And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword?
26. What hast thou done?] Cf. Gen 4:10. Laban’s reproach in Gen 31:26-30 is expressed in terms of forbearance and injured innocence: why had Jacob fled secretly? why not suffer himself to be dismissed with dignity? For the sake of the God of Isaac Laban will say no more, but he must protest against the theft of his household gods.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
By force and violence. A false accusation; for they freely consented, Gen 31:14-16.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26-30. Laban said . . . What hastthou done?Not a word is said of the charge (Ge31:1). His reproaches were of a different kind. His first chargewas for depriving him of the satisfaction of giving Jacob and hisfamily the usual salutations at parting. In the East it is customary,when any are setting out to a great distance, for their relatives andfriends to accompany them a considerable way with music andvaledictory songs. Considering the past conduct of Laban, hiscomplaint on this ground was hypocritical cant. But his second chargewas a grave onethe carrying off his godsHebrew,“teraphim,” small images of human figures, used not asidols or objects of worship, but as talismans, for superstitiouspurposes.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Laban said unto Jacob,…. Upon their meeting together; perhaps in some middle place between their two tents:
what hast thou done? what evil hast thou committed? what folly art thou guilty of? and what could induce thee to take such a step as this? suggesting that he could see no necessity for it; and as if he had done nothing that should occasion it, and that Jacob had done a very ill thing
that thou hast stolen away unawares to me: of this phrase
[See comments on Ge 31:20];
and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword; as were commonly done by a band of robbers that made incursions upon their neighbours, and plundered them of their substance, and carried away by force their wives and daughters; and such an one Laban represents Jacob to be, a thief and a robber; who had not only stolen away from him, but had stole away his goods, and even his gods, and carried away his daughters against their will: all which were false, and particularly the latter, since they went along with him with their free and full consent.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ Like sword-booty; ” i.e., like prisoners of war (2Ki 6:22) carried away unwillingly and by force.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(26-30) Laban said . . . Laban reproaches Jacob, first, for carrying away his daughters secretly, which was an affront to them (Gen. 31:26) and an injury to his own feelings (Gen. 31:28); secondly, he tells him that he should have punished him but for the Divine warning; lastly, he accuses him of stealing his teraphim.
Captives . . . Heb., captives of the sword, women carried off in war as spoil.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Laban said Laban opens the controversy, and his speech, both here (Gen 31:26-30) and afterwards, (Gen 31:43-44; Gen 31:48-53,) and Jacob’s also, (in Gen 31:36-42,) read like the fragments of an ancient poem. They have the rhythm and passion of poetry, and should be put in the poetic form.
We render Laban’s speech thus: What hast thou done?
And thou hast stolen my heart, And hast carried off my daughters As captives of the sword.
Why didst thou hide thyself to flee? And thou hast stolen me, And didst not inform me, And I would have sent thee away with joy, And with songs, with timbrel, and with harp. And thou didst not permit me To kiss my sons and my daughters, Now hast thou played the fool to do! It is to the God of my hand To do with you an evil.
But the God of your father Yesternight said to me, saying, Guard thyself from speaking with Jacob From good to evil.
And now going thou hast gone; For longing thou hast longed For the house of thy father. Why hast thou stolen my gods?
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done that you have stolen my heart and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword? Why did you flee secretly, and steal me, and did not tell me that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs and with tabret and with harp, and have not allowed me to kiss my sons and daughters?” ’
Laban arrives at his camp with other confederacy leaders, mainly his sons. But Jacob must have been very surprised at the way Laban approaches the matter. These words are very different from those Laban had originally planned and are not what Jacob was expecting. The armed force makes it clear that the intention had been to force Jacob back to Paddan-aram in ignominy, and Jacob knew it. And that is what he expects. But unknown to him Laban’s awesome experience has made him wary. He no longer dares to demand that Jacob return, so instead he seeks to put Jacob in the wrong socially and personally, and to demonstrate the deep hurt that Jacob has made him suffer.
“Stolen my heart.” Probably having in mind the tribal possessions Jacob has taken with him, but possibly including his daughters and grandsons.
“Carried away my daughters as captives of the sword.” Nothing makes clearer that he sees what Jacob has done as similar to an act of war. It was, of course, untrue, for they had gone willingly, but Laban cannot bring himself to believe that. Like many powerful men he did not perceive the harm he himself had done. He is trying to demonstrate that he is in the right.
“And stole me.” He is saying that Jacob had stolen what was a part of Laban himself. The unity of the tribe and family was very heartfelt.
“And did not tell me that I might have sent you away —-.” This idea results from the change of heart brought about by his experience with God. He is now in two minds. On the one hand he wants to restore the wholeness of the tribe, but on the other he recognises that, in the light of the theophany and the divine threat, he is restricted. So he seeks to salve his pride by putting Jacob in the wrong on other counts. Thus he suggests that Jacob has behaved dishonourably by leaving without proper farewells. But both he and Jacob are aware that had Jacob approached in the way he described, his departure with all his possessions would have been prevented.
“With mirth and with songs and —-.” The picture is a brazen fiction and brings a smile to the face for its very effrontery. This was the way in which Rebekah had gone to Isaac (24:60), but the situations were very different. She was going to marry a powerful man who has paid handsomely in marriage settlements and guarantees her safety and protection. The tribe was not diminished but rather enriched. The thought of Laban and his confederates rejoicing at the departure of Jacob with all his possessions, together with his wives and children, all connections of the tribe, is ludicrous. He might have been allowed to leave, but he would have been allowed to take little with him, as both of them well knew.
“And have not suffered me to kiss —.” Laban adds one fiction to another. The picture of him as the fond grandfather longing to kiss his grandchildren goodbye is simply a way of putting Jacob again in the wrong, and is equally ludicrous, although family ties were very strong and in its right place this would have been true.
So Laban is trying to put things in the best light for himself in view of the limitation placed on him by God. Yet we must be fair to Laban. He has much right on his side. The breaking away from the tribe was against all convention, as Jacob himself well knew. Indeed had it not been for God’s intervention there would have been no such sentimental thoughts on Laban’s part. Jacob would either have had to fight for it or have been put under arrest and brought on his way back to Paddan-aram, along with all he had, to face his punishment. But God’s intervention has made the difference.
Gen 31:28-30 (28b-30)
“Now have you done foolishly. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt, but the God of your father spoke to me yesternight, saying, ‘Take heed to yourself that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad. And now, though you desire to be gone because you are very homesick for your father’s house, yet why have you stolen my gods?”
Laban knows that all the right is on his side although he would no doubt have admitted, if pressed, that any attempt by Jacob to get away with his possessions openly would have been in vain. So he still takes the position of the aggrieved party, albeit warily. He now has in mind the confederacy leaders. They must have been wondering at his attitude. Why did he not just insist on the return of the miscreants? So he stresses Jacob’s homesickness. He had other tribal loyalties.
Laban is not, of course, aware that Jacob left at God’s command but he does know that Jacob had put himself in a dangerous position by deserting the tribe secretly, and that the confederacy leaders will have to be pacified. Then he explains why he is being so lenient. He has had a vivid experience of God which he must obey.
It is at this point that he mentions the stolen gods. That the gods were the last thing on Laban’s mind comes out in that he has not mentioned them until now, but they provide a further grounds for complaint, a further means of blaming Jacob, and they were unquestionably important to him. Their theft is a flouting of his authority as well as being an insult to his family. And it would be seen by the confederacy leaders as a grave offence. Thus if he could get these back it might satisfy the confederacy leaders that their journey had not been in vain. Poor Laban. He now has to pacify his own supporters because of the change of mind produced in him by his dream.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 31:26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword?
Ver. 26. As captives taken with the sword. ] No such matter; but that the old churl must have somewhat to say: for Jacob had their goodwills to go with him: and besides, they were now his more than Laban’s. Jacob had them in marriage, and not in bondage: he carried them not as his captives, but companions.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
What: Gen 31:36, Gen 3:13, Gen 4:10, Gen 12:18, Gen 20:9, Gen 20:10, Gen 26:10, Jos 7:19, 1Sa 14:43, 1Sa 17:29, Joh 18:35
carried: Gen 31:16, Gen 2:24, Gen 34:29, 1Sa 30:2
Reciprocal: Gen 30:26 – my wives Gen 31:31 – Because 2Sa 19:41 – stolen