Genesis 31:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, "Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father 's house?

NIV: Then Rachel and Leah replied, "Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?

NASB: Rachel and Leah said to him, 'Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house?

CSB: Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father’s family?

NLT: Rachel and Leah responded, 'That’s fine with us! We won’t inherit any of our father’s wealth anyway.

KJV: And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?

NKJV: Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

Jacob has made the case to his wives, Rachel and Leah, about why they must move away from their father's household and travel back to the land of his people (Genesis 31:3). He laid out the facts in such a way as to gain their support for this move. Jacob's case began with Laban's history of scheming and trickery (Genesis 31:4–9), and ended with Jacob's direct communication from God (Genesis 31:10–13).

Now Rachel and Leah respond, revealing that they will, indeed, support Jacob in this. They start by answering what Jacob probably assumed was to be their main objection: that a move away from their father would cause them to miss out on a future inheritance. In the form of a question, they reveal that they never expected to receive anything else from Laban, anyway. As the following verses reveal, they have no financial reason to stay near their homeland.

Even more dramatically, the following verses will show that Leah and Rachel feel just as cheated as Jacob does. They see how their father's actions were taken for his benefit, not theirs, proving that they have no real reason to stay. Despite their bitter rivalry (Genesis 30:8), Laban's greed is crystal clear, even to his own daughters.

Genesis 31:1–21 describes the events that propel Jacob to sneak away from Laban and head toward his homeland of Canaan. First, he learns that Laban and his sons are dangerously unhappy with him for taking so many of Laban's profits. Then God commands Jacob to go, promising to be with him. After securing the support of his wives, Jacob packs up his large family and property and sneaks away toward Gilead and then home.

Genesis 31 describes Jacob's difficult separation from Laban, his father-in-law, as well as his boss for twenty years. During that time, Jacob was routinely mistreated and cheated by his master. Commanded by God to return to the land of Canaan, Jacob packs up his wives, children, and all of his possessions and leaves without telling Laban. Laban soon catches up with the large company. Laban and Jacob confront each other bitterly. Eventually, though, they make a covenant of separation and peace.

Genesis 30 described the dramatic expansion of Jacob's family and property. Now, after twenty years of working for Laban, the time comes for Jacob to return to his own people. He attempts to sneak away without telling Laban, but Laban soon catches up with him. After bitter confrontations, father and son-in-law make a covenant of separation and peace. Jacob is finally free to begin the next chapter of his life in the Promised Land. First, though, he will need to deal with his brother Esau, whose rage was the main reason Jacob fled in the first place. That encounter is described over the following two chapters.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.