Genesis 31:9
in Genesis 31Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
KJV
Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
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This verse in Genesis 31
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThus God hath taken away the cattle of your father,.... Not all of them, see Gen 31:19; but a great part of them; his flock was much lessened by those means, and more were taken away, and came to Jacob's share, than if Laban had abode by the original agreement: and gave them to me; who has the disposing of all things in the world, whose the world, and all in it, are, and gives of it to the sons of men as he pleases.
This site's exposition
he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times
on Genesis 31:7-9
Jacob says his wages were changed ten times, and he says it again at verse 41. Jerome reads the switching as a bet against the flock, the terms moving each time to whatever the ewes were not bearing. Each time the flock bore what Jacob was promised. He credits the outcome to God, who took the livestock and gave it to him.
This site's exposition
Thus God has taken away
Taken away is the Hebrew natsal, to snatch away or deliver. Exodus 12:36 uses the same verb when Israel plunders the Egyptians on the way out of Egypt. The sisters take up Jacob's word in verse 16.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, God is not unrighteous to forget his people's work and labour of love, though men be so, Heb. vi. Providence has ways of making those honest in the event that are not so in their design. Note, further, The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just, Prov. xiii.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
This was after Laban changed his wages, and therefore the angel said to Jacob, For I have seen all that Laban does unto thee. 180 Verse 12 here.
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּצֵּ֧ל | vaiyatzel | and he has taken away | H5337 → | 212 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֛ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִקְנֵ֥ה | mikneh | [the] livestock of | H4735 → | 76 times |
| אֲבִיכֶ֖ם | ʾavikhem | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַיִּתֶּן־ | vaiyiten- | and he has given [it] | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to <the> me |
וַיַּצֵּ֧לand he has taken away
vaiyatzelH5337 →212 times
אֱלֹהִ֛יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִקְנֵ֥ה[the] livestock of
miknehH4735 →76 times
אֲבִיכֶ֖םfather your
ʾavikhemH1 →1212 times
וַיִּתֶּן־and he has given [it]
vaiyiten-H5414 →2011 times
לִֽי׃to <the> me
li
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
Proverbs 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over…
- Job 27:16–17
Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Proverbs 28:8
He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- Psalms 37:25
I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
- Psalms 112:2
His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
Through
Matthew 20:15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
it leads to
- Romans 9:15–24
For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Deuteronomy 15:9
Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He…
- Romans 9:15–24
Through
Psalms 50:10for every beast of the forest is Mine— the cattle on a thousand hills.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 27:5–6
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- Jeremiah 27:5–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
