What does Genesis 31:24 mean?
Jacob and his wives are hoping to escape without confronting his father-in-law, or risking that Laban could stop him somehow. Laban has been in pursuit for a week and has now found Jacob's large caravan on the route to Gilead (Genesis 31:21–23).What will he do? We don't know what he might have had in mind, because it is at this point that God intervenes once again on Jacob's behalf. This time, the Lord speaks directly to Laban in a dream. He warns Laban not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. The originally-understood meaning of this phrasing is that Laban is not to contradict Jacob in any way; he is to "go easy" on him. Laban will apparently take that to heart when he reaches Jacob. He's already seen the influence of God in Jacob's success, so he has good reason to assume God's protection comes with just as much potency.