Genesis 31:53

The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
God	אֱלֹהֵ֨י 'e.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Abraham	אַבְרָהָ֜ם 'av.ra.Ham	H85	Abraham · proper noun, a man's name
God	וֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י ve.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
Nahor	נָחוֹר֙ na.chOr	H5152	Nochor · proper noun, a man's name
God	אֱלֹהֵ֖י 'e.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
father	אֲבִיהֶ֑ם 'a.vi.Hem	H1	father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
judge	יִשְׁפְּט֣וּ yish.pe.Tu	H8199	to judge · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Jacob	יַעֲקֹ֔ב ya.'a.Ko	H3290	Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
sware	וַיִּשָּׁבַ֣ע vai.yi.sha.Va'	H7650	to seven oneself · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
fear	בְּפַ֖חַד be.Fa.chad	H6343	a (sudden) alarm (properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
father	אָבִ֥יו 'a.Viv	H1	father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Isaac	יִצְחָֽק yitz.Chak	H3327	Jitschak (or Isaac) · proper noun, a man's 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

Genesis 31:42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath…
Genesis 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despis…
Genesis 11:24-29 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was…
Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even…
Genesis 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went for…
Genesis 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
Genesis 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God u…

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 31:52

This heap be witness--Objects of nature were frequently thus spoken of. But over and above, there was a solemn appeal to God; and it is observable that there was a marked difference in the religious sentiments of the two. Laban spake of the God of Abraham and Nahor, their common ancestors; but Jacob, knowing that idolatry had crept in among that branch of the family, swore by the "fear of his father Isaac." They who have one God should have one heart: they who are agreed in religion should endeavor to agree in everything else. Next: Genesis Chapter 32

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:53

The God of their father - As Laban certainly speaks of the true God here, with what propriety can he say that this God was the God of Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor? It is certain that Terah was an idolater; of this we have the most positive proof, Jos 24:2. Because the clause is not in the Septuagint, and is besides wanting in some MSS., Dr. Kennicott considers it an interpolation. But there is no need of having recourse to this expedient if we adopt the reading אביכם abichem, Your father, for אביהם abihem, Their father, which is supported by several of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and is precisely the same form made use of by Laban, Gen 31:29, when addressing Jacob, and appears…

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The Church Fathers

FEAR OF ISAAC. — And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac . From the fear, evidently, with which he feared God, a fear that he also mentions before, when he says: The God of my father Abraham and the fear of my father Isaac (Gen. 31:43). [
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 99 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

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

Alliances — On the first establishment of the Hebrews in Palestine no connections were formed between them and the surrounding nations. But with the extension of their power under the kings alliances became…
Fear of the Lord the — Is in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Prov. 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps. 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial…
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…
Contracts · By erecting a heap of stones — By erecting a heap of stones
Covenant · By a mo — By a mo
Covenants · God often called to witness — God often called to witness
Laban · him — him
Oath · Jacob confirms the covenant between him and Laban by — Jacob confirms the covenant between him and Laban by
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 31:53

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:43–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:52

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:53

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 31:53

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 31:43–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 31:52

Adam Clarke on Genesis 31:53

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 31:53

John Calvin on Genesis 31:53

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 31:43–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 31:50-53

Rashi on Genesis 31:53