And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
22 55. The Pursuit of Laban, &c.
23. his brethren ] i.e. the men of his kindred and clan, as in Gen 31:25 ; Gen 31:32. Jacob is similarly attended; cf. Gen 31:37 ; Gen 31:46 ; Gen 31:54, Gen 24:60.
seven days’ journey ] The distance from Haran to the land of Gilead for a company with flocks and herds would require a longer time. It is computed to be over 300 miles in a straight line. But we do not need to be very exacting about geographical accuracy in old-world popular stories.
The point to notice is that Jacob was encumbered with his flocks and herds and household, and that Laban, travelling without encumbrance in pursuit, overtook him in ten days from his flight.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he took his brethren with him,…. Some of his relations, the descendants of his father’s brethren, the sons of Nahor, of whom there were seven, besides Bethuel; and who all perhaps lived in Haran the city of Nahor, see Ge 22:20; or some of his neighbours and acquaintance whom he might call to:
and pursued after him seven days’ journey; which must be reckoned, not from Jacob’s departure from Haran, but from Laban’s; for Laban being three days’ journey from thence, whither he had to return, after he received the news of Jacob being gone; Jacob must have travelled six days before Laban set out with his brethren from Haran; so that this was, as Ben Gerson conjectures, the thirteenth day of Jacob’s travel; for Laban not having cattle to drive as Jacob, could travel as fast again as he, and do that in seven days which took up Jacob thirteen:
and they overtook him in the mount Gilead; said to be three hundred and eighty miles from Haran e.
e Bunting’s Travels, p. 72.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23. And pursued him seven days’ journey. Since the cruelty of Laban was now appeased, or at least bridled, he did not dare severely to threaten; but laying aside his ferocity, he descended to feigned and hypocritical blandishments. He complains that injury had been done him, because he had been kept in ignorance of Jacob’s departure, whom he would rather leave sent forth with customary tokens of joy, in token of his paternal affection. Thus hypocrites, when the power of inflicting injury is taken away from them, heap false complaints upon the good and simple, as if the blame rested with them. Wherefore, if at any time wicked and perfidious men, when they have unjustly harassed us, put forward some pretext of equity on their own part, we must bear with the iniquity; not because a just defense is to be entirely omitted; but because we find it inevitable that perverse men, ever ready to speak evil, will shamelessly cast upon us the blame of crimes of which we are innocent. Meanwhile, we must prudently guard against giving them the occasion against us which they seek.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) His brethren.As Jacob, who had no relatives with him except his sons, applies this term in Gen. 31:46 to his followers, it is, probably, an honourable way of describing retainers, who were freemen and of a higher class than men-servants.
Seven days journey.The route chosen by Jacob was apparently the more easterly one, past Tadmor, and through the Hauran, leaving Damascus to the west. The hill, which subsequently was called Mount Gilead, lay to the south of the Jabbok; but asMahanaim, reached some days after the meeting with Laban, is to the north of that river, the word Gilead was evidently applied to the whole of the region of chalk cliffs on the east of the Jordan. This is made certain by the fact that Laban overtook Jacob in seven days. But as the distance from Haran to the most northerly part of this country (afterwards assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh) was fully three hundred miles, it would require hard riding on the part of Laban and his brethren to enable them to overtake Jacob, even on the borders of this region. There is no difficulty about Jacobs movements. His flocks were pastured at so remote a distance from Haran that it would be easy for him to send them in detachments to the ford of the Euphrates, distant about sixty or seventy miles; he would make all the arrangements with his four elder sons and trusty servants, and, probably, even see them across the ford himself, and would return to Haran to fetch his wives and younger children only when all was well advanced. Finally, when Laban goes to a distance, in another direction, for his sheep-shearing, Jacob sets his sons and his wives upon camels, and follows with the utmost speed. They would have remained quietly at Haran to the last, to avoid suspicion, and, excepting Leahs four elder sons, the rest would have been too young to be of much use. When Jacob, with his wives, overtook the cattle, they would, probably, not travel more than ten or twelve miles a day; but three days passed before Laban learned what had taken place, and a couple of days at least must have been spent in returning to Haran and preparing for the pursuit. Thus Jacob had reached Canaanite grounda matter of very considerable importancebefore his father-in-law overtook him.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Took his brethren Various relatives who were with him at the feast of sheep shearing . Compare the use of this word in Gen 13:8.
Seven days’ journey From what date and from what place this seven days’ journey is to be reckoned, is not clear . The tidings of Jacob’s flight reached Laban on the third day after its occurrence, (Gen 31:22,) and it would probably take Laban three days more to get ready for the pursuit and to reach the point from which Jacob started; for there were three days’ journeying between them. Gen 30:36. Reckoning the seven days from that point, we give Jacob twelve or thirteen days the start of Laban, in which time he might have travelled three hundred and fifty miles . Both parties, doubtless, made the greatest possible haste; but Laban, unencumbered with flocks and family, would move twice or thrice as rapidly as Jacob, and so, in seven days from the time of his hearing of Jacob’s flight, he might have overtaken him . The Arab post is said to go from Damascus to Bagdad in eight days a distance of about five hundred miles. The distance between the Euphrates and Gilead is about three hundred miles.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he took his brethren with him and pursued after him seven days journey. And he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.’
Jacob had been making good progress and it took Laban some time to gather his ‘brethren’, that is his fellow confederacy leaders, together. It therefore took them ‘a seven day journey’ to overtake them. A ‘seven day journey’ indicates a longish journey as opposed to the shorter ‘three day journey’. It had therefore required greater preparation. It does not mean it was literally accomplished in seven days.
It would possibly take a little more than seven days to reach the hill country of Gilead (not the same as the later Gilead) although they would be moving at forced pace. This hill country was split into two halves, north (Jos 13:31; Deu 3:13) and south (Deu 3:12 RV; Jos 12:2; Jos 12:5) of the Jabbok.
It is an indication of the seriousness of the situation that such a force should make such a journey. This was more than just something personal between Jacob and Laban. The whole tribal confederacy was involved. They were losing a part of themselves.
The picture is a vivid one. Jacob, aware that pursuit will come, urging his men and his flocks to ever greater efforts; Laban and his small army pounding through day and night, all the while becoming ever more determined to prevent their escape. The situation was extremely serious. They were angry at what they saw as treason. But then comes divine intervention.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 31:23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
Ver. 23. And he took his brethren. ] The wicked may band themselves, and bend their strength against the saints; but they are bounded by God. He lets them have the ball on their foot many times, till they come to the very goal, and yet then makes them miss the game. He lets out their tether, and then pulls them back again to their task.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
brethren. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6, one relationship put for a general one.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 13:8, Gen 24:27, Exo 2:11, Exo 2:13
Reciprocal: Gen 31:21 – Gilead Gen 31:32 – before Gen 31:46 – brethren Gen 31:48 – Galeed Gen 37:25 – Ishmeelites 1Ch 5:9 – Gilead 1Ch 5:14 – Jaroah 1Ch 5:16 – Gilead 1Ch 12:29 – kindred Eze 47:18 – from Gilead
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 31:23. He took his brethren That is, his relations, and pursues Jacob to bring him back into bondage, or to strip him of what he had. They overtook him in the mount Gilead This mount was about two hundred and fifty miles from Haran; so that Jacob travelled twenty-five miles each day, and Laban, in pursuing him, thirty-seven.