And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar.
45. Jacob ] The name “Jacob” is here almost certainly a gloss. We should read either “and he took a stone,” or “and Laban took a stone.” In Gen 31:51 Laban says that he set up the pillar or mabah. Laban erects the pillar; Jacob makes the heap of stones.
a pillar ] Heb. mabah. As Jacob had done at Bethel, Gen 28:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In testimony of his compliance with Labans proposal, and his entering into this covenant. See Exo 24:4.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar. To show his readiness to agree to the motion, he immediately took a large stone that lay upon the mount, and set it up on one end, to be a standing monument or memorial of the agreement now about to be made between them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘And Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar, and Jacob said to his brothers, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.’
This was clearly acceded to by Laban (Gen 31:51). It is clear that a stone was set up for each person, one for Jacob and a heap for Laban as the leader, and for the heads of sub-tribes involved in the making of the covenant. Thus Jacob first sets up his pillar to represent his side of the covenant, then the remainder set up stones together in a heap to represent their side of the covenant. We can compare the twelve stones for the twelve tribes in Joshua 4. So there are two silent witnesses to the covenant, the pillar and the heap. As we have seen the setting up of stones was a regular method of having a physical reminder of a covenant (compare Gen 35:14; 1Sa 7:12; Jos 4:3; see also 2Sa 18:18).
“They ate there by the heap.” The eating was a solemn recognition of the peaceful nature of the covenant, as necessary a part of the process as the setting up of the stones. This was probably a ceremonial eating at the setting of the stones, a preliminary to the feast, although it is possible that it simply parallels the feast described later in verse 54, mentioned here as part of the ceremony.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
EXPOSITION
Gen 31:45
And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillaror Matzebah, as a memorial or witness of the covenant about to be formed (Gen 31:52); a different transaction from the piling of the stone-heap next referred to (of. Gen 28:18; Jos 14:1-15 :27).
Gen 31:46
And Jacob said unto his brethren,Laban’s kinsmen and his own (vide Gen 31:37)Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap:Gal, from Galal, to roll, to move in a circle, probably signified a circular cairn, to be used not as a seat (Gerlach), but as an altar (Gen 31:54), a witness (Gen 31:48), and a table (Gen 31:54), since it is addedand they did eat therenot immediately (Lange), but afterwards, on the conclusion of the covenant (Gen 31:54)upon the heap.
Gen 31:47
And Laban called it Jegar sahadutha:A Chaldaic term signifying “Heap of testimony,” (LXX.); tumulum testis (Vulgate)but Jacob called it Galeedcompounded of Gal and ‘ed and meaning, like the corresponding Aramaic term used’ by Laban, “Heap of witness,” (LXX.); acervum testimonii (Vulgate). “It is scarcely possible to doubt,” says Kalisch, “that an important historical fact,” relating to the primitive language of the patriarchs, “is concealed in this part of the narrative;” but whether that fact was that Aramaic, Syriac, or Chaldee was the mother-tongue of the family of Nahor, while Hebrew was acquired by Abraham in Canaan (Block, Delitzsch, Keil), or that Laban had deviated from the original speech of his ancestors, or that’ Laban and Jacob both used the same language with some growing dialectic differences (Gosman in Lange, Inglis), Laban simply on this occasion giving the heap a name which would be known to the inhabitants of the district (Wordsworth), seems impossible to determine with certainty. The most that ran be reasonably inferred from the term Jegar-sahadutha is that Aramaic was the language of Mesopotamia (Rosenmller); besides this expression there is no other evidence that Laban and Jacob conversed in different dialects; while it is certain that the word Mizpah, which was probably also spoken by Laban, is not Chaldee or Aramaic but Hebrew.
Gen 31:48-50
And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. The historian addingTherefore was the name of it called (originally by Jacob, and afterwards by the Israelites from this transaction) Galeed (vide on Gen 31:21). The stony character of the regon may have suggested the designation. And Mizpah;watchtower from Tsaphah, to watch. Mizpah afterwards became the site of a town in the district of Gilead (Jdg 10:17; Jdg 11:11, Jdg 11:19, Jdg 11:34); which received its name, as the historian intimates, from the pile of witness erected by Laban and his kinsmen, and was later celebrated as the residence of Jephthah (Jdg 11:34) and the seat of the sanctuary (Jdg 11:11). Ewald supposes that the mound (Galeed) and the watch tower (Mispah) were different objects, and that the meaning of the (so-called) legend is that, while the former (the mountain) was riled up by Jacob and his people, the latter (now the city and fortress of Mizpah on one of the heights of Gilead) was constructed by Laban and his followers; but the “grotesqusnesa“ of this interpretation of the Hebrew story is its best refutationfor he (i.e. Laban) said, The LordJehovah; a proof that Gen 31:49, Gen 31:50 are a Jehovistic interpolation (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso, Kalisch); an indication of their being a subsequent insertion, though not warranting the inference that the entire history is a complication (Keil); a sign that henceforth Laban regarded Jehovah as the representative of his rights (Lange); but probably only a token that Laban, recognizing Jehovah as the only name that would bind the conscience of Jacob (Hengstenberg, Quarry), had for the moment adopted Jacob’s theology (‘Speaker’s Commentary’), but only in self-defense (Wordsworth)watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from anotherliterally, a man from his companion. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us;either then they stood apart from Laban’s clan followers (Inglis); or his meaning was that when widely separated there would be no one to judge betwixt them, or perhaps even to observe them (Rosenmller), butsee, God (Elohim in contrast to man) is witness betwixt me and thee.
Gen 31:51-53
And Laban said to Jacob,according to Ewald the last narrator has transposed the names of Laban and JacobBehold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast (same word as in Gen 31:45. The Arabic version and Samaritan text read yaritha, thou hast erected, instead of yarithi, I have erected or cast up) betwixt me and thee; this heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that (literally, if, here = that) I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar (Laban bound himself never to pass over the heap which he had erected as his witness; whereas Jacob was required to swear that he would never cross the pillar and the pile, both of which were witnesses for him) unto me, for harm. The emphatic word closes the sentence. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judgethe verb is plural, either because Laban regarded the Elohim of Nahor as different from the Elohim of Abraham (Rosenmller, Keil, Kalisch, Wordsworth, ‘Speaker’s Commentary’), or because, though acknowledging only one Elohim, he viewed him as maintaining several and distinct relations to the persons namedbetwixt us. Laban here invokes his own hereditary Elohim, the Elohim of Abraham’s father, to guard his rights and interests under the newly-formed covenant; while Jacob in his adjuration appeals to the Elohim of Abraham’s son. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac (vide supra, Gen 31:42).
Gen 31:54
Then Jacob offered sacrificeliterally, slew a slaying, in ratification of the covenantupon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread. The sacrificial meal afterwards became an integral part of the Hebrew ritual (Exo 14:3-8; Exo 29:27, Exo 29:28; Le Exo 10:14, Exo 10:15). And they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
Gen 31:55
And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters,i.e. Rachel and Leah and their children. It does not appear that Laban kissed Jacob on taking final leave of him as he did on first meeting him (Gen 29:1-35 :39)and blessed them (cf. Gen 14:1-24 :60; Gen 28:1): and Laban departed, and returned unto his placePadan-aram (cf. Gen 18:33; Gen 30:25).
HOMILETICS
Gen 31:45-55
Galeed and Mizpah, or the covenant of peace.
I. THE COVENANT MEMORIALS.
1. The pillar of remembrance. The erection of the stone slab appears to have been the act of Jacob alone, and to have been designed to commemorate the important transaction about to be entered into with Laban. It is well to keep note of those engagements we make with our fellow-men in order to their punctual fulfillment; much more of those we make with God. It does not appear that any name was given to the column, and this may have been because it was intended chiefly for himself.
2. The pile of witness. This was the work both of Laban and Jacob, which they conjointly performed through the instrumentality of their brethren; and being of the nature of a public monument, it was further characterized by a nameLaban calling it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob styling it Galeed, both expressions signifying heap of witness, and perhaps both of them naming it Mizpah, or watchtower, from the nature of the oath which they both took on the occasion. Men who are truly sincere in their covenant engagements are never afraid to bind themselves by public attestations of their good faith, though it is certain that of all men these least require to be so bound.
II. THE COVENANT WORDS.
1. The solemn engagements. On the one hand Laban undertakes never to pass the stone heap on Gilead to do injury to Jacobnot mentioning the pillar, which was purely of Jacob’s construction, and therefore supposed to have a religious significance solely for Jacob; and on the other hand Jacob records his vow never to cross the pillar and the pile to inflict wrong on Laban, and in addition, as Laban might be injured in his daughters without crossing the forbidden line, never to afflict Rachel and Leah by taking other wives besides them; The engagement on both sides is to abstain from doing injury of any sort to each other; and to this all men are bound by both natural and revealed religion without the formality of an oath; and much more than other men, are Christians taken bound by God’s grace and Christ’s blood to live peaceably with all men and be at peace amongst themselves.
2. The impressive oaths. If it is dubious whether Laban appealed to God or only to the stone-heap to witness his sincerity in promising not to harm Jacob, it is certain that he appealed to God to keep a strict eye on Jacob (Gen 31:49), and in a semi-superstitious way united the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their fathers, to judge between them. Jacob does not mention either pile or pillar, but swears by the fear of his father Isaac.
III. THE COVENANT ACTIONS.
1. The sacrifice. The offering of sacrifice was essential to the formation of a covenant. As between God and man, it virtually proclaimed that God could enter into amicable relations with sinful man only on the basis of an atonement. As between man and man, it was equivalent to an acknowledgment by the covenanting parties that both required to be covered with the blood of propitiation. That Jacob, and not Laban, offered sacrifice intimates that these truths were already in some degree appreciated by Jacob, though possibly they were not understood by Laban.
2. The feast. In making this feast Jacob may only have been following the example of his father Isaac, who similarly entertained Abimelech and his statesmen at Beersheba on the occasion’ of the treaty which was there formed between them; but the sacrificial feast afterwards became an important element in the Mosaic cultus, and was designed to express the idea of house and table fellowship between the covenanting parties.
IV. THE COVENANT RESULTS.
1. The kiss of reconciliation. It is not certain that Laban kissed Jacob when he prepared for his departure in the morning; perhaps that was too much to expect; but he kissed Rachel and Leah and their children. It was a sign of forgiveness not alone to them, but through them also to Jacob.
2. The paternal benediction. Laban, whose better nature appears to have returned as the result of the covenant, or of the feast, or of the contemplated parting with his daughters, poured out his feelings in a farewell blessing on their heads. It is the last we hear or see of Laban in the Scripture narrative. Let us hope it was the revival of early kindness and piety in the old man’s heart.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY
Gen 31:51-55
Final covenant between Jacob and Laban.
I. ENTIRE SEPARATION FROM TEMPTATION IS THE ONLY SAFETY. Very imperfect knowledge in the Mesopotamian family. Rachel’s theft of the household gods a sign of both moral and spiritual deficiency. The religion of Jacob and his descendants must be preserved from contamination. Intercourse with the unenlightened and unsanctified, though necessary for a time and in some degree, must not be suffered to obscure the higher light, or surround us with practical entanglements which hinder our faithfulness to God.
II. WHEREVER THE SPIRITUAL LIFE IS FEEBLE IT IS WELL THAT THERE SHOULD BE SOLEMN PUBLIC ACTS OF COVENANT AND TESTIMONY. We want the Galeed and the Mizpah, the heap of witness and the watch-tower of faith. Many united together in the covenant, and thus became witnesses in whose presence the oath was taken. We are helped to faithfulness by the publicity of our vows. But the higher the spiritual life, the less we shall call in material things to support it. Jacob with Laban is not the true Jacob. All dependence upon the symbol and rite is more or less compromise.
III. THE CONTACT OF THE HIGHER FORM OF RELIGION WITH THE LOWER ONE, OF THE MEANS OF PREPARING THE WORLD FOR THE TRUTH. Laban and his family types of the lower order of religious knowledge and life. The covenant between the father-in-law and son-in-law in the name of the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor points to a rising light in the Mesopotamian family. We may be sure that the influence of Christianity will be supreme wherever it is brought face to face with men’s religions. That influence may be embodied in matters of common life, in covenants between man and man, in laws and commercial regulations and social arrangements.
IV. THE SEED OF THE DIVINE LIFE IS PLANTED IN THE SOIL OF NATURE, BUT REVEALS ITS SUPERIORITY TO NATURE BY BRINGING ALL THINGS AND MEN INTO SUBJECTION TO ITSELF. Jacob, Rachel, and afterwards Joseph, present to the Spirit of God elements of character which require both elevation and renovation. The grace is given. On a natural foundation inherited from others God rears by his grace a lofty structure. The crafty and the thoughtful are often nearly allied. It is one of the spiritual dangers to which specially energetic and subtle minds are exposed, that they may so easily fall into an abuse of their superior mental quickness to the injury of their moral purity and simplicity. Jacob and Laban making their covenant together, and erecting their witnessing monuments, are another illustration of the homage which even very imperfect characters pay to the God of truth. They appeal to him, and they do so in the presence of a world which they know will justify God, and not the sinner. The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, the God of Isaac, judged between them. Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and invited his brethren to a sacrificial banquet; and it was in that atmosphere of mingled reverence for God and human affection that the heir of the covenant bade farewell to all that held him in restraint. and set his face once more towards the land of promise.R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 31:45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar.
Ver. 45. A stone. ] Or stones, as Gen 31:46 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
pillar. Compare Gen 28:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 28:18-22
Reciprocal: Gen 31:51 – I have cast Gen 31:52 – General Exo 24:4 – twelve pillars 1Sa 7:12 – took a stone