Genesis 31:19 - Exposition

And Laban went —or, Now Laban had gone, probably ,to the other station, which was three days journey from Jacob's flocks ( vide Genesis 30:36 ; and cf. Genesis 31:22 )— to shear his sheep . In this work he would probably be detained several days, the time of shearing being commonly regarded as a festal season (cf. Genesis 38:12 ; 1 Samuel 25:4 ; 2 Samuel 13:23 ), at which friendly entertainments were given. Whether Jacob's absence from the festivities is to be explained by the dissension existing between him and Laban, which either caused him to be uninvited or led him to decline the invitation (Kurtz), or by the supposition that he had first gone and subsequently left the banquet (Lange), the fact that Laban was so engaged afforded Jacob the opportunity he desired for making his escape. And Rachel had stolen (or, " and Rachel stole ," availing herself likewise of the opportunity presented by he? father's absence) the images that were her father's. The teraphim , from an unused root, taraph , signifying to live comfortably, like the Sanscrit trip , Greek τρέφειν, Arabic tarafa (Gesenius, Furst, sub voces ), appear to have been small human figures (cf. Genesis 31:34 ), though the image in 1 Samuel 19:13 must have been nearly life-size, or at least a full-sized bust, sometimes made of silver ( 17:4 ), though commonly constructed of wood ( 1 Samuel 19:13-16 ); they were worshipped as gods (εἰδωλα, LXX .; vide , Vulgate, cf. Genesis 31:30 ), consulted for oracles ( Ezekiel 21:26 ; Zechariah 10:2 ), and believed to be the custodians and promoters of human happiness ( 18:24 ). Probably derived from the Aramaeans (Furst, Kurtz), or the Chaldeans ( Ezekiel 21:21 , Kalisch, Wordsworth), the worship of teraphim was subsequently denounced as idolatrous ( 1 Samuel 15:23 ; 2 Kings 13:24 ). Cf. with Rachel's act that ascribed to AE neas:—

" Effigies sacrae divum, Phrygiique Penates,

Quos mecum a Troja, mediisque ex ignibus urbis ,"

Extuleram".

Rachel's motive for abstracting her father's teraphim has been variously ascribed to a desire to prevent her father from discovering, by inquiring at his gods, the direction of their flight (Aben Ezra, Rosenmüller), to protect herself, in case, of being overtaken, by an appeal to her father's gods (Josephus), to draw her father from the practice of idolatry (Bazil, Gregory, Nazisnzen, Theodoret), to obtain children for herself through their assistance (Lengerke, Gerlach), to preserve a memorial of her ancestors, whose pictures these teraphim were (Lightfoot); but was probably due to avarice, if the images were made of precious metals (Pererius), or to a taint of superstition which still adhered to her otherwise religious nature (Chrysostom, Calvin, 'Speaker's Commentary ), causing her to look to these idols for protection (Kalisch, Murphy) or consultation (Wordsworth) on her journey.