Escaping Estrangements. Genesis 31:43-55

May the mumbling commence!

Estrangements are never easy.  That’s what happens between Jacob’s growing family and Laban’s family.  It makes for uneasy peace.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

Laban defended himself: “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flock is my flock – everything you see is mine.  But what can I do about my daughters or for the children they’ve had?  So let’s settle things between us, make a covenant – God will be the witness between us.”

Jacob took a stone and set it upright as a pillar.

Jacob called his family around, “Get stones!”  They gathered stones and heaped them up and then ate there beside the pile of stones.  Laban named it in Aramaic, Yegar-sahadutha (Witness Monument); Jacob echoed the naming in Hebrew Galeed (Witness Monument).

Laban said, “This monument of stones will be a witness, beginning now, between you and me.”  (That’s why it is called Galeed – Witness Monument.)  It is also called Mizpah (Watchtower) because Laban said, “God keep watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight.  If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives when there’s no one around to see, God will see you and stand witness between us.”

Laban continued to Jacob, “This monument of stones and this stone pillar that I have set up is a witness, a witness that I won’t cross this line to hurt you and you won’t cross this line to hurt me.  The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor (the God of their ancestor) will keep things straight between us.”

Jacob promised, swearing by the Fear, the God of his father Isaac.  Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and worshiped, calling in all his family members to the meal.  They ate and slept that night on the mountain.  Laban got up early the next morning, kissed his grandchildren and his daughters, blessed them, and then set off for home.  (Genesis 31:43-55)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

Laban answered Jacob, "The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?  Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us." 

So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.  He said to his relatives, "Gather some stones." So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.  Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. 

Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed.  It was also called Mizpah, because he said, "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.  If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me." 

Laban also said to Jacob, "Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.  This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.  May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us."

So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.  He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there. 

Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.  (Genesis 31:43-55)

So many differences!  Where to start!?!  Will God be the witness (Peterson)?  Or will “it” serve as witness… the covenant (NIV)?  I don’t know that we have to choose.  Covenants are much richer and longer lasting when done with God as witness.  I side in this case with Peterson.

I also like the added depth of bringing out the two different languages that represent the clashing cultures.  Peterson is at his best in this addition.  The monument is a witness monument for both cultures.  We will not harm one another.  Not exactly an amicable parting!

That’s why it’s so ironic that many worship services use this “blessing” as a blessing for parting at worship services.  I would hope we might part under better terms after worship that Jacob and Laban did!  For that reason, I like that Peterson dropped the “may” from the beginning of the sentence.  

Though I wonder if Laban said sentence or if Jacob did.  The text is unclear and very few translations credit that statement to Laban like Peterson does.  Keep the ambiguity I say.

May we never be estranged from one another!

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out