They gave unto Jacob all the strange gods Rather, the gods of the stranger; and all their ear-rings Either because they had been abused to idolatry and superstition, and were therefore to be destroyed, (Deuteronomy 7:57 and Deuteronomy 12:3,) or for fear they should be so abused.
For the Holy Scriptures insinuate, and other writers expressly affirm, that divers heathen nations did wear ear-rings for the honour of their idols, and with the representations or ensigns of their idols engraven upon them, such as the rings and vessels mentioned by Maimonides, marked with the image of the sun and moon. Jacob hid them under the oak In a place only known to himself. It is probable they were first melted or broken.