New International Version
Genesis 31:19
19When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her.
Context of Genesis 31:19
17Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of 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
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 31:19
- Genesis 31:30Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”
- Genesis 35:2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.
- Joshua 24:2Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.
- Judges 17:4So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.
- Judges 18:14Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, some household gods and an image overlaid with silver? Now you know what to do.”
- 1 Samuel 19:13Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.
- Ezekiel 21:21For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.
- Hosea 3:4For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or household gods.
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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