And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
And it is told to Laban on the third day that Jacob hath fled,
And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled.
Genesis — The book of beginnings. Creation, fall, flood, covenant, election, providence — eleven generational seams stitch one unbroken story from heaven-and-earth to a coffin in Egypt.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices2
And it was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob was fled. Three days after Jacob was gone he had the report of it, by some means or another; by some of his neighbours, or servants left at home, and sooner he could not well have it, since the flock he went to shear was three days' distance from Jacob's, Gen 30:36.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
How striking and sudden a change! For several days he had been full of rage, and was now in eager anticipation that his vengeance would be fully wreaked, when lo! his hands are tied by invisible power (Ps 76:10). He did not dare to touch Jacob, but there was a war of words.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed
The verses this one reaches3
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.
