Genesis 31:28
in Genesis 31But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou done foolishly.
KJV
And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
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This verse in Genesis 31
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Considering the past conduct of Laban, his complaint on this ground was hypocritical cant. But his second charge was a grave one--the carrying off his gods--Hebrew, "teraphim," small images of human figures, used not as idols or objects of worship, but as talismans, for superstitious purposes.
This site's exposition
when Laban overtook him
on Genesis 31:25-28
Laban opens with the words Jacob used to him at 29:25, What have you done. He says he would have sent them with joy and singing, tambourines and harps. He calls his daughters captives of war, and his last charge is the kiss he wanted for his grandchildren and daughters.
This site's exposition
Now you have done a foolish thing
The Hebrew calls the grandchildren Laban's sons. Laban counts Jacob's children as his own, as he does again in verse 43. Foolish is sakal, the verb Samuel uses at 1 Samuel 13:13 when he tells Saul he has acted foolishly.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
60 ), but with sport and merriment, which was a sign that religion had very much decayed in the family, and that they had lost their seriousness. However, he pretends they would have been treated with respect at parting. Note, It is common for bad men, when they are disappointed in their malicious projects, to pretend that they designed nothing but what was kind and fair.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters?....
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נְטַשְׁתַּ֔נִי | netashtani | did you allow? me | H5203 → | |
| לְנַשֵּׁ֥ק | lenashek | to kiss | H5401 → | 35 times |
| לְבָנַ֖י | levanai | <to> sons my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְלִבְנֹתָ֑י | velivnotai | and <to> daughters my | H1323 → | 588 times |
| עַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הִסְכַּ֥לְתָּֽ | hiskalta | you have behaved foolishly | H5528 → | |
| עֲשֽׂוֹ׃ | aso | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
נְטַשְׁתַּ֔נִיdid you allow? me
netashtaniH5203 →
לְנַשֵּׁ֥קto kiss
lenashekH5401 →35 times
לְבָנַ֖י<to> sons my
levanaiH1121 →4930 times
וְלִבְנֹתָ֑יand <to> daughters my
velivnotaiH1323 →588 times
עַתָּ֖הnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
הִסְכַּ֥לְתָּֽyou have behaved foolishly
hiskaltaH5528 →
עֲשֽׂוֹ׃to do
asoH6213 →2628 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
1 Samuel 13:13“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…
- 2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…
- 1 Samuel 15:28
So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
- 1 Samuel 15:11
“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all…
- 1 Samuel 15:22
Through
Ruth 1:14Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:24
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
- Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
- Proverbs 18:24
Through
1 Kings 19:20So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I…
it leads to
- Luke 9:61–62
Still another said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first let me bid farewell to my family.”
- Matthew 8:21–22
Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- Luke 9:61–62
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.