Kejadian 31:47

31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ¹  but Jacob called it Galeed. ² 

Kejadian 32:1

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God ³  met him.

Kejadian 31:1

Jacob’s Flight from Laban

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ⁴  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ⁵  at our father’s expense!” ⁶ 

Kejadian 35:4

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession ⁷  and the rings that were in their ears. ⁸  Jacob buried them ⁹  under the oak ¹⁰  near Shechem

[31:47]  ¹ sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”

[31:47]  ² sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.

[32:1]  ³ sn The phrase angels of God occurs only here and in Gen 28:12 in the OT. Jacob saw a vision of angels just before he left the promised land. Now he encounters angels as he prepares to return to it. The text does not give the details of the encounter, but Jacob’s response suggests it was amicable. This location was a spot where heaven made contact with earth, and where God made his presence known to the patriarch. See C. Houtman, “Jacob at Mahanaim: Some Remarks on Genesis XXXII 2-3,” VT 28 (1978): 37-44.

[31:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying.”

[31:1]  ⁵ sn The Hebrew word translated “gotten rich” (כָּבוֹד, cavod) has the basic idea of “weight.” If one is heavy with possessions, then that one is wealthy (13:2). Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all became wealthy when they left the promised land. Jacob’s wealth foreshadows what will happen to Israel when they leave the land of Egypt (Exod 12:35-38).

[31:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from that which belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.”

[35:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “in their hand.”

[35:4]  ⁸ sn On the basis of a comparison with Gen 34 and Num 31, G. J. Wenham argues that the foreign gods and the rings could have been part of the plunder that came from the destruction of Shechem (Genesis [WBC], 2:324).

[35:4]  ⁹ sn Jacob buried them. On the burial of the gods, see E. Nielson, “The Burial of the Foreign Gods,” ST 8 (1954/55): 102-22.

[35:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “terebinth.”