Genesis 31:6
New International Version
You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,

New Living Translation
You know how hard I have worked for your father,

English Standard Version
You know that I have served your father with all my strength,

Berean Standard Bible
You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

King James Bible
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

New King James Version
And you know that with all my might I have served your father.

New American Standard Bible
You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

NASB 1995
“You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

NASB 1977
“And you know that I have served your father with all my strength.

Legacy Standard Bible
You also know that I have served your father with all my power.

Amplified Bible
You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

Christian Standard Bible
You know that with all my strength I have served your father

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You know that I’ve worked hard for your father

American Standard Version
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

Contemporary English Version
You know that I have worked hard for your father

English Revised Version
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father.

Good News Translation
You both know that I have worked for your father with all my strength.

International Standard Version
You know I've been serving your father with all my heart.

Majority Standard Bible
You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

NET Bible
You know that I've worked for your father as hard as I could,

New Heart English Bible
You know that I have served your father with all of my strength.

Webster's Bible Translation
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

World English Bible
You know that I have served your father with all of my strength.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and you have known that with all my power I have served your father,

Young's Literal Translation
and ye -- ye have known that with all my power I have served your father,

Smith's Literal Translation
And ye yourselves knew that with all my strength I served, your father,
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And you know that I have served your father to the utmost of my power.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And you know that I have served your father with all my strength.

New American Bible
You know well that with all my strength I served your father;

New Revised Standard Version
You know that I have served your father with all my strength;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And you know that I have worked for your father with all my strength.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And you know that with all my power I have served your father.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And ye too know that with all my might I have served your father.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jacob Flees from Laban
5and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I have served your father with all my strength. 7And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.…

Cross References
Genesis 30:29-30
Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care. / Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”

Genesis 30:25-28
Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland. / Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.” / But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” ...

Genesis 29:18-20
Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” / Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to another. Stay here with me.” / So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.

Genesis 31:38-42
I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock. / I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night. / As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. ...

Genesis 31:7-9
And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me. / If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring. / Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

Exodus 1:12-14
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. / They worked the Israelites ruthlessly / and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

Exodus 3:7-9
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings. / I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. / And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them.

Exodus 5:6-9
That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen: / “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw. / But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ...

Leviticus 19:13
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15
Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. / You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

1 Samuel 18:5
So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well.

1 Samuel 18:14
and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him.

1 Samuel 25:15-16
Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them. / They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

Nehemiah 5:8-9
and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say. / So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies?

Job 31:38-40
if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together, / if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, / then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.


Treasury of Scripture

And you know that with all my power I have served your father.

Genesis 31:38-42
This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten…

Genesis 30:29
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

Ephesians 6:5-8
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; …

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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.














You know that I have served your father with all my strength
You know
This phrase indicates a direct appeal to the personal knowledge and experience of the listener. In the Hebrew context, the word for "know" (יָדַע, yada) often implies an intimate, experiential knowledge. Jacob is reminding his wives, Leah and Rachel, of the firsthand evidence they have of his dedication and integrity. This appeal to personal witness underscores the transparency and honesty that Jacob has maintained in his dealings with Laban, their father.

that I have served
The Hebrew word for "served" (עָבַד, avad) is rich with meaning, often used to describe labor, work, or service. In the ancient Near Eastern context, this term can also imply a sense of worship or devotion. Jacob's use of this word highlights his diligent and faithful service to Laban, which was not merely a contractual obligation but a reflection of his commitment and integrity. This service was not just physical labor but an act of faithfulness to his family and to God.

your father
This phrase personalizes the relationship and the context of Jacob's service. Laban, the father of Leah and Rachel, is a central figure in Jacob's narrative. Historically, familial relationships were crucial in the ancient world, often dictating social and economic interactions. Jacob's reference to "your father" emphasizes the familial bond and the expectations that came with it. Despite Laban's deceitful behavior, Jacob maintained his duty and respect towards him as the patriarch of the family.

with all my strength
The phrase "with all my strength" (בְּכָל-כֹּחִי, b'chol-kochi) conveys the totality of Jacob's effort and dedication. In Hebrew, "strength" (כֹּחַ, koach) can refer to physical power, but it also encompasses mental and emotional fortitude. Jacob's declaration of using all his strength signifies his wholehearted commitment to his work and responsibilities. This reflects a biblical principle of working diligently as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23), demonstrating that Jacob's labor was not just for Laban but ultimately for God.

Verse 6. - And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. The term Jacob here uses for power is derived from an unused onomatopoetic root, signifying to pant, and hence to exert one s strength. If, therefore, the assertion now made to his wives was not an unblushing falsehood, Jacob could not have been the monster of craft and deception depicted by some (Kalisch); while, if it was, it must have required considerable effrontery to appeal to his wives' knowledge for a confirmation of what they knew to be a deliberate untruth. The hypothesis that Jacob first acquired his great wealth by "consummate cunning," and then piously "abused the authority of God in covering or justifying them" (Kalisch), presupposes on the part of Jacob a degree of wickedness inconceivable in one who had enjoyed the sublime theophany of Bethel.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You
וְאַתֵּ֖נָה (wə·’at·tê·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person feminine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

know
יְדַעְתֶּ֑ן (yə·ḏa‘·ten)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person feminine plural
Strong's 3045: To know

that
כִּ֚י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I have served
עָבַ֖דְתִּי (‘ā·ḇaḏ·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

your father
אֲבִיכֶֽן׃ (’ă·ḇî·ḵen)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine plural
Strong's 1: Father

with all
בְּכָל־ (bə·ḵāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

my strength.
כֹּחִ֔י (kō·ḥî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3581: A small reptile (of unknown species)


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OT Law: Genesis 31:6 You know that I have served your (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 31:5
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