Genesis 31:3

And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jacob	יַעֲקֹ֔ב ya.'a.Ko	H3290	Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
Return	שׁ֛וּב shuv	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
land	אֶ֥רֶץ 'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct
fathers	אֲבוֹתֶ֖יךָ 'a.vo.Tei.kha	H1	father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
kindred	וּלְמוֹלַדְתֶּ֑ךָ u.le.mo.lad.Te.kha	H4138	nativity (plural birth-place) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

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

Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not l…
Genesis 32:9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy k…
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor fo…
Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and…
Psalms 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee…
Genesis 21:22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in a…
Genesis 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:1-16

Jacob is here taking up a resolution immediately to quit his uncle's service, to take what he had and go back to Canaan. This resolution he took up upon a just provocation, by divine direction, and with the advice and consent of his wives. I. Upon a just provocation; for Laban and his sons had become very cross and ill-natured towards him, so that he could not stay among them with safety or satisfaction. 1. Laban's sons showed their ill-will in what they said, Gen 31:1. It should seem they said it in Jacob's hearing, with a design to vex him. The last chapter began with Rachel's envying Leah; this begins with Laban's sons envying Jacob. Observe, (1.) How greatly they magnify Jacob's prosperi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:3

the Lord said . . . Return unto the land of thy fathers--Notwithstanding the ill usage he had received, Jacob might not have deemed himself at liberty to quit his present sphere, under the impulse of passionate fretfulness and discontent. Having been conducted to Haran by God (Gen 28:15) and having got a promise that the same heavenly Guardian would bring him again into the land of Canaan, he might have thought he ought not to leave it, without being clearly persuaded as to the path of duty. So ought we to set the Lord before us, and to acknowledge Him in all our ways, our journeys, our settlements, and plans in life.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:3

And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return - and I will be with thee - I will take the same care of thee in thy return, as I took of thee on thy way to this place. The Targum reads, My Word shall be for thy help, see Gen 15:1. A promise of this kind was essentially necessary for the encouragement of Jacob, especially at this time; and no doubt it was a powerful means of support to him through the whole journey; and it was particularly so when he heard that his brother was coming to meet him, with four hundred men in his retinue, Gen 32:6. At that time he went and pleaded the very words of this promise with God, Gen 32:9.

John Gill on Genesis 31:3

The Church Fathers

Do you see the good man's great meekness, on the one hand, and their ingratitude, on the other, and how they could not bear to hold their envy in check but even affected their father's attitude? See now God's ineffable care and the degree of considerateness he employs when he sees us doing our best. I mean, when he saw the good man the object of their envy, he said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your father and to your birthplace, and I will be with you." You have had enough of living in a foreign land, he is saying. What I promised you previously in the words "I will return you to your country," this I now intend to bring to pass. So go back without fear; after all, "I will be with you." You see, to prevent the good man becoming lethargic in departing instead of taking to the road with confidence, he says, "I will be with you." The One who has managed your affairs until now and caused your descendants to increase, "I will be with you" in future as well.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.10

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

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…
Padanaram — By this name, which signifies the table-land of Aram, i.e. Syriac, the Hebrews designated the tract of country which they otherwise called the Aram-naharaim, “Aram of the two of rivers,” the Greek…
Communion · . — .
Laban · Outwitted by Jacob — Outwitted by Jacob

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).

Genesis 31:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:1-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:3

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:3

John Gill on Genesis 31:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 31:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:1-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:3

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:3

John Gill on Genesis 31:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 31:3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 31:3

Rashi on Genesis 31:3