The Bible Book

56

W

hen Jacob’s growing

wealth as a herdsman

incurs the jealousy of

Laban’s sons, who think it is at

their father’s expense, God tells

Jacob to go back to Canaan, “the

land of your fathers” (Genesis 31:3).

Jacob calls his wives Leah and

Rachel (Laban’s daughters) to tell

them they must leave. He says how

God has always been with him,

enabled him to prosper, and never

allowed Laban to do him harm.

Leah and Rachel support Jacob

and tell him that “all the wealth

that God took away from our father

belongs to us and our children”

(31:16). They tell Jacob to do

everything that God has told him.

Return to Canaan

Together with his wives and

servants, Jacob prepares to escape

and sends his livestock on ahead.

Unbeknownst to Jacob, his second

wife Rachel steals Laban’s precious

heirloom idols, known as teraphim,

and packs them for their journey.

Three days after Jacob’s escape,

Laban discovers that the teraphim

are missing and that Jacob has

fled. Furious, he pursues Jacob for

seven days before catching up with

them in the hill country of Gilead.

However, a dream in which God

warns Laban not to “say anything

to Jacob” tempers his response.

When Laban asks for the return of

his teraphim, Jacob allows his

uncle to search their tents.

Hearing this, Rachel hides the

teraphim in her camel saddle and

sits on it. When Laban searches her

tent, she excuses herself for not

standing, on the pretense that she

is menstruating. Jacob chastises

Laban for his lack of trust, and the

Jacob Wrestles with an Angel

by Edward Jakob von Steinle, 1837,

shows Jacob evenly matched with

the mysterious stranger in the place

Jacob called Peniel—“the face of God.”

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Genesis 31:1–33:7

THEME

The birth of Israel

SETTING

Second millennium bce

Haran and Peniel.

KEY FIGURES

Jacob Son of Isaac and

Rebekah and younger

brother of Esau.

Laban Uncle of Jacob and

Esau and father of Jacob’s

wives Leah and Rachel.

Leah The eldest daughter

of Laban and Jacob’s first wife.

Rachel The second daughter

of Laban and Jacob’s second

and favorite wife.

The unknown stranger

A mysterious figure believed

to be an angel or God himself.

Esau The elder brother

of Jacob.

YOUR NAME

WILL NO LONGER

BE JACOB

GENESIS 32:28, JACOB WRESTLES WITH GOD

US_056-057_Jacob_wrestles_with_God.indd 56 21/09/17 11:26 am