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Genesis 29:14

in Genesis 29

Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

KJV

And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

This verse in Genesis 29

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
And Laban said to him, surely thou art my bone and my flesh,.... Nearly allied in blood, being his sister's son: and he abode with him the space of a month; or "a month of days" (m), a full month to a day; all this while feeding his flocks, and doing whatsoever service he had for him to do. (m) חדש ימים "mensem dierum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Schmidt.

This site's exposition

she ran and told her father

on Genesis 29:12-14

Jacob tells Rachel that he is Rebekah's son, a relative of her father. She runs and tells him. Laban runs out to meet him, embraces him, and brings him home. In chapter 24 Laban ran out to a servant who had ten camels and gold, and Jacob comes with nothing.

This site's exposition

You are indeed my own flesh and blood

The claim of shared flesh echoes Adam's words over Eve at 2:23. John Gill takes the month as a full month to the day and holds that Jacob spent it tending Laban's flocks and doing his work. The unpaid month sets up the wage question of verse 15.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

19 And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. 20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 21 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It seems he was not idle, nor did he spend his time in sport and pastime; but like a man of business, though he had no stock of his own, he applied himself to serve his uncle, as he had begun (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

he abode a month--Among pastoral people a stranger is freely entertained for three days; on the fourth day he is expected to tell his name and errand; and if he prolongs his stay after that time, he must set his hand to work in some way, as may be agreed upon.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

My bone and my flesh - One of my nearest relatives.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

I have already explained the meaning of chodesh yamin (the space of a month). 16 According to I.E. it means a full month. Cf.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 29:14:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • לוֹ֙to <the> him

    lo

  • לָבָ֔ןLaban

    lavanH3837 →55 times

  • אַ֛ךְsurely

    ʾakhH389 →161 times

  • עַצְמִ֥י[are] bone my

    ʾatzmiH6106 →126 times

  • וּבְשָׂרִ֖יand flesh my

    uvesariH1320 →270 times

  • אָ֑תָּהyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • וַיֵּ֥שֶׁבand he remained

    vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times

  • עִמּ֖וֹwith him

    imoH5973 →1050 times

  • חֹ֥דֶשׁa month of

    chodeshH2320 →284 times

  • יָמִֽים׃days

    yamimH3117 →2304 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 2:23

    And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 5:28–30

      In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

    • 2 Samuel 19:13

      And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Corinthians 11:8–9

      For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.

    • 2 Samuel 5:1

      Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

    • Judges 9:2

      “Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh…

  • Through

    2 Samuel 5:1

    Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 11:1–3

      Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

  • Through

    Genesis 13:8

    So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers.

    it leads to

  • Through

    Judges 9:2

    “Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 2:14

      Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Jacob Tends Laban's Flocks and Meets Rachel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Jacob Tends Laban's Flocks and Meets Rachel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.