And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that [were] her father’s.
19. gone to shear his sheep ] Jacob selected, as an opportune moment for flight, Laban’s absence from home and attendance at the important festival of sheep-shearing. Among shepherds this was an occasion of feasting, which lasted several days. Cf. 1Sa 25:2 ; 1Sa 25:7; 1Sa 25:11; 2Sa 13:23. Jacob, by seizing this opportunity, is able to get clear away, cross the Euphrates, and start homewards.
the teraphim ] The teraphim were the household gods, like the Latin Penates, sometimes small in size, as would appear from this verse and Gen 31:30 ; Gen 31:34; but sometimes, as is to be inferred from 1Sa 19:13, large enough to be shaped like human figures. Their presence in the houses of Israelites was common; cf. Jdg 17:4-5; Hos 3:4. But they seem to have been a source of superstition. The narrative in Gen 35:2, 1Sa 15:23 , 2Ki 23:24, shews that their use was opposed to the best spirit of Israelite religion. The versions here render “teraphim” by “idols,” LXX , Lat. idola.
The mention of them here and in Gen 35:2-4 seems to connect their use with Aramaean influences. There is no reference to them in the story of Abraham and Isaac. Rachel hopes to bring with her the good genius of her own home.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. Laban went to shear his sheep] Laban had gone; and this was a favourable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived.
Rachel had stolen the images] teraphim. What the teraphim were is utterly unknown. In Ge 31:30 they are termed 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 Divine attributes, Dr. Shuckford supposes them to be a sort of tiles, on which the names or figures of their ancestors were engraven. Theodoret, in his 89th question, calls them idols; and says that Rachel, who was a type of the true Church, stole them from her father that he might be delivered from idolatry. R. S. Jarchi gives nearly the same reason.
The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel gives a strange turn to the whole passage. “And Rachel stole the images of her father: for they had murdered a man, who was a first-born son; and having cut off his head, they embalmed it with salt and spices, and they wrote divinations upon a plate of gold, and put it under his tongue; and placed it against the wall, and it conversed with them, and Laban worshipped it. And Jacob stole the science of Laban the Syrian, that it might not discover his departure.”
If the word be derived from rapha, to heal or restore, then the teraphim may be considered as a sort of talismans, kept for the purpose of averting and curing diseases; and probably were kept by Laban for the same purpose that the Romans kept their lares and penates. It is however possible that teraphim is the same as seraphim, the tau and sin being changed, which is very frequent in the Syrian or Chaldee language; and we know that Laban was an Aramean or Syrian. FIRE has been considered from the earliest ages as a symbol of the Deity; and as the word seraphim comes from saraph, to burn, it has been conjectured that the teraphim of Laban were luminous forms, prepared of burnished brass, c., which he might imagine a proper medium of communication between God and his worshippers. Mr. Parkhurst has observed that the teraphim were in use among believers and unbelievers. Among the former, see this chapter for he denies that Laban was an idolater. See also Jdg 17:5; Jdg 18:14, Jdg 18:18, Jdg 18:20; 1Sa 19:13, 1Sa 19:16. Among the latter, see 2Kg 23:24; Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2. Compare 1Sa 15:23, and Hos 3:4. These are all the places in which the original word is found.
The Persian translator seems to have considered these teraphim as tables or instruments that served for purposes of judicial astrology, and hence translates the word [Persian] asterlabha, astrolabes. As the astrolabe was an instrument with which they took the altitude of the pole-star, the sun, &c., it might, in the notion of the Persian translator, imply tables, &c., by which the culminating of particular stars might be determined, and the whole serve for purposes of judicial astrology. Now as many who have professed themselves to be believers in Christianity, have nevertheless addicted themselves to judicial astrology, we might suppose such a thing in this case, and still consider Laban as no idolater. If the Persian translator has not hit on the true meaning, he has formed the most likely conjecture.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Quest. 1. What were those teraphim or images?
Answ. They were images made in the shape of men, 1Sa 19:13,16, which the Gentiles worshipped as subordinate gods, Gen 31:30,32, to which they committed the protection of their families, 1Sa 19:13, which they used to consult about secret or future things, and from which they received answers about them, Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2. Of these see more Jdg 17:5; 18:14,17, &c.; Hos 3:4. And these idols Laban worshipped together with the true God.
Quest. 2. Why did Rachel steal them?
Answ. Partly, lest her father by consulting them should discover their flight, and the course which they took; and partly, because she seemed yet to retain a superstitious conceit of them, as may be gathered from Gen 35:2. Others, because they were pretty and precious things, made of silver and gold, which she took as a part of what was due to her, both as his daughter, and for her husbands service. Others, that she might remove so great an occasion of her fathers idolatry, and show him the vanity of such gods as might be stolen away.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Laban went to shear his sheep,…. Which were under the care of his sons, and were three days’ distance from Jacob’s flocks; this gave Jacob a fair opportunity to depart with his family and substance, since Laban and his sons were at such a distance, and their servants with them also:
and Rachel had stolen the images that [were] her father’s; afterwards called gods, which he made use of in an idolatrous and superstitious manner, one way or other: they seem to be a kind of “penates”, or household gods; in the Hebrew they are called “teraphim”; and which De Dieu thinks were the same with “seraphim” z; and were images of angels, consulted on occasion, and placed in the house for the protection of it, and to increase the substance thereof: some take them to be plates of brass describing the hours of the day, a sort of sundials; or were such forms, that at certain times were made to speak, and show things to come: but they rather seem to be images of an human form, as say the Jewish writers, and as seems from 1Sa 19:13; and which it is supposed were made under certain constellations, and were a sort of talismans, and were consulted as oracles, and in high esteem with the Chaldeans and Syrians, a people given to astrology, and by which they made their divinations; [See comments on Ho 3:4] and also
[See comments on Zec 10:2]; and therefore Rachel took them away, that her father might not consult them, and know which way Jacob fled, as Aben Ezra; but this looks as if she had an opinion of them, and that they had such a power of discovering persons and things that were attributed to them: and indeed some think she took them away from an affection and veneration for them, supposing she should not be able to meet with such in Canaan in Isaac’s family; and what is observed in
Ge 35:2 seems to countenance this; but one would think she had been better instructed by Jacob during his twenty years’ conversation with her; and besides, had she been tinctured with such sort of superstition and idolatry, she would never have used them so indecently, as to have sat upon them in the circumstances in which she was, Ge 31:34; it is more to her credit and character to say with Jarchi, that she did this to take off her father from the idolatrous worship of them, and to convince him that they were no gods; since they could not inform him of the designs of Jacob, and of his flight, nor secure themselves from being carried away by her; unless it can be thought that she took them because of the metal of which they were made, gold or silver, being willing to have something of her father’s goods as her portion, which she thought she had a right unto, or in recompence of her husband’s service. Dr. Lightfoot a thinks she took them for a civil use, to preserve the memory of some of her ancestors, of which these were the pictures, and Laban had idolized; but whether pictures were so early is questionable.
z So Hyde, Hist. Relig. Ver. Pers. c. 20. p. 272. a Works, vol. 1. p. 696.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
19. And Rachel had stolen. Although the Hebrews sometimes call those images תרפים ( teraphim,) which are not set forth as objects of worship: yet since this term is commonly used in an ill sense, I do not doubt that they were the household gods of Laban. (93) Even he himself, shortly afterwards, expressly calls them his gods. It appears hence how great is the propensity of the human mind to idolatry: since in all ages this evil has prevailed; namely, that men seek out for themselves visible representations of God. From the death of Noah not yet two hundred years had elapsed; Shem had departed but a little while before; his teaching, handed down by tradition, ought most of all to have flourished among the posterity of Terah; because the Lord had chosen this family to himself, as the only sanctuary on earth in which he was to be worshipped in purity. The voice of Shem himself was sounding in their ears until the death of Abraham.; yet now, from Terah himself, the common filth of superstition inundated this place, while the patriarch Shem was still living and speaking. And though there is no doubt that he endeavored, with all his power, to bring back his descendants to a right mind, we see what was his success. It is not indeed to be believed, that Bethuel had been entirely ignorant of the call of Abraham; yet neither he, with his family, was, on that account, withdrawn from this vanity. Holy Jacob also had not been silent during twenty years, but had endeavored, by counsel and admonition, to correct these gross vices, but in vain; because superstition, in its violent course, prevailed. Therefore, that idolatry is almost innate in the human mind, the very antiquity of its origin bears witness. And that it is so firmly fixed there as scarcely to be capable of being uprooted, shows its obstinacy. But it is still more absurd, that not even Rachel could be healed of this contagion, in so great a length of time. She had often heard her husband speaking of the true and genuine worship of God: yet she is so addicted to the corruptions which she had imbibed from her childhood, that she is ready to infect the land chosen by God with them. She imagines that, with her husband, she is following God as her leader, and at the same time takes with her the idols by which she would subvert his worship. It is even possible that by the excessive indulgence of his beloved wife, Jacob might give too much encouragement to such superstitions. Wherefore, let pious fathers of families learn to use their utmost diligence that no stain of evil may remain in their wives or children. Some inconsiderately excuse Rachel, on the ground that, by a pious theft, she wished to purge her father’s house from idols. But if this had been her design, why, in crossing the Euphrates, did she not cast away these abominations? Why did she not, after her departure, explain to her husband what she had done? But there is no need of conjecture, since, from the sequel of the history, it is manifest that the house of Jacob was polluted with idols, even to the time of the violation of Dinah. It was not, then, the piety of Rachel, but her insane hankering after superstition which impelled her to the theft: because she thought that God could not be worshipped but through idols; for this is the source of the disease, that since men are carnal, they imagine God to be carnal too.
(93) See the subject of Teraphim discussed at length in Rivetus, who confirms the opinion of Calvin by arguments and illustrations drawn from learned writers. Exercitatio cxxxii. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) Laban went to shear his sheep.The sheep-shearing was a joyous time, when the hard toil of the shearers was relieved by feasting ( 1Sa. 25:8 ). Labans flocks, apparently, were also at some distance from Haran, and his sons and men-servants would all be with him, busily occupied in the work. Apparently, too, Labans wealth was not seriously diminished, though it had not of late increased; and his repeated change of the hire proves that he was quite able to take care of himself. But why was not Jacob present, as he had chief charge of Labans flocks? Possibly, he was expected there, and was missed; but, more probably, as the result of the growing estrangement between them, caused by the too rapid increase of Jacobs riches, Laban and his sons had gradually taken the management of their flocks into their own hands.
Images.Heb., teraphim, called Labans gods in Gen. 31:30, and we find that their worship continued throughout the Old Testament history. Micah sets up teraphim, as well as a molten and a graven image, and an ephod (Jdg. 18:17). Though in 1Sa. 15:23, where the Authorised Version has idolatry, teraphim are spoken of in strong terms of condemnation, yet Michal possessed them, and placed them in Davids bed. We gather from this that they had a head shaped like that of a man, but, probably, a dwarf trunk, as she seems to have put more than one in the bed to represent Davids body (1Sa. 19:13). So, too, here Rachel hides them under the camels furniture (Gen. 31:34), which proves that they, in this case, were of no great size. In the history of the thorough reformation carried out by King Josiah we find the mention of teraphim among the things put away (2Ki. 23:24). We learn, nevertheless, from Zec. 10:2, that they were still used for divination; and from Hos. 3:4 that both pillars and teraphim had long been objects of ordinary superstition among the ten tribes. As Nebuchadnezzar divines by them (Eze. 21:21) they were possibly of Chaldean origin; and, probably, were not so much worshipped as used for consultation. Women seem to have been most given to their service, and probably regarded them as charms, and told fortunes by them; and here Rachel stole them upon the supposition that they would bring prosperity to her and her husband.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Laban went to shear his sheep This afforded an opportunity for Jacob to effect his escape without trouble or excitement, for he feared forcible opposition from Laban . Gen 31:31.
Had stolen Or, stole . While Laban went to the shearing, she steals .
The images The teraphim . This word is always used in the plural, and is of uncertain origin . It appears to denote a sort of household gods, ( Penates,) common in Syria, and often consulted as domestic oracles . By these probably Laban was wont to divine, (Gen 30:27, note,) and Rachel’s object in taking them was both to prevent their being used by her father to her disadvantage, and also for her own domestic interests . Comp . Jdg 17:5; Eze 21:21; Zec 10:2; and note on Jos 24:14. The teraphim were small images of human form, though sometimes of life size. 1Sa 19:13. They were essentially connected with idolatrous ideas and practices, and seem to have served as a transition from Monotheism unto Polytheism. In some such transition state Laban appears to have been, and from it Rachel was not free. Other members of Jacob’s household also clung to similar superstitions and carried off strange gods with them. Comp. Gen 35:2-4.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that [were] her father’s.
Ver. 19. Rachel had stolen the images. ] She was somewhat tackt a with her father’s superstition, though somewhat reclaimed. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols”. 1Jn 5:21 Nothing so natural to us as image worship. Nothing so retained by us, when once entertained. After all that airing in the wilderness, Micah’s mother smells of Egypt, and hath her molten and graven gods. Jdg 17:3 Rachel also had her idols a long time after this. Gen 35:2 ; Gen 35:4 The devil is , saith Synesius; and so he would have us. Fence we therefore ourselves and ours against this abomination: the itch of it, once got, is hardly ever cured and clawed off.
a [Touched.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
images. Hebrew. teraphim, a kind of household gods, showing that the idolatry of Babylonia still clung to Laban’s family, in spite of his protestations in Gen 31:20; Gen 30:27. Compare Gen 31:30; Gen 35:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
images: Heb. teraphim, Gen 31:30, Gen 31:32, Gen 35:2, Jos 24:2, Jdg 17:4, Jdg 17:5, Jdg 18:14-24, Jdg 18:31, 1Sa 19:13, Eze 21:21, Hos 3:4, These might have been images devoted to superstitious or idolatrous purposes, as they are termed gods by Laban, in Gen 31:30. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it, tzalmanaya, “images;” the LXX and Theodoret, [Strong’s G1497], “idols;” Aquilla, , “figures;” and the Persian, asterlabha, “astrolabes.”
Reciprocal: Gen 24:38 – my father’s Gen 31:34 – had taken Gen 38:12 – in process of time Deu 27:15 – and putteth 2Ki 23:24 – images Isa 44:13 – that it may Zec 10:2 – the idols
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 31:19. Laban went to shear his sheep That part of his flock which was in the hands of his sons, three days journey off. Now, 1st, It is certain it was lawful for Jacob to leave his service suddenly: it was not only justified by the particular instructions God gave him, but warranted by the fundamental law of self-preservation, which directs us, when we are in danger, to shift for our own safety, as far as we can do it without wronging our consciences. 2d, It was his prudence to steal away unawares to Laban, lest if Laban had known, he should have hindered him, or plundered him. 3d, It was honestly done to take no more than his own with him, the cattle of his getting. He took what Providence gave him, and would not take the repair of his damages into his own hands. Yet Rachel was not so honest as her husband; she stole her fathers images, and carried them away. The Hebrew calls them teraphim. Some think they were only little representations of the ancestors of the family in statue or picture, which Rachel had a particular fondness for, and was desirous to have with her, now she was going into another country. It should rather seem they were images for a religious use, penates, household gods, either worshipped, or consulted as oracles; and we are willing to hope that she took them away, not out of covetousness, much less for her own use, or out of any superstitions fear, lest Laban, by consulting his teraphim, might know which way they were gone; but with a design to convince her father of the folly of his regard to those as gods which could not secure themselves.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the {f} images that [were] her father’s.
(f) For so the word here signifies, because Laban calls them gods, Gen 31:30.