“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Parallel Translations
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“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks.
That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes.
These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
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This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
Show all 3 translations
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These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flocks have I not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bore the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
Thus I was: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes.
These twenty years have I been in thy house: I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been on my side, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and gave judgment yesternight.'
Cross-references (42)
- Psalms 31:7 (v42) I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities.
- Isaiah 8:13 (v42) Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
- Genesis 31:29 (v42) It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to…
- Genesis 31:53 (v42) The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac.
- Genesis 29:32 (v42) Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction; for now my husband…
Show all 41 cross-references
- Genesis 31:7 (v41) Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me.
- Genesis 31:24 (v42) God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”
- Exodus 3:7 (v42) Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I…
- Psalms 124:1-3 (v42) If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, let Israel now say, if it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, when men rose up against…
- Luke 2:8 (vv39–40) There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
- Exodus 22:10-13 (v39) “If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man…
- Exodus 22:31 (v39) “You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any meat that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.
- Leviticus 22:8 (v39) He shall not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.
- 1 Chronicles 12:17 (v42) David went out to meet them, and answered them, “If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you…
- Jude 1:9 (v42) But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive…
- Genesis 11:5 (v42) Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
- Genesis 16:11 (v42) Yahweh’s angel said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard…
- Genesis 16:13 (v42) She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”
- Genesis 27:33 (v42) Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came,…
- Genesis 29:18-30 (v41) Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.” Laban said, “It is better that I give her to…
- Genesis 30:27 (v38) Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.”
- Genesis 30:30 (v38) For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will…
- Genesis 30:33-40 (v41) So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and…
- Genesis 31:5 (v42) and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with…
- Genesis 31:12 (v42) He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have…
- Genesis 31:38 (v41) “These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your…
- Exodus 2:19-22 (v40) They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.” He said…
- Exodus 3:1 (v40) Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and…
- Exodus 23:26 (v38) No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
- Deuteronomy 28:4 (v38) You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and…
- 1 Samuel 17:34-35 (v39) David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock, I went…
- Psalms 76:11-12 (v42) Make vows to Yahweh your God, and fulfill them! Let all of his neighbors bring presents to him who is to be feared. He will cut off the…
- Psalms 78:70-71 (v40) He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the…
- Ezekiel 34:2-4 (v38) “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the…
- Hosea 12:12 (v40) Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
- John 10:12-13 (v39) He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches…
- John 21:15-17 (v40) So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him,…
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 (v41) But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but…
- 2 Corinthians 11:26 (v41) I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city,…
- Hebrews 13:7 (v40) Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.
- 1 Peter 5:2-4 (v40) Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but…
41 distinct cross-references across this passage (42 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v42 42. Except the God of my father. Jacob here…
42. Except the God of my father. Jacob here ascribes it to the favor of God, that he was not about to return home entirely empty; whereby he not only aggravates the sin of Laban, but meets an objection which might seem at variance with his complaints. He therefore denies that he has been made rich by the kindness of his father-in-law; but testifies that he has been favourably regarded by the Lord: as if he had said, I owe it not to thee, that thou hast not further injured me; but God, who is propitious to me, has withstood thee. Now, since God is not the defender of unfaithfulness, nor is wont to help the wicked, the integrity of Jacob may be ascertained from the fact that God interposed as his vindicator. It is also to be observed, that by expressly distinguishing the God of Abraham from all fictitious gods, he declares that there is no other true God: by which he, at the same time, proves himself to be a truly pious worshipper. The expression “the fear of Isaac,” is to be taken passively for the God whom Isaac revered; just as, on account of the reverence due to him, he is called the “fear and the dread” of his people. A similar expression occurs immediately after, in the same chapter. Now the pious, while they fear God, are by no means horror — struck at his presence, like the reprobates; but trembling at his judgment, they walk circumspectly before him.
God has seen my affliction, and the labor of my hands. This was spoken from a pious feeling that God would bring help to him when afflicted, if he should conduct himself with fidelity and honesty. Therefore, in order that the Lord may sustain us with his favor, let us learn to discharge our duty rightly; let us not flee from our proper work; and let us not refuse to purchase peace by submitting to many inconveniences. Further, if they from whom we have deserved well treat us severely and unjustly, let us bear our cross in hope and in silence, until the Lord shall succor us: for he will never forsake us, as the whole Scripture testifies. But Jacob distinctly presses his father-in-law with his own confession. For why had God rebuked him, unless because he was persecuting an innocent man in defiance of justice and equity; for as I have lately intimated, it is abhorrent to the nature of God to favor evil and unjust causes.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv38, 39, 40, 42 Or, been barren.
Or, been barren.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv38–42 Gen 31:38 This twenty years [have] I [been] with…
Gen 31:38 This twenty years [have] I [been] with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
Ver. 38. The rams of thy flock have I not eaten.] A lively picture of a careful pastor. {2Co 11:9} He fats not himself, but feeds the flock; he seeks not theirs, neither fleece nor flesh, but them and their welfare. He takes not to him "the instruments of a foolish shepherd"; {Zec 11:15} that is, forcipes et mulctram, that he may carry away lac et lanam; but feeds the flock of God, and takes care of the cure, as Peter bids; "not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind," &c. {1Pe 5:2} About the year of Christ 1260, the people and clergy of England, the Pope’s ass, as it was called, opposed themselves to the legate’s exactions. And when Rustandus, the legate, alleged that all churches were the Pope’s, Leonard, a learned man of those times, answered, Tuitione, non fruitione; defensione, non dissipatione. {a}
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{a} Jac. Revius, De Vitis Pontif., p. 178.
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 vv38, 39, 40, 42 Thy she-goats have not cast their young, which thou…
Thy she-goats have not cast their young, which thou owest in a great measure to my care and diligence in ordering them, and principally to God’s blessing given to thee for my sake, by thy own confession, Gen 30:27.
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 vv38–42 Thus I was,.... In such a situation, as well…
Thus I was,.... In such a situation, as well as in the following uncomfortable plight and condition:
in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night: the violent heat in the daytime scorched him, and the severe frosts in the night pinched him: that is, in the different seasons of the year, the heat of the day in the summertime, and the cold of the night in the wintertime; for it cannot well be thought that there should be excessive heat in the day and sharp frosts in the night, in the same season of the year: it looks as if Laban did not allow Jacob the proper conveniencies of clothes, and of tents to secure him from the inclemency of the weather, which other shepherds usually had:
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and my sleep departed from mine eyes; through diligent care and watchfulness of the flocks in the night season, which on some occasions were necessary; see Luk 2:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v42 Jacob speaks of God as the God of his…
Jacob speaks of God as the God of his father, intimating that he thought himself unworthy to be thus regarded, but was beloved for his father's sake. He calls him the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac: for Abraham was dead, and gone to that world where there is no fear; but Isaac was yet alive, sanctifying the Lord in his heart as his fear and his dread.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv39–42 Verse 39. That which was torn - of my…
Verse 39. That which was torn - of my hand didst thou require it] This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Ex 22:10; Ex 22:13. And it is very likely that this law was in force from the earliest times.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv39, 42 Gen 31:39-40. That which was torn I brought not…
Gen 31:39-40. That which was torn I brought not unto thee — What Jacob here affirms, and for the truth of which he appeals to Laban, shows him to have been of a very industrious and faithful disposition, and that Laban’s temper was exceedingly selfish and sordid: for though Jacob was his relation, and his substance had increased so greatly under his hand, yet he was very rigid toward him, and required him to make good all the cattle that were lost, by whatever accident it happened. In the day the drought consumed me — “In Europe,” says Sir John Chardin, quoted by Harmer, vol. 1. p. 74, “the days and nights resemble each other, with respect to the qualities of heat and cold; but it is quite otherwise in the East. In the lower Asia, in particular, the day is always hot, and, as soon as the sun is fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt in the depth of winter itself. On the contrary, in the height of summer, the nights are as cold as at Paris in the month of March. It is for this reason that in Persia and Turkey they always make use of furred habits in the country, such only being sufficient to resist the cold of the nights.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv39, 42 Exact it. Laban acted in opposition both to custom…
Exact it. Laban acted in opposition both to custom and to justice, (Calmet) while Jacob forebore to claim what he might have done, agreeably to both. (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 vv38–40 The rams of thy flock have I not eaten--Eastern…
The rams of thy flock have I not eaten--Eastern people seldom kill the females for food except they are barren.
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 vv40, 42 40. Drought… frost — Comp. Psa_121:6; Jer_36:30. The extremes…
40. Drought… frost — Comp. Psa_121:6; Jer_36:30. The extremes of heat and cold between day and night in the East are evidenced by all travellers.
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 vv38–42 38. This twenty years] Jacob’s indignant protest proclaims (1)…
38. This twenty years] Jacob’s indignant protest proclaims (1) his length of service, (2) his perfect honesty, (3) his uncomplaining endurance of hardship, in spite of capricious changes in his wage. And now that he has left Haran, it was only because of God’s mercy, and not through Laban’s kindness, that he did not go empty-handed.
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 vv40–42 (40) The frost by night.—From September to May the…
(40) The frost by night.—From September to May the nights in the East are usually cold, and the change from great heat by day to a freezing temperature as soon as the sun sets is very trying to health.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv38, 41 General Information:
General Information:
Jacob continues to speak to Laban.
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twenty years
"20 years" (See: Numbers)
ewes
female sheep
have not miscarried
This means they have not had a pregnancy end early and unexpectedly with the lamb or kid born dead.
What was torn by beasts I did not bring to you
This can be stated in active form. AT: "When a wild animal killed one of your animals I did not bring it to you" (See: Active or Passive)
Instead, I bore the loss of it
For Jacob to count Laban's dead animals as a loss from his own flock is spoken of as if it was a burden he would bear on his shoulders. AT: "Instead of counting it a loss from your flock, I counted it as a loss from my flock" (See: Metaphor)
There I was; in the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night
Suffering in the hot and cold temperatures is spoken of as if the temperatures were animals that were eating Jacob. AT: "I stayed with your flocks even during hottest part of the day and the coldest part of the night" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
year
goat
ewe
flocks
consume
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 vv40, 42 31:40 Jacob, who preferred domestic life (25:27), had for…
31:40 Jacob, who preferred domestic life (25:27), had for twenty years endured the rigors of the outdoors that Esau had loved.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.