Genesis 31:44

Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
thou	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
make	נִכְרְתָ֥ה nikh.re.Tah	H3772	to cut (off · verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
covenant	בְרִ֖ית ve.Rit	H1285	a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
witness	לְעֵ֖ד le.'Ed	H5707	concretely · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute

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

Joshua 24:25-27 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
1 Samuel 20:14-17 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
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 21:22-32 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 26:28-31 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and…
Genesis 31:48 And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
Genesis 31:52 This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap a…
Deuteronomy 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for m…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:43–end

We have here the compromising of the matter between Laban and Jacob. Laban had nothing to say in reply to Jacob's remonstrance: he could neither justify himself nor condemn Jacob, but was convicted by his own conscience of the wrong he had done him; and therefore desires to hear no more of the matter He is not willing to own himself in a fault, nor to ask Jacob's forgiveness, and make him satisfaction, as he ought to have done. But, I. He turns it off with a profession of kindness for Jacob's wives and children (Gen 31:43): These daughters are my daughters. When he cannot excuse what he has done, he does, in effect, own what he should have done; he should have treated them as his own, but he…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:44

Come thou, let us make a covenant--The way in which this covenant was ratified was by a heap of stones being laid in a circular pile, to serve as seats, and in the center of this circle a large one was set up perpendicularly for an altar. It is probable that a sacrifice was first offered, and then that the feast of reconciliation was partaken of by both parties seated on the stones around it. To this day heaps of stones, which have been used as memorials, are found abundantly in the region where this transaction took place.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:42

The fear of Isaac - It is strange that Jacob should say, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, when both words are meant of the same Being. The reason perhaps was this; Abraham was long since dead, and God was his unalienable portion for ever. Isaac was yet alive in a state of probation, living in the fear of God, not exempt from the danger of falling; therefore God is said to be his fear, not only the object of his religious worship in a general way, but that holy and just God before whom he was still working out his salvation with fear and trembling, fear lest he should fall, and trembling lest he should offend.

John Gill on Genesis 31:44

Now therefore, come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou,.... Let us be good friends, and enter into an alliance for mutual safety, and make an agreement for each other's good. Laban perceiving that Jacob's God was with him, and blessed him, and made him prosperous, and protected him, was fearful, lest, growing powerful, he should some time or other revenge himself on him or his, for his ill usage of him; and therefore was desirous of entering into a covenant of friendship with him: and let it be for a witness between me and thee; that all past differences are made up, and former quarrels subside, and everything before amiss is forgiven and forgotten, and that for the future peace and g…

The Church Fathers

Consider how Laban is gradually introduced to knowledge of God. The man who previously brought the charge of theft of his household gods against the good man and conducted such a close search now says, "Since there is no one capable of acting between us, in case anything happens later, let God act as witness between us to witness what is now being done by us. He is present, the one who sees everything, whose attention nothing can escape, who reads each person's mind."
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.37

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

Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
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…
Shechem — Shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34). (2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2). (3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts…
Contracts · By erecting a heap of stones — By erecting a heap of stones
Covenant · .Jacob and Laban — .Jacob and Laban
Laban · him — him
Oaths · Used for: Confirming covenants — Used for: Confirming covenants

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 31:44

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:43–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:44

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:42

John Gill on Genesis 31:44

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 31:44

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:43–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:44

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:42

John Gill on Genesis 31:44

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 31:44-46

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 31:43–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 31:43-44

Rashi on Genesis 31:44