Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them. She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for I’m having my period.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.
Parallel Translations
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Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them.
She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for I’m having my period.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.
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And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.
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.
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And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. And he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the saddle of the camel, and sat upon them. And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not.
And she said to her father: 'Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee; for the manner of women is upon me.' And he searched, but found not the teraphim.
Cross-references (13)
- Leviticus 19:32 (v35) “ ‘You shall rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the elderly; and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
- Genesis 24:28 (v33) The young lady ran, and told her mother’s house about these words.
- Genesis 24:67 (v33) Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his…
- Genesis 31:19 (v34) Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.
- Exodus 20:12 (v35) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
Show all 13 cross-references
- Genesis 18:11-12 (v35) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Sarah laughed within herself, saying,…
- Genesis 31:17 (v34) Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels,
- Leviticus 15:19 (v35) “ ‘If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her shall…
- Leviticus 19:3 (v35) “ ‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
- 1 Kings 2:19 (v35) Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat…
- Ephesians 6:1 (v35) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- 1 Peter 2:18 (v35) Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all respect: not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked.
- 1 Peter 3:6 (v35) So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv34–35 Or, straw, or saddle.
Or, straw, or saddle.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv33–35 Gen 31:33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and…
Gen 31:33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found [them] not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
Ver. 33. And Laban went into Jacob’s tent.] Hypocrites are suspicious of others better than themselves, and impudently inquisitive: Curiosi ad cognoscendam vitam alienam, desidiosi ad corrigendam suam; as Augustine hath it. Those that are most inquisitive about other men’s manners, are most careless of their own.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv33, 35 The men and women’s tents were distinct and separate.…
The men and women’s tents were distinct and separate. See Gen 18:2; 24:67.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv33–35 And she said to her father,.... As he approached…
And she said to her father,.... As he approached nearer to her, having searched her tent all over:
let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee: she addresses him with great honour and respect; calling him her lord, being her father, though an unkind one, and entreats him not to be displeased that she did not rise up and yield that obeisance to him which was due from her to a father:
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for the custom of women is upon me; her menstrues; which before the law of Moses were reckoned a pollution, and such persons were not to be touched or come near unto, and everything they sat upon was unclean, and not to be touched also; Lev 15:19,
and he searched; all about her, and around her; but did not oblige her to get up, nor could he imagine that ever the images could be under her in such circumstances:
but found not the images; and so left off searching; nor do we find that he searched the flock for any of his cattle there, knowing full well Jacob's honesty and integrity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v35 Verse 35. The custom of women is upon me.]…
Verse 35. The custom of women is upon me.] This she knew must be a satisfactory reason to her father; for if the teraphim were used to any religious purpose, and they seem to have been used in this way, as Laban calls them his gods, he therefore could not suspect that a woman in such a situation, whose touch was considered as defiling, would have sat upon articles that were either the objects of his adoration, or used for any sacred purpose. The stratagem succeeded to her wish, and Laban departed without suspicion. It seems very natural to suppose that Rachel did believe that by the use of these teraphim Laban could find out their flight, and the direction they took, and therefore she stole them; and having stolen them she was afraid to acknowledge the theft, and probably might think that they might be of some use to herself. Therefore, for these reasons, she brought them away.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v35 Vain. For who would imagine, that a woman should…
Vain. For who would imagine, that a woman should treat in this manner the objects of her father’s adoration? (Calmet) --- It would hence appear, that she did not herself adore them, unless fear overcame her religion. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v34 Rachel had taken the images, and put them in…
Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them--The common pack saddle is often used as a seat or a cushion, against which a person squatted on the floor may lean.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv34–35 34. Camel’s furniture — The car, כר, or palanquin…
34. Camel’s furniture — The car, כר, or palanquin of the camel, “a covered vehicle which is secured on the back of the camel, and answers the purpose of a small house. It is often divided into two apartments, and the traveller, who can sit in either of them, is enabled also to carry some little furniture with him. These conveyances are protected by veils, which are not rolled up, except in front, so that the person within has the privilege of looking out while he is himself concealed. They are used chiefly by the women, rarely by the men.” — JAHN’S Biblical Archaeology, § 49.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv33–35 33. tent] Four tents are mentioned, one occupied by…
33. tent] Four tents are mentioned, one occupied by Jacob, one each by Leah and Rachel, and one by handmaidens. LXX renders by οἶκον = “house.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v34 (34) The camel’s furniture.—That is, the camel’s saddle. It…
(34) The camel’s furniture.—That is, the camel’s saddle. It is now made of wicker-work, and is protected by curtains and a canopy. Probably Rachel’s was far simpler; and as the teraphim seem to have had heads shaped like those of a man, and dwarf bodies, they would easily be crammed under it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv33–35 And Laban went into Jacob"s taut, and into Leah"s…
And Laban went into Jacob"s taut, and into Leah"s tent, and into the two maid-servants" tents; the clause affords an interesting glimpse into the manners of the times, showing that not only husbands and wives, but also wives among themselves, possessed separate establishments)but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah"s tent (he probably commenced with Jacob"s and those of the hand-maids, and afterwards passed into Leah"s), and entered into Rachel"s tent last, because she was the favorite. Cf. Gen_33:2, in which a similar partiality towards Rachel is exhibited by Jacob (vide Thomson"s "Land and Book," 1. 370).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33–34 the two female servants
the two female servants
This refers to Zilpah and Bilhah.
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he did not find them
"he did not find his idols"
translationWords
Laban
Jacob
tent
Leah
servant
Rachel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v33 31:33-35 Laban searched for the idols but found nothing.…
31:33-35 Laban searched for the idols but found nothing. Laban never dreamed that a woman having her monthly period would desecrate the idols by sitting on them (cp. Lev 15:19-24).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.