Genesis 31:55

And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
early	וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם vai.yash.Kem	H7925	literally · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
morning	בַּבֹּ֗קֶר ba.Bo.ker	H1242	properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Laban	לָבָ֜ן la.Van	H3837	Laban · proper noun, a man's name
up	שָׁכַם shâkam	H7925	literally
kissed	וַיְנַשֵּׁ֧ק vay.na.Shek	H5401	to kiss · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sons	לְבָנָ֛יו le.va.Nav	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
daughters	וְלִבְנוֹתָ֖יו ve.liv.no.Tav	H1323	a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
blessed	וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ vay.Va.rekh	H1288	to kneel · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Laban	לָבָ֖ן la.Van	H3837	Laban · proper noun, a man's name
departed	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
returned	וַיָּ֥שָׁב vai.Ya.shov	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
place	לִמְקֹמֽוֹ lim.ko.Mo	H4725	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd 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 31:28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
Genesis 18:33 And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
Genesis 30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my cou…
Deuteronomy 23:5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LO…
Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the…
Genesis 28:1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
Genesis 31:43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle…
Genesis 33:4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

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…

Read the whole note in the console

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 31:55

Kissed his sons and his daughters - That is, his grandchildren, Jacob's eleven sons with Dinah their sister, and their mothers Leah and Rachel. All these he calls his children, Gen 31:43. And blessed them - prayed heartily for their prosperity, though we find from Gen 31:29 that he came having bound himself by a vow to God to do them some injury. Thus God turned his intended curse into a blessing. The most important topics in this chapter have already been considered in the notes, and to those the reader is referred. Jacob's character we have already seen, and hitherto have met in it little to admire; but we shall soon find a blessed change both in his mind and in his conduct. Laban's charac…

Read the whole note in the console

The Church Fathers

Do you see, dearly beloved, God's great wisdom in demonstrating his care for the good man, as well as at the same time deterring the other from his injustice and, by forbidding him from speaking evil against Jacob, conducting him gradually to the path of knowledge of God? Though Laban had been pacing about like a wild beast intent on snaring and destroying him, he made his excuses, kissed his daughters and their sons good-bye and returned home.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.39

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

Bless — (1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps.…
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…
Kiss — Of affection (Gen. 27:26, 27; 29:13; Luke 7:38, 45); reconciliation (Gen. 33:4; 2 Sam. 14:33); leave-taking (Gen. 31:28, 55; Ruth 1:14; 2 Sam. 19:39); homage (Ps. 2:12; 1 Sam. 10:1); spoken of as…
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…
Nahor — Snorting. (1.) The father of Terah, who was the father of Abraham (Gen. 11:22-25; Luke 3:34). (2.) A son of Terah, and elder brother of Abraham (Gen. 11:26, 27; Josh. 24:2, R.V.). He married Milcah,…
Kiss · Of affection — Of affection
Laban · him — him
Rising · .Laban — .Laban

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 31:55

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 31:55

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 31:55

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 31:55

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 31:55

John Calvin on Genesis 31:55–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 31:43–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 31:50-53

Rashi on Genesis 31:54