Read with Me
Genesis 31:43-55 (HCSB)
Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne? Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us.”
So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.
Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed and also Mizpah, for he said, “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.” Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm. The God of Abraham, and the gods of Nahor—the gods of their father—will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain. Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.
Listen with Me
Laban had been brought low by the loss and alienation of his daughters and their children and the realization that nothing was going to induce them to return. He also had a healthy fear of Jacob, wondering whether he would retaliate with force against Laban for the mistreatment he had received at his hands.
So, Laban suggested a treaty. Jacob agreed, and he set up a witness stone reinforced by other large rocks placed at its base to hold it upright. Both Laban and Jacob called it a “Witness Pile”, but Laban used his native Aramaic, while Jacob, in a symbolic turning away from him, used the Canaanite term.
Later tradition called the pile “Watchtower” because of the curse spoken by Laban on that occasion. Today, the formula “May the Lord watch between you and me while we are apart” is used as a blessing. But the context shows that it was stated as a curse. If Jacob mistreated Laban’s daughters or took other wives, Laban was calling on Jacob’s God to see it and to punish Jacob severely.
Laban, more fearful of retaliation by Jacob than vice versa, also declared that part of the treaty was that neither party would pass the witness pile to do harm to the other. And since that was not anything that Jacob was planning to do anyway, he agreed immediately.
The sacrifice was cut to seal the covenant, and the ceremonial meal was shared. The next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren and blessed them. Then he sadly returned home empty-handed, realizing that he would never see them again.
Pray with Me
Father, I feel sad for Laban. For two decades he had believed that he had the upper hand over Jacob, and that that would never change. But now everything had been upended. He had to return home without a large chunk of his wealth (which he was always scheming to recover), without his daughters and grandchildren, and even without the gods he had relied on to provide for his needs. How much more blessed Jacob was! Though he lost much over the course of his life, he never lost You. Help me, Lord, to put all my trust in You, a hope that cannot be lost or stolen as long as I continue to live in relationship with You. Amen.