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Genesis 31:18

in Genesis 31

and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and he carried away all his cattle, and all his substance which he had gathered, the cattle of his getting, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to Isaac his father unto the land of Canaan.

KJV

And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan–aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

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This verse in Genesis 31

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

put his children and his wives on camels

on Genesis 31:17-18

Jacob sets his children and his wives on camels. He drives all his livestock ahead of him. The text counts every possession as acquired in Paddan-aram, and he is going to his father Isaac, in Canaan. The destination is named in the same verse as the departure.

This site's exposition

to go to his father Isaac

Isaac had spoken of dying at Genesis 27:2 and 4, more than twenty years before. Jacob finds him alive at Mamre in 35:27, and Isaac lives to 180 years. Genesis records only Rebekah's burial, at 49:31.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He took what Providence gave him, and was content with that, and would not take the repair of his damages into his own hands.

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

And he carried away all his cattle,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

he carried the cattle of his getting--that is, his own and nothing more. He did not indemnify himself for his many losses by carrying off any thing of Laban's, but was content with what Providence had given him.

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

The words behind it

21 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.

  • וַיִּנְהַ֣גand he drove

    vaiyinhagH5090 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מִקְנֵ֗הוּlivestock his

    miknehuH4735 →76 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • רְכֻשׁוֹ֙possession[s] his

    rekhushoH7399 →28 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • רָכָ֔שׁhe had accumulated

    rakhashH7408 →5 times

  • מִקְנֵה֙[the] livestock of

    miknehH4735 →76 times

  • קִנְיָנ֔וֹacquisition his

    kinyanoH7075 →10 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • רָכַ֖שׁhe had accumulated

    rakhashH7408 →5 times

  • בְּפַדַּ֣ןin Paddan

    befadanH6307 →11 times

  • אֲרָ֑םAram

    ʾaramH758 →143 times

  • לָב֛וֹאto go

    lavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יִצְחָ֥קIsaac

    yitzchakH3327 →108 times

  • אָבִ֖יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • אַ֥רְצָה[the] land of towards

    ʾartzahH776 →2504 times

  • כְּנָֽעַן׃Canaan

    kenaanH3667 →94 times

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

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 28:21so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.3 worksGenesis 35:27–29Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.3 worksGenesis 27:1–2When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.3 worksGenesis 27:41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”3 worksGenesis 31:3Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”3 worksEcclesiastes 3:6a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,3 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 35:26And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.3 worksGenesis 46:32The men are shepherds; they raise livestock, and they have brought their flocks and herds and all that they own.’2 worksGenesis 25:20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.2 worksGenesis 28:2“Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.2 worksHebrews 11:15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.-1 works

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 28:21

    so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

    it leads to

    • Judges 11:31

      then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

    • Deuteronomy 26:17

      Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.

    • Exodus 15:2

      The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

    • 2 Samuel 15:8

      For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”

  • Through

    Genesis 27:41

    Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will…

    it leads to

    • 1 John 3:12–15

      Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

    • Genesis 37:4

      When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

    • Genesis 50:3–4

      taking the forty days required to complete the embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

    • Obadiah 1:10–14

      Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 31 →

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

Read on in Genesis 31 →