Genesis 31:1-21

Jacob’s departure for Canaan 31:1-21

God had been faithful in blessing Jacob, as He had promised Abraham and Isaac. Moses recorded the testimony to that fact in this section. Jacob acknowledged that God was responsible for his prosperity. God’s goodness and His command to return to the Promised Land (Genesis 31:3), as well as Laban’s growing hostility (Genesis 31:5), motivated Jacob to leave Paddan-aram.

It is unclear from what Jacob reported to his wives when the Angel of God appeared to him in the dream (Genesis 31:10-13). This may have occurred before or at the same time as the revelation referred to earlier in this passage. It seems likely, however, that this was the same revelation, God’s second to Jacob.

In this revelation Jacob learned that God had been responsible for his becoming richer (Genesis 31:12). Jacob credited God with this and with his own survival (Genesis 31:5; Genesis 31:7). This is the first time in the narrative that Jacob emerges as a man of public faith. He finally takes the leadership in his home, and his wives, for the first time, follow his lead.

"This is another case of the ’Ruth effect,’ where the foreign wife commits herself and future to the God of her adopted family." [Note: Ibid., p. 510.]