Genesis 31:36 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?

NIV: Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. "What is my crime?" he asked Laban. "How have I wronged you that you hunt me down?

NASB: Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, 'What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me?

CSB: Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. "What is my crime?" he said to Laban. "What is my sin, that you have pursued me?

NLT: Then Jacob became very angry, and he challenged Laban. 'What’s my crime?' he demanded. 'What have I done wrong to make you chase after me as though I were a criminal?

KJV: And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

NKJV: Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me?

At Jacob's invitation, Laban has made a thorough search of all of the possessions of Jacob's company. He is looking for house idols—small spiritual statuettes—which went missing precisely when Jacob and his family fled. What neither Laban nor Jacob know is that Rachel had stolen the idols (Genesis 31:19), and has successfully hidden them in her saddle (Genesis 31:34). By claiming to be menstruating, Rachel fooled Laban into assuming that she could not stand, and that he could not touch her or her seat (Genesis 31:35). As a result, Laban has come up empty and looking foolish for his accusation against Jacob.

Now Jacob will begin a long, angry speech against Laban. He will finally tell his father-in-law off in a way that we, as readers, may have wanted to hear him do much sooner. He will lay out all of his frustration with Laban, making the case for why Laban did not deserve better treatment from Jacob, and why Jacob attempted to escape without a confrontation.

Jacob will start by asking Laban, rhetorically, to point to any offense, any sin, that Jacob has done against him. In doing so, Jacob is declaring his innocence to Laban's relatives standing as witnesses. Next he will declare Laban's longstanding guilt.

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.