to bolt · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up
וַיָּ֖קָםvai.Ya.kom
H6965
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
over
וַיַּעֲבֹ֣רvai.ya.'a.Vor
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
river
הַנָּהָ֑רha.na.Har
H5104
a stream (including the sea · definite article + proper noun, a place name
set
וַיָּ֥שֶׂםvai.Ya.sem
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
face
פָּנָ֖יוpa.Nav
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
mount
הַ֥רhar
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine singular construct
Gilead
הַגִּלְעָֽדha.gil.'Ad
H1568
Gilad · definite article + proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Kings 12:17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
Genesis 2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great ri…
Genesis 31:23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.
Genesis 37:25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their…
Genesis 46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face…
Numbers 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land o…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:17-24
Here is, I. Jacob's flight from Laban. We may suppose he had been long considering of it, and casting about in his mind respecting it; but when now, at last, God had given him positive orders to go, he made no delay, nor was he disobedient to the heavenly vision. The first opportunity that offered itself he laid hold of, when Laban was shearing his sheep (Gen 31:19), that part of his flock which was in the hands of his sons three days' journey off. Now, 1. It is certain that it was lawful for Jacob to leave his service suddenly, without giving a quarter's warning. It was not only justified by the particular instructions God gave him, but warranted by the fundamental law of self-preservation,…
Jacob stole away--The result showed the prudence and necessity of departing secretly; otherwise, Laban might have detained him by violence or artifice.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:21
Passed over the river - The Euphrates, as the Targum properly notices. But how could he pass such a river with his flocks, etc.? This difficulty does not seem to have struck critics in general. The rabbins felt it, and assert that God wrought a miracle for Jacob on this occasion, and that he passed over dry shod. As we know not in what other way he could pass, it is prudent to refer it to the power of God, which accompanied him through the whole of his journey. There might, however, have been fords well known to both Jacob and Laban, by which they might readily pass.
The mount Gilead - What the ancient name of this mountain was, we know not; but it is likely that it had not the name of Gilea…
So he fled with all that he had,.... His wives, his children, cattle and substance:
and he rose up, and passed over the river; the river Euphrates, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, which lay between Mesopotamia and Canaan:
and set his face toward the mount Gilead: he travelled and bent his course that way: this, was a mountain on the border of the land of Canaan, adjoining to Lebanon, near which was a very fruitful country, which had its name from it: it is so called here by way of anticipation; for this name was afterwards given it from the heap of stones here laid, as a witness of the agreement between Laban and Jacob, Genesis 31:45.
The Church Fathers
(Verse 21) And he crossed the river and came to the mountain of Gilead. Not that at that time it was called Gilead; but in anticipation, as we have often said, it is called by that name by which it was later called.
The fact that the world should have been offended because of Christ, after the increase in the flocks of believers, and that it, excited by its anger, would have reacted, does not need to be confirmed with a long speech. Just see how Laban, together with his sons, pursued Jacob, who was running away, and recalled him. Christ himself, in a sense, departed from the world with his brides, that is, the churches, and moved out with the entire household by spiritually addressing his companions with these words: "Arise, let us go from here." The action of departing and moving away certainly is not material; there is no concrete move from one place to another. In fact, it would be incongruous to think or say these things in a material sense. But the fullness of life is in the moving from worldly thoughts to the accomplishment of the things that God approves. This is confirmed by the blessed Paul, who writes, "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek one to come," whose "maker and creator is God." And another of the holy apostles writes thus: "I beseech you as pilgrims and strangers: abstain from sinful desires which war against the soul." While we walk on earth, our way of life is in heaven, and certainly we do not want to live carnally anymore but rather in a holy and spiritual way. Paul encourages us to do that by writing, "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." When we are not conformed anymore to the world and out of the worldly errors, we will be imitators of Christ. And perfectly understanding that this is the right way to think the Savior himself said, "If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, therefore the world hates you."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gilead — Hill of testimony, (Gen. 31:21), a mountainous region east of Jordan. From its mountainous character it is called “the mount of Gilead” (Gen. 31:25). It is called also “the land of Gilead” (Num.…
Jacob — One who follows on another’s heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was…
Leah — Weary, the eldest daughter of Laban, and sister of Rachel (Gen. 29:16). Jacob took her to wife through a deceit of her father (Gen. 29:23). She was “tender-eyed” (17). She bore to Jacob six sons…
River — (1.) Heb. ‘aphik, properly the channel or ravine that holds water (2 Sam. 22:16), translated “brook,” “river,” “stream,” but not necessarily a perennial stream (Ezek. 6:3; 31:12; 32:6; 34:13). (2.)…
Gilead · .Laban overtakes Jacob at — .Laban overtakes Jacob at
Haran · .Returns from, with Rachel and Leah — .Returns from, with Rachel and Leah
Laban · Outwitted by Jacob — Outwitted by Jacob
Mountains · Mentioned in scripture: Gilead — Mentioned in scripture: Gilead
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Genesis 31:20-21
And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban [94] By the Hebrew form of expression, "stole away the heart of Laban," Moses shows that Jacob departed privately, or by stealth, unknown to his father-in-law. Meanwhile, he wishes to point out to what straits Jacob was reduced, so that he had no hope of deliverance but in flight. For Laban had determined to hold him all his life as a captive, as if he had been a slave bound to the soil, or sentenced to the mines. Therefore let us also learn, by his example, when the Lord calls us, courageously to strive against every kind of obstacle, and not to be surprised if many arduous difficulties oppose themselves against us.
Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 31:20-21
"Thus Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled;" - לב גּנב to steal the heart (as the seat of the understanding), like κλέπτειν νοο͂ν, and גּנב with the simple accus. pers., Gen 31:27, like κλεπτειν τίνα, signifies to take the knowledge of anything away from a person, to deceive him; - "and passed over the river (Euphrates), and took the direction to the mountains of Gilead."
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 31:21
The journey took the family from Haran southwest to the land of Gilead, just east of the Jordan River in the north of today’s kingdom of Jordan.
Rashi on Genesis 31:19
לגזז את צאנו TO SHEAR HIS FLOCK which he had given into the charge of his sons at a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob.
ותגגב רחל את התרפים AND RACHEL STOLE THE TERAPHIM — her intention was to wean her father from idol-worship (Genesis Rabbah 74:5).
