Genesis 31:15
in Genesis 31Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Are we not accounted by him as foreigners? for he hath sold us, and hath also quite devoured our money.
KJV
Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
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This verse in Genesis 31
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAre we not counted of him strangers? - Rachel and Leah, who well knew the disposition of their father, gave him here his true character. He has treated us as strangers - as slaves whom he had a right to dispose of as he pleased; in consequence, he hath sold us - disposed of us on the mere principle of gaining by the sale. And hath quite devoured also our money - Has applied to his own use the profits of the sale, and has allowed us neither portion nor inheritance.
This site's exposition
Do we have any portion or inheritance left
on Genesis 31:14-16
The sisters answer with one voice, and Rachel is named first though Leah is the elder. Their charge is that their father treats them as outsiders, sold them, and spent what was paid for them. They say the wealth God took from Laban belongs to them and their children. Do whatever God has told you, they say.
This site's exposition
he has certainly squandered what was paid for us
The Hebrew says Laban has eaten their silver, the price Jacob paid in fourteen years of work. The daughters expected a share of that price for themselves. Laban kept all of it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. 21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. 22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Are we not accounted of him strangers?....
Or perhaps Laban said this in a vain-glorious say, as one that loved to talk big, and use great swelling words of vanity: "All that thou seest is mine." It was not so, it was all Jacob's, and he had paid dearly for it; yet Jacob let him have his saying, perceiving him coming into a better humour.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
It is as if he sold us. Laban did not actually sell them, hence I.E.’s comment.
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. 5 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 wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲל֧וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָכְרִיּ֛וֹת | nakheriyot | foreigners | H5237 → | |
| נֶחְשַׁ֥בְנוּ | nechshavnu | are we accounted | H2803 → | 124 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | by <the> him | ||
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מְכָרָ֑נוּ | mekharanu | he has sold us | H4376 → | 80 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אכַל | vaiyokhal | and he has consumed | H398 → | 810 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָכ֖וֹל | ʾakhol | continuously <to consume> | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כַּסְפֵּֽנוּ׃ | kaspenu | money our | H3701 → | 403 times |
הֲל֧וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
נָכְרִיּ֛וֹתforeigners
nakheriyotH5237 →
נֶחְשַׁ֥בְנוּare we accounted
nechshavnuH2803 →124 times
ל֖וֹby <the> him
lo
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מְכָרָ֑נוּhe has sold us
mekharanuH4376 →80 times
וַיֹּ֥אכַלand he has consumed
vaiyokhalH398 →810 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אָכ֖וֹלcontinuously <to consume>
ʾakholH398 →810 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כַּסְפֵּֽנוּ׃money our
kaspenuH3701 →403 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 30:26Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.”
it leads to
- Genesis 29:30
Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
- Hosea 12:12
Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.
- Genesis 31:38–41
I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.
- Genesis 31:6
You know that I have served your father with all my strength.
- Genesis 31:26
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!
- Genesis 29:30
Through
Genesis 31:41Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
it leads to
- Genesis 31:7
And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
- 2 Corinthians 11:26
In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger…
- Genesis 30:33–40
So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are…
- Genesis 31:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.