Genesis 31:26
New International Version
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.

New Living Translation
“What do you mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded. “How dare you drag my daughters away like prisoners of war?

English Standard Version
And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?

Berean Standard Bible
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!

King James Bible
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

New King James Version
And Laban said to Jacob: “What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword?

New American Standard Bible
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword?

NASB 1995
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword?

NASB 1977
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword?

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword?

Amplified Bible
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What do you mean by deceiving me and leaving without my knowledge, and carrying off my daughters as if [they were] captives of the sword?

Christian Standard Bible
Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war!

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war!

American Standard Version
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Laban said to Yaquuv, “What have I done to you that you have deceived my heart, and you have taken my daughters like captives by the sword?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done? wherefore didst thou run away secretly, and pillage me, and lead away my daughters as captives taken with the sword?

Contemporary English Version
and said: Look what you've done! You've tricked me and run off with my daughters like a kidnapper.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.

English Revised Version
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Laban asked Jacob, "What have you done by tricking me? You've carried off my daughters like prisoners of war.

Good News Translation
Laban said to Jacob, "Why did you deceive me and carry off my daughters like women captured in war?

International Standard Version
Then Laban asked Jacob, "What did you do? You deceived me, carried off my daughters like you would war captives,

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Laban said to Jacob: 'What hast thou done, that thou hast outwitted me, and carried away my daughters as though captives of the sword?

Literal Standard Version
And Laban says to Jacob, “What have you done that you deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword?

Majority Standard Bible
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!

New American Bible
Laban said to Jacob, “How could you hoodwink me and carry off my daughters like prisoners of war?

NET Bible
"What have you done?" Laban demanded of Jacob. "You've deceived me and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war!

New Revised Standard Version
Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword.

New Heart English Bible
Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken in war?

Webster's Bible Translation
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

World English Bible
Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword?

Young's Literal Translation
And Laban saith to Jacob, 'What hast thou done that thou dost deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Laban Pursues Jacob
25Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there as well. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war! 27Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.…

Cross References
Genesis 31:25
Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there as well.

Genesis 31:27
Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.


Treasury of Scripture

And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

What.

Genesis 31:36
And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

Genesis 3:13
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Genesis 4:10
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

carried.

Genesis 31:16
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Genesis 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Genesis 34:29
And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.

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Genesis 31
1. Jacob, displeased with the envy of Laban and his sons, departs secretly.
19. Rachel steals her father's household gods.
22. Laban pursues after him, and complains of the wrong.
34. Rachel's plan to hide the images.
36. Jacob's complaint of Laban.
43. The covenant of Laban and Jacob at Galeed.














(26-30) Laban said . . . --Laban reproaches Jacob, first, for carrying away his daughters secretly, which was an affront to them (Genesis 31:26) and an injury to his own feelings (Genesis 31:28); secondly, he tells him that he should have punished him but for the Divine warning; lastly, he accuses him of stealing his teraphim.

Captives . . . --Heb., captives of the sword, women carried off in war as spoil.

Verses 26-30. - And Laban (assuming a tone of injured innocence) said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, - literally, and (meaning, in that) thou hast stolen my heart (vide supra, ver. 20; and cf. ver. 27) - and carried away (vide ver. 18) my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? Literally, as captives of the sword, i.e. invitis parentibus (Rosenmüller); language which, if not hypocritical on Laban's part, was certainly hyperbolical, since he had already evinced the strength of his parental affection by selling his daughters to Jacob; and besides, so far as it concerned either Jacob or his wives, it was quite untrue, Rachel and Leah having voluntarily accompanied their husband in his flight. Wherefore didst thou floe away secretly, - literally, wherefore didst thou hide thyself to flee away; חָבַא (niph.), with an inf. following, corresponding to the similar construction in Greek of λανθάνειν with a part, and being correctly rendered in English by an adverb (vide Gesenius, 'Gram.,' § 142) - and steal away from me (literally, and steal me, ut supra); and didst not tell me, that I might (literally, and I would) have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, - in Oriental countries those about to make a long journey are still sent away cantionibus et musicorum instrumentorum concentu (Rosenmüller) - with tabret, - the toph was a drum or timbrel, consisting of a wooden circle covered with membrane, and furnished with brass bells (like the modern tambourine), which Oriental women beat when dancing (cf. Exodus 15:20; Judges 11:34; Jeremiah 31:4) - and with harp! For a description of the kinnor see Genesis 4:21. And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons (i.e. the children of Leah and Rachel) and my daughters! It is perhaps judging Laban too severely to pronounce this complete hypocrisy and cant (Alford, Bush, Candlish, Gerlach), but equally wide of the truth is it to see in Laban's conduct nothing but generosity of feeling (Kalisch); probably there was a mixture of both paternal affection and crafty dissimulation (Delitzsch). Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. The charge of folly in Old Testament Scriptures commonly carries with it an imputation of wrong-doing (cf. 1 Samuel 13:13; 2 Samuel 14:10). It is in the power of my hand - so the phrase יָדִי יֶשׁ־לְאֵל (cf. Deuteronomy 28:32; Nehemiah 5:5; Micah 2:1) is rendered by competent authorities (Gesenius, Furst, Rosenmüller, Kalisch, Murphy, et alii), with which agree laxly, ἡ χειρ μου (LXX.), and valet manus men (Vulgate), though the translation "My hand is for God," i.e. my hand serves me as God (cf. Job 12:6; Hebrews 1:11), is by some preferred (Keil, Knobel, Jacobus) - to do you hurt: but the God of your father - the use of this expression can be rightly regarded neither as a proof of Elohistic authorship (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso, Davidson) nor as a sign of Laban's spiritual degeneracy (Hengstenberg, Wordsworth), since it is practically equivalent to Jehovah (vide Genesis 28:13), but is probably to be viewed as a play upon the sound and sense of the preceding clause, as thus: - "It is in the El of my hand to do you evil, but the Elohim of your father spake to me." Another instance of this play upon the sound and sense is to be found in vers. 19, 20 - "Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father's; and Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Syrian" (cf. Quarry on Genesis, p. 498) - spake unto me yester night, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob - literally, guard or keep thee for thyself (the pleon, pron. being added ut supra, ver. 24) from speaking with Jacob - either good or bad (vide on ver. 24). And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone (literally, going thou didst go - thou hast indeed gone), because thou sore longedst after thy father's house (literally, because desiring thou didst desire. The verb כָּסַפ, to be pale (whence כֶּסֶפ, silver, so called from its pale color), expresses the idea of pining away and languishing through strong inward longing), yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? Laban had probably gone to consult his teraphim and so discovered their loss. Augustine calls attention to this as the first Scripture reference to heathen gods, and Calvin probably supplies the right explanation of the sense in which they were so styled by Laban, non quia deitatem illie putaret esse inclusam, sed quia in honorem deorum imagines illas colebat; vel potius quod Deo sacra facturus, vertebat se ad illas imagines (cf. Exodus 32:4; 1 Kings 12:28). "This complaint of Laban, that his "gods were stolen, show-eth the vanity of such idolatry" (Ainsworth). Cf. Judges 6:31; Judges 16:24; Jeremiah 10:5, 11, 15.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Laban
לָבָן֙ (lā·ḇān)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3837: Laban -- father-in-law of Jacob

said
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to Jacob,
לְיַעֲקֹ֔ב (lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3290: Jacob -- a son of Isaac, also his desc

“What
מֶ֣ה (meh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

have you done?
עָשִׂ֔יתָ (‘ā·śî·ṯā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

You have deceived
וַתִּגְנֹ֖ב (wat·tiḡ·nōḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 1589: To thieve, to deceive

me
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

and carried off my daughters
בְּנֹתַ֔י (bə·nō·ṯay)
Noun - feminine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 1323: A daughter

like captives
כִּשְׁבֻי֖וֹת (kiš·ḇu·yō·wṯ)
Preposition-k | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine plural construct
Strong's 7617: To transport into captivity

of war!
חָֽרֶב׃ (ḥā·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword


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OT Law: Genesis 31:26 Laban said to Jacob What have you (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 31:25
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