Genesis 31:30

Genesis 31:30 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
• New International Version (NIV)Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”

Context of Genesis 31:30

28and did not allow me to kiss my grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. 29It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?” 31Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

Genesis 31:30 word by word

וְעַתָּה֙ הָלֹ֣ךְ הָלַ֔כְתָּ כִּֽי־נִכְסֹ֥ף נִכְסַ֖פְתָּה לְבֵ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ לָ֥מָּה גָנַ֖בְתָּ אֶת־אֱלֹהָֽי׃Read the interlinear

• Nowעַתָּ֫ה‛attâh · nowH6258
• you have indeedהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
• away becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
• you longedכָּסַףkâsaph · to longH3700
• for your father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
• houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
• whyמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• did you stealגָּנַבgânab · to stealH1589
• my godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Genesis 31:30

• Genesis 31:19Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.
• Exodus 12:12For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments--I am the Lord.
• Numbers 33:4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had fatally struck among them. The Lord had also executed judgments against their gods.
• Judges 6:31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!”
• Judges 18:24And he said, “You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away; what more do I have? So how can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
• 1 Samuel 5:2Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and placed it beside Dagon.
• 2 Samuel 5:21And the Philistines abandoned their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.
• Isaiah 37:19and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
• Isaiah 46:1Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their idols have become loads for the animals and the cattle. The things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary animal.
• Jeremiah 10:11This is what you shall say to them: “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
• Jeremiah 43:12And I shall set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely.

Commentaries on Genesis 31:30

• 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. 22-35Verses 22-35 God can put a bridle in the mouth of wicked men, to restrain their malice, though he do not change their hearts. Though they have no love to God's people, they will pretend to it, and try to make a merit of necessity. Foolish Laban! to call those things his gods which could be stolen! Enemies may steal our goods, but not our God. Here Laban lays to Jacob's charge things that he knew not. Those who commit their cause to God, are not forbidden…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25-30The dispute between the two men used the language of legal controversies and lawsuits (see also 31:36). Laban first argued that Jacob had wronged him by stealing from him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 26-3026-30. Laban said ... What hast thou done?--Not a word is said of the charge (Ge 31:1). His reproaches were of a different kind. His first charge was for depriving him of the satisfaction of giving Jacob and his family the usual salutations at parting. In the East it is customary, when any are setting out to a great distance, for their relatives and friends to accompany them a considerable way with music and valedictory songs. Considering the past conduct…Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 31:30

• Chiding
• Laban
• Teraphim

In the dictionaries

• Agate
• Carry
• Discern
• Fear
• Gather
• Inheritance
• Jacob
• Leah
• Mount
• Pitch

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