is not willing to own himself in fault, as he ought to have done. But he proposes a covenant of friendship between them, to which Jacob readily agrees. A heap of stones was raised, to keep up the memory of the event, writing being then not known or little used. A sacrifice of peace offerings was offered. Peace with God puts true comfort…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 43-44Laban wanted a treaty to end the dispute because he felt unsafe and wanted to secure the borders. Jacob did not need a treaty because God had provided for him and protected him.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4444. Come thou, let us make a covenant--The way in which this covenant was ratified was by a heap of stones being laid in a circular pile, to serve as seats, and in the center of this circle a large one was set up perpendicularly for an altar. It is probable that a sacrifice was first offered, and then that the feast of reconciliation was partaken of by both parties seated on the stones around it. To this day heaps of stones, which have been used as…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 31:44
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