26-30. Laban said . . . What hast thou done?--Not a word is said of the charge (Ge 31:1). His reproaches were of a different kind. His first charge was for depriving him of the satisfaction of giving Jacob and his family the usual salutations at parting. In the East it is customary, when any are setting out to a great distance, for their relatives and friends to accompany them a considerable way with music and valedictory songs. Considering the past conduct of Laban, his complaint on this ground was hypocritical cant. But his second charge was a grave one--the carrying off his gods--Hebrew, "teraphim," small images of human figures, used not as idols or objects of worship, but as talismans, for superstitious purposes.
JFB.
Outline
1 Jacob departs secretly from Laban
19 Rachel steals her father's images
22 Laban pursues after Jacob
26 Laban complains of the wrong
34 Rachel's decision to hide the images
36 Jacob's complaint of Laban
43 The covenant of Laban and Jacob at Galeed.
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