Genesis 31:35 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And she said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me." So he searched but did not find the household gods.

NIV: Rachel said to her father, "Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period." So he searched but could not find the household gods.

NASB: And she said to her father, 'May my lord not be angry that I cannot stand in your presence, because the way of women is upon me.' So he searched but did not find the household idols.

CSB: She said to her father, "Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I am having my period." So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.

NLT: she said to her father, 'Please, sir, forgive me if I don’t get up for you. I’m having my monthly period.' So Laban continued his search, but he could not find the household idols.

KJV: And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

NKJV: And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.

Laban is thoroughly searching Rachel's tent for the house idols stolen from his tent. Jacob was so convinced that nobody in his company took them that he rashly declared a death sentence on anyone found with them (Genesis 31:32). What neither Jacob nor Laban knew was that Rachel, Laban's daughter and Jacob's adored wife, had secretly taken the idols while her father was gone (Genesis 31:19). As Laban searches, Rachel is literally sitting on the stolen goods while her father examines and feels every object in the tent.

Laban's deception and trickery, in pursuit of greed, have been so obvious that his own daughters feel cheated by him (Genesis 31:14–16). As it turns out, Rachel might have learned a thing or two about deception from her father. Here, she speaks very respectfully to her father, more respectfully than we have heard her speak thus far either to Jacob or about her father. She calls him "lord" and then deceives him. She asks that he not be angry that she doesn't stand up in his presence since, she says, the "way of women" is on her.

Rachel is claiming that she is having her menstrual period, so she can't get up from where she is sitting. Though Israel's laws regarding ceremonial cleanliness would not be given for many centuries (Leviticus 15:19–21), this would have agreed with the cultural views of her era. Her clothes, and anything she sat on, would have been considered "untouchable" at that time. Laban would not have dared touch her, or her saddle, or have asked her to stand, as a result.

Laban apparently believes his daughter, at least to the extent that he never searches the saddle she's sitting on. And so, he never finds his stolen idols. Thanks to Rachel's lie, not only is Laban's accusation left unproven, Laban appears very foolish for making it. Jacob will take advantage of this moment to get the upper hand in their final confrontation.

Genesis 31:22–42 recounts Laban's pursuit of Jacob and his large company, after learning his son-in-law has left for Canaan without telling him. It takes a week, but Laban catches up. Warned by God in a dream not to say anything to Jacob ''either good or bad,'' Laban instead expresses his hurt to Jacob and accuses him of stealing Laban's house idols. When a search for the idols—cleverly hidden by Rachel without Jacob's knowledge—turns up nothing, Jacob finally expresses all of his complaints about Laban's unfair treatment of him in spite of twenty years of faithful service.

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.