Tree of Life Version
Genesis 31:19
19But while Laban went to shear his flocks, Rachel stole the idols that belonged to her father,
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.
- New International Version (NIV)When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
- 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.
Context of Genesis 31:19
17Then Jacob got up and put his children and wives on camels. 18He drove away all his livestock and all his possessions that he had acquired—the livestock in his possession that he acquired in Paddan-aram—to go to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan. But while Laban went to shear his flocks, Rachel stole the idols that belonged to her father, 20while Jacob stole the heart from Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. 21He himself fled with everything that belonged to him, and he got up and crossed the River, and set his face toward 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 31:30So now, when you up and left because you really missed your father’s house, why did you steal my gods?”
- Genesis 35:2So Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Cleanse yourselves and change your clothes.
- Joshua 24:2Then Joshua said to all the people: “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘From ancient times your fathers—Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—lived beyond the River and worshipped other gods.
- Judges 17:4So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made it into a graven image and a molten image; and they were kept in the house of Micah.
- Judges 18:14Then the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household idols, a carved image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you have to do.”
- 1 Samuel 19:13Then Michal took a household idol, laid it in the bed, put a quilt of goats’ hair at the head and covered it with a cloth.
- Ezekiel 21:21Slash to the right, turn to the left—wherever your blade is meeting!
- Hosea 3:4For Bnei-Yisrael will remain for many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without sacred pillar, and without ephod or teraphim.
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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