Jacob is Commanded by Yahweh to Return Home and Tries to Slip Away (31:1-21).
‘And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and he has obtained his wealth from that which was our father's.” And he beheld the face of Laban, and behold, it was not as friendly towards him as it had been before.'
The building up of wealth always provokes jealousy, especially from those who feel that they have lost by it. What had seemed a good bargain, and even rather clever, had now turned against them, and Laban's sons were not amused. And Jacob could see that even Laban had cooled towards him. He was decidedly unpopular, which considering that he had not looked after Laban's section of his charge very well (they were the weaker ones) was not surprising. He was beginning to feel uneasy.
‘And Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your near family, and I will be with you.”
Jacob must therefore have been quite relieved when Yahweh appeared to him and told him it was time to return home. That Yahweh may have said a little more possibly comes out in Genesis 31:11-13.
But he was aware that his going would not be easy. He must first win over his wives, and then he would have the problem of his position in the tribal confederacy. They would not be happy with him if he sought to diminish the confederacy. So he concocts a convenient story for his wives based loosely on the truth.
‘And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the countryside, to his flock, and he said to them, “I see that your father's face is not friendly towards me as it was before. But the God of my father has been with me, and you know that with all my power I have served your father. And your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times. But God would not let him hurt me. If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled. And if he said thus, ‘The ringstraked shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore ringstraked. So God has taken away your father's animals and has given them to me.” '
“Called Rachel and Leah to the countryside.” They would come accompanied by their servants. The order of names is interesting, we would expect the elder first. But this probably arises from the fact that Rachel is Jacob's favourite wife.
Had Jacob gone back to their permanent home at the time of shearing there would have been much comment and many questions, which is why he calls his wives to come to him. Ostensibly they are coming out to see what is happening, and to ‘pleasure' Jacob. But they then return to their homes and secretly prepare for their journey. This is evidenced by the fact that Rachel steals her father's gods.
Jacob's summary of the situation which follows is rather tongue in cheek. He has, as we know, played his part in manoeuvring the situation but now he puts all his success down to God. He is trying to win his wives over. His arguments are wide ranging and extensive.
“Your father” s face is not friendly towards me as it was before.' Things have become decidedly unpleasant.
“The God of my father has been with me.” He believes, and wants them to see, that his success has come through Yahweh.
“And you know that with all my power I have served your father.” Outwardly this appeared true. They did not know of his subtleties.
“Your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times.” He wants them to recognise that their father has not quite dealt fairly with him. This may have in mind the deceit over Leah. But it clearly also indicates that there has been some manipulation of the terms of the contracts by Laban, possibly over the meaning of some of terms such as ‘speckled', ‘ringstraked', and so on. ‘Ten times.' This means ‘a number of times'.
“But God would not let him hurt me.” God has clearly come out on his side as the results prove.
So Jacob carefully puts the position to his wives without introducing any suggestion of his own manipulations. He is clearly not certain how they will feel about things. He wants them to think that all is of God and that he has had little to do with it. Then he introduces the theophany he has experienced.
“And it happened at the time that the flock conceived that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and see, the he-goats which leaped on the flock were speckled and grisled. And the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.' And I said, ‘I'm here.' And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the he-goats who leap on the flock are ringstraked, speckled and grisled. For I have seen all that Laban has done to you.'
This may have resulted from a genuine dream, but it is Jacob's interpretation of the situation for his wives' consumption. He is representing a mythical picture of he-goats acting on their own volition under God's control, when in fact it was he and his men who carefully ensured what happened. It may well have been through a dream that he came to recognise the importance of interbreeding but he does not want his wives to realise that he has manipulated the situation with regard to their father, and therefore he ignores the human connection. He then incorporates his theophany in this mythical ‘dream' to give the ‘dream' a sense of validity and sacredness.
“I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get you out from this land and return to the land of your birth.”
He now adds strength to his supposed dream by incorporating into it the word he had received from Yahweh.
“The God of Bethel where you anointed a pillar and where you vowed a vow to me.” Not quite the simple words of verse 3. He has told his wives of his vivid experience of God at Bethel and now uses that to impress them. Whether God actually spoke these words at the recent theophany we do not know. They were for the wives' consumption. Yet they are on the whole true nonetheless. But their importance lay in their association with the command to return home. It is that which he wishes to impress on his wives.
‘And Rachel and Leah answered, and said to him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted by him as strangers? For he has sold us and has quite devoured our marriage portion.” '
Jacob is very conscious that his wives are part of their tribe and that they may elect to remain with them. That is where their portion is and their inheritance. But he need not have worried. It is clear that they feel that Laban has demonstrated by his actions that he sees them as no longer having a part in the tribe. Laban had behaved badly and it would now rebound on him. They felt that they owed him no loyalty.
“Counted to him as strangers.” He has demonstrated by his actions that, like Jacob, they are now ‘foreigners' living among the tribe with no permanent rights. This bring out a rather unpleasant side to Laban's character and behaviour, possibly resulting from the slow increase of his dissatisfaction with Jacob.
“He has sold us and quite devoured our marriage portion.” The marriage portion was for the wife's benefit but Laban has purloined it. Thus he has in effect received a price for them and treated them as having been ‘sold'. They feel very bitter at having been so treated as chattels. Their complaint can be paralleled in other texts from the Old Babylonian period, Nuzu, and Elephantine, where on occasion a father would withhold from his daughter a part of the bride payment which was normally handed on as a dowry.
‘”For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, they are ours and our children's. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
Because of his behaviour towards them Laban has lost the loyalty and love of his daughters. They are quite content to feel that God has reimbursed them in another way and that all is therefore theirs by right to take away as they wish. Long years of mistreatment had broken down their sense of belonging permanently to the tribe.
‘Then Jacob rose up and set his sons and his wives on the camels, and he carried away all his substance which he had gathered, the animals he had obtained, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, in order to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.'
It is difficult for us to appreciate this step that Jacob was taking. He knew that while he could justify it to himself he would be seen by others as breaking the confederation and decimating the tribe, which was why he left in secret. Such behaviour would not be tolerated, for the wholeness of the tribe was a crucial element of men's lives. On the other hand he probably did not feel bound by the tribal treaty, for he had seen himself always as there with Laban on a ‘temporary' basis and felt he had fully earned for himself what he possessed. But it was a far cry from when he had merely obtained wives and a comparatively few animals by his working contract. What was leaving was a substantial family sub-tribe (see Genesis 30:43 - For camels see on Genesis 12:16).
‘Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the teraphim which were her father's. And Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Aramean in that he did not tell him that he fled. So he fled with all that he had, and he rose up and passed beyond the River and set his face towards the hill country of Gilead.'
Jacob chose a good time for his departure. It was the time of sheep shearing. Everyone would be busy with shearing the sheep and with the subsequent feast (see 1 Samuel 25:11; 2 Samuel 13:23 on). And he was helped by the fact that Laban with his flocks was some distance away, by Laban's choice (Genesis 30:36). This explains how so great a move was achieved in some secrecy.
“Rachel stole the teraphim which were her father” s.' Teraphim were linked with divination and spiritist practises (Judges 17:5; Ezekiel 21:21; 2 Kings 23:24). They were almost always condemned in Scripture (1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 23:24; Judges 17:6). We do not know what form they took or what material they were made of, although they are clearly here linked with household gods (Genesis 31:30). It is probable that they took on different forms. 1 Samuel 19:13 on may suggest that they were often in human form or like a human face, possibly a mummified human head but this is uncertain. The word probably links with the Hittite ‘tarpis', a type of spirit sometimes seen as evil and sometimes as protective. The reason that Rachel stole the teraphim may have been in order to enjoy their protection.
There is an interesting example from Nuzu of the importance attached to these household gods. There a man called Naswi adopted Wullu, because he had no sons of his own. He thus became Naswi's heir and responsible to care for him. However it was stipulated that if a son was born to Naswi Wullu would have to share the inheritance with him and the gods which Wullu would otherwise have inherited are to belong to the real son.
So at Nuzu right to possession of the household gods belonged to the blood relation, and it may be that they were seen as conferring special status. But if Rachel stole them for this reason it was in order to pay her father back for his ill treatment of his daughters, not in order to bestow any benefit on Jacob, for there is no suggestion that that status passed with illegal possession of the gods. The theft certainly stirred Laban to his depths. They were possibly the symbols of his authority and he felt it deeply.
“And Jacob stole the heart of Laban.” A second theft, though of a different kind. He causes great distress to Laban by stealing away unawares and depriving the tribe of what it saw as part of itself, without negotiation. He was stealing what was closest to Laban's heart, part of his tribe.
“Passed over the River.” That is, the River Euphrates.