Genesis 31:19
in Genesis 31Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Laban was gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.
KJV
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.
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This verse in Genesis 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 19) And Rachel stole her father's idols. Where we now read idols, it is written in Hebrew Theraphim, which Aquila interprets as μορφώματα, that is, figures or images. This is done so that we may understand what the word Theraphim means in the Book of Judges (17:5).
This site's exposition
Rachel stole her father's household idols
Shearing took a master and his men away from home for days, as Judah goes up to his shearers at 38:12. Under that cover Rachel takes her father's teraphim, the household gods. This is the first time Scripture names them. Jerome points to the same word in Judges 17, and Jacob buries the foreign gods of his house at 35:2 to 4.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This was included not by chance but for us to know how they still clung to their ancestral habits and showed great devotion to the household gods. I mean, consider how [Rachel] went to so much trouble as to steal nothing else of her father's than the household gods alone and did it without her husband noticing; Jacob would not have allowed it to happen, you see.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
There is therefore a right order; man should study first Sacred Scripture, in the letter and the spirit; then the original writings of the saints, giving priority to Sacred Scripture over them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
) and carried them away with her. The Hebrew calls them teraphim. Some think they were only little representations of the ancestors of the family, in statues or pictures, which Rachel had a particular fondness for, and was desirous to have with her, now that she was going into another country.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Laban went to shear his sheep,....
It is certain that it was lawful for Jacob to leave his service suddenly, without giving a quarter's warning. It was not only justified by the particular instructions God gave him, but warranted by the fundamental law of self-preservation, which directs us, when we are in danger, to shift for our own safety, as far as we can do it without wronging our consciences.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Laban went to shear his sheep - Laban had gone; and this was a favorable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived. Rachel had stolen the images - תרפים teraphim. What the teraphim were is utterly unknown.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלָבָ֣ן | velavan | and Laban | H3837 → | 55 times |
| הָלַ֔ךְ | halakh | he had gone | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִגְזֹ֖ז | ligzoz | to shear | H1494 → | 15 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צֹאנ֑וֹ | tzono | sheep his | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וַתִּגְנֹ֣ב | vatigno | and she stole | H1589 → | 40 times |
| רָחֵ֔ל | rachel | Rachel | H7354 → | 47 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַתְּרָפִ֖ים | haterafim | the teraphim | H8655 → | 15 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְאָבִֽיהָ׃ | leaviha | [belonged] to father her | H1 → | 1212 times |
וְלָבָ֣ןand Laban
velavanH3837 →55 times
הָלַ֔ךְhe had gone
halakhH1980 →1546 times
לִגְזֹ֖זto shear
ligzozH1494 →15 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צֹאנ֑וֹsheep his
tzonoH6629 →274 times
וַתִּגְנֹ֣בand she stole
vatignoH1589 →40 times
רָחֵ֔לRachel
rachelH7354 →47 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַתְּרָפִ֖יםthe teraphim
haterafimH8655 →15 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לְאָבִֽיהָ׃[belonged] to father her
leavihaH1 →1212 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
Hosea 3:4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
it leads to
- Judges 17:5
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 17:5
Through
Genesis 35:2So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:14
When Moses came down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.
- Exodus 19:10
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
- Ezekiel 18:31
Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Exodus 19:14
Through
Genesis 31:30Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:11
Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
- Jeremiah 10:11
Through
Ezekiel 21:21For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the…
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
- Proverbs 16:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.