Jo’s Place

Jacob’s Treaty with Laban Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks—in fact, everything you see is mine.  But what can I do now about my daughters and their children?  So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”  So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument.  Then he told his family members, “Gather some stones.”  So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap.  Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal.  To commemorate the event, Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha (which means “witness pile” in Aramaic), and Jacob called it Galeed (which means “witness pile” in Hebrew).  Then Laban declared, “This pile of stones will stand as a witness to remind us of the covenant we have made today.”  This explains why it was called Galeed—“Witness Pile.”  But it was also called Miz...

Laban Pursues Jacob Three days  (after Jacob and his family left Laban’s house) , Laban was told that Jacob had fled.  So Laban gathered a group of his relatives and set out in hot pursuit.  He caught up with Jacob seven days later in the hill country of Gilead.  But the previous night God had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m warning you—leave Jacob alone!”  (So when)  Laban caught up with Jacob, as he was camped in the hill country of Gilead,  Laban  set up his camp not far from Jacob’s.  “What do you mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded.  “How dare you drag my daughters away like prisoners of war?  Why did you slip away secretly?  Why did you deceive me?  And why didn’t you say you wanted to leave?  I would have given you a farewell feast, with singing and music, accompanied by tambourines and harps.  Why didn’t you let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren and tell them g...

​ Jacob Flees from Laban Jacob soon learned that Laban’s sons were grumbling about him.  “Jacob has robbed our father of everything!” they said.  “He has gained all his wealth at our father’s expense.”  Jacob began to notice a change in Laban’s attitude toward him.  Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there… I will be with you.”  So Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to the field where he was watching his flock.  He said to them, “I have noticed that your father’s attitude toward me has changed.  But the God of my father and my grandfather has been with me.  You know how hard I have worked for your father… and you know that Laban has cheated me, changing my wages ten times.  But God has not allowed him to do me any harm.  For if Laban said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ the whole flock began to produce speckled young.  And when he changed his mind and said,...

​ Jacob Arrives at his uncle’s house Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east ( of Canaan ).  He saw a well in the distance.  Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered.  But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.  It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals.  Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well.  Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, “Where are you from, my friends?”  “We are from Haran,” they answered.  “Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked.  “Yes, we do,” they replied.  “Is he doing well?” Jacob asked.  “Yes, he’s well,” they answered.  “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.”  Jacob said, “Look, it’s still broad daylight—too early to round up the animals.  Why don’t you water the sheep and goat...

​ Laban hears about Isaac (Abraham’s servant) went home with Laban, and Laban unloaded the camels, gave him straw for their bedding, fed them, and provided water for the man and the camel drivers to wash their feet.  Then food was served.  But Abraham’s servant said, “I don’t want to eat until I have told you why I have come.”  “All right,” Laban said, “tell us.”  “I am Abraham’s servant,” he explained.  “And the Lord has greatly blessed my master; he has become a wealthy man.  The Lord has given him flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, a fortune in silver and gold, and many male and female servants and camels and donkeys.  “When Sarah, my master’s wife, was very old, she gave birth to my master’s son, and my master has given him everything he owns.  And my master made me take an oath.  He said, ‘Do not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my father’s house, to my relatives, and find a wife ther...

A Wife for Isaac Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.  One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.  Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”  The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home?  Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?”  “No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there.  For the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants.  He will send His angel ahead of you, and He will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.  If she is unwilling...