The History of Jacob, Part Four

(Genesis 31:19 - 31:55)


When Laban was away from home shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father's idols.

Not disclosing to his father-in-law that he was leaving, Jacob departed in haste with all his possessions.  Crossing the Euphrates River, he headed toward the hills of Gilead.  It was three days before Laban learned of Jacob's flight, but, with a party of men, Laban took up pursuit and, in seven days time, caught up with Jacob at Gilead.

Jehovah visited Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, "Take care that you do not deal too harshly with Jacob."

Jacob had pitched his tent in the hills of Gilead and when Laban and his men arrived, they camped at the same place.  Laban demanded of Jacob,  "Why have you done this without informing me, absconding with my daughters as if they were captives of war?  Why did you leave in secret, stealing away without telling me, when I might have celebrated your departure with music and mirth, with harp and timbrel?  You did not even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren farewell!  You have acted most rashly.  It's in my power to punish you for your actions, but the god of your father spoke to me in a dream last night and warned me against dealing too harshly with you. --- Even if you were homesick and longed to go back to your father's house, why did you have to steal my idols?"

Jacob replied, "I left without telling you because I was afraid you'd take your daughters away from me by force.  As for the charge of theft, if you find your idols with anyone here, that person will pay for it with their life.  Go ahead, search, and if you find anything belonging to you, take it."  (Jacob said this not knowing it was Rachel who had stolen the idols).  

Laban went into the tent of Jacob, then that of Leah and those of the two maidservants who were Jacob’s other wives.  He found nothing.  When he entered Rachel's tent, she adroitly hid the idols under the camel's saddle and sat on it, so while the tent was thoroughly searched, nothing could be found.  She excused herself by saying "Don't be offended, sir, if I'm not able to rise and greet you, but --  well, for me it's that time of the month."  And so Laban's search was in vain.

Jacob was peeved and chewed out Laban: "What is my crime?  What is my offense, that you chase after me so hotly and rummage through my possessions?  What stolen treasures have you found here?  Bring them out and let’s see them.  Let your people and my people judge between us.  Have I not worked for you for twenty years?  Your ewes and nanny goats weren’t barren, were they?  I never ate the rams of your flock, did I?  When stock was preyed upon by wild animals, I never told you, but bore the cost myself.  And for animals that were stolen, either by day or night, you made me pay for them.  I toiled through the scorching days and the frosty nights, often deprived of sleep.  That's how it's been the past twenty years in your employ.  I served you fourteen years for your daughters and another six for your flocks, and you changed my wages a dozen times.  If it weren't for the god of my father Abraham and your fear of Isaac, you probably would have sent me away a pauper.  But my god has witnessed my travails and the work I have done, and he rebuked you last night."

Laban responded, "The daughters and their children, the flocks, everything you see is mine.  What more can I do for my daughters and grandchildren? ---  Let's settle things between you and me and make an agreement.  And let’s find something to commemorate it!"

Jacob found a stone to set up as a monument.  He ordered his men, "Fetch some stones!" and they collected more stones and piled them up to make a cairn.  They shared a meal beneath the cairn, which Laban called Jegar Sahadutha, but which Jacob called Gilead, each using the words of their own language.

Laban declared, "This stone cairn will stand from this day as a witness to our mutual agreement."  (Therefore it was called Gilead, meaning "witness pile," and also Mizpah, meaning "watch tower.")  "Jehovah will watch us and hold us accountable after we have parted.  If you mistreat my daughters, or submit them to the authority of other wives, no man may witness it, but Jehovah will know what’s going on.”  He continued, "Look at this stone, this cairn -- this will be reminder to us.  I shall not pass by it to do harm to you, nor shall you pass by it to do harm to me.  May the god of Abraham and Nahor and their forefathers see that justice is done!”

Jacob thus solemnly swore by the god of his father Isaac.  He made a sacrifice in the hills and held a feast for his family and his household.  They ate and stayed the night there.

Laban rose at daybreak, kissed his daughters and grandchildren, blessed them, and then returned home. 

Notes
1.  While Laban is away from the house, Rachel sneaks in and steals Laban's idols, that is, the statues, sculptures, images, or whatever of household gods.  A belief in minor spirits or beings that protected and served a home and family was widespread in ancient times, if not in later times.  The Romans had their lares and penates, who were accorded shrines in the house and offered sacrifices.   (The later belief in patron saints, who, in fact, are minor gods save in name, is similar.) It is surprising that Laban, a Jehovist, would have kept and worshiped idols, but perhaps it should not be, given the near universality of the custom at the time.  It is difficult to say exactly what the idols would have looked like, a human-like statue or bust of stone or wood, probably, although there is some opinion that the idols could have been actual human skulls or mummified heads.  In any case, they were small enough to be concealed under a camel saddle.  Household gods were presumed not only to have the power to protect the home and to bring good fortune to the family, but to function as oracles.  Why Rachel stole the idols is an interesting question.  Religious opinion is that she did so to cure Laban of his idolatry.  There is no reason to assume this, and if that were the case, why wouldn't she destroy the idols instead?  It is more likely that Rachel either wanted to get back at her father by taking something of great value away from him, or she felt that in journeying to a new home the family gods should accompany her, since the continuation of the family line she saw as resting with her. 

2.  True to form for a members of the Abraham clan, Rachel practices deceit, stealing the idols belonging to her father and effectively hiding them when he searches for them. Meanwhile, Laban and Jacob continue to play their competitive games with each other, even though they call a truce.  Both men are disingenuous, insincere, and hypocritical.  Jacob vents about how diligently he labored for Laban and how difficult he was to work for, but he neglects to mention how he tricked his boss out of his livestock.

3.  Laban and Jacob have different names for the cairn that was erected, indicating that they must have used different languages.  Laban would have spoken some Mesopotamian language, probably Akkadian, while Jacob would have adopted as a first language that of the Canaanites with whom he lived.  It is also very likely that he, like Abraham and probably Isaac, spoke more than one language.  In the text, Laban is speaking Aramaic and Jacob, Hebrew.  Actually, Hebrew, a composite of the Semitic languages of Mesopotamia and Canaan with influences of Egyptian, considered a Hamitic tongue, was still developing.  And Aramaic, later to be the language of Aram, where Laban lived, would not emerge as a separate language for hundreds of years.  (It would be the predominant language of the Holy Land in New Testament times.)  It is understandable that the 6th Century B.C. compilers of Genesis would not be conversant with this linguistic history.

4.  In the agreement at Gilead we see the beginning of the concept of a god who observes man’s behavior, rewarding the good, punishing the bad, and administering divine justice.  What man does in secret, unbeknownst to other men, is known to the deity, and this becomes a deterrent to immoral behavior.

5.  Gilead is a mountainous area east of the River Jordan in the northwest part of the modern country of Jordan, north of the ancient regions of Moab and Ammon.