Treaty at Mizpah
The Treaty at Mizpah
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Laban’s Dream
Three days later, Laban was informed Jacob had fled. After gathering his relatives, Laban pursued Jacob for seven days until he caught up with him in the hills of Gilead. But that night God spoke to Laban the Aramean in a dream, “Take care you don’t threaten Jacob!”
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It took three days for news of Jacob’s departure from Harran to reach Laban. When it did, Laban was in the middle of shearing his sheep, and all his relatives were shearing their sheep as well. It must have taken some time for him to return to Harran and gather a force strong enough to challenge his nephew’s entire household. Jacob’s well-thought-out plan guaranteed Laban could not follow him immediately.1
Despite how long it took Laban to prepare, Rachel’s theft of the family idols guaranteed he would pursue Jacob and his household. He searched for seven days until he caught up with them in Gilead. Scripture doesn’t say what Laban intended to do, but he clearly posed a real threat. Once again, God had to intervene to save Jacob from his uncle.
The night before the confrontation, God spoke to Laban in a dream and warned him not to threaten Jacob—literally “speak with Jacob from good to evil.” God didn’t forbid Laban from speaking to Jacob, but he limited what he could say and do.
“Good” and “evil” have the same sense here as in the forbidden tree “of the knowledge of good and evil” in Genesis 2 and 3. The tree tested whether Adam and Eve would trust God’s judgment or choose to live by their own judgments.2 Just as God forbade Adam and Eve from judging right and wrong for themselves, he forbade Laban from making himself Jacob’s judge. If Laban threatened Jacob in any way, he would face the wrath of Jacob’s God.
Confrontation
When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob set up camp in the hills, and Laban also set up camp in the hills of Gilead. Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, fooling me like this and carrying away my daughters like prisoners of war! Why did you flee in secret and fool me by not telling me? I would have sent you away with the joyful music of drums and lyres. You didn’t even let me kiss my daughters and grandchildren goodbye.
“What a foolish thing you’ve done! I have the power to harm all of you, but your father’s God told me last night, ‘Take care you do not threaten Jacob!’ I understand you left because you were homesick for your father’s house. But why would you steal my gods?”
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In the morning, Jacob and Laban met to settle their differences. During the twenty years Jacob lived with him, Laban had seen the power of Jacob’s God. So he obeyed the command to not threaten Jacob. Yet in venting his wrath, Laban came dangerously close to crossing the line.
Laban’s complaint had some merit. Jacob had tricked him and prevented him from saying goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren. But Jacob hadn’t forced Rachel and Leah to leave.3 And Laban likely wouldn’t have thrown a joyful farewell party for Jacob. Jacob left the way he did because he didn’t trust his uncle—and for good reason.
As Laban listed his perceived wrongs, his anger grew. He called Jacob’s behavior “foolish” and confirmed he would have harmed Jacob and his household had God not intervened. But after his emotional outburst, Laban managed to calm himself down. He even partially justified Jacob by attributing his departure to homesickness. Laban would not try to impede his nephew. But he honestly believed Jacob had stolen his “gods,” and he wanted them back.
Defiled Gods
Jacob responded, “I was afraid you would forcibly take your daughters from me. But if you find your gods, the person who has them will be put to death! In the presence of our relatives, identify what I have that belongs to you and take it.” But Jacob didn’t know Rachel had stolen them.
So Laban entered the tents belonging to Jacob, Leah, and the two servants, but he didn’t find the family idols. After leaving Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s. Now Rachel had hidden the idols in her camel’s saddlebag, and she sat on them. Though Laban scoured the tent, he didn’t find them because she said, “Please don’t be angry, my lord. But I can’t get up because I’m having my period.”
Though he searched, Laban didn’t find his family idols.
Jacob told Laban he left because he feared Laban would take away his wives. Then he addressed Laban’s only serious accusation—the theft of his family idols. Jacob invited Laban to search the camp and take back anything that belonged to him. And if he found the idols, the person who had them would die. Not knowing Rachel had stolen them, Jacob unwittingly condemned his beloved to death!
The scene of Laban searching the tents is both suspenseful and comedic. The tension rises as Laban searches the tents and reaches its peak as he approaches Rachel’s. Would Jacob lose the only wife he truly loved? But then the tension quickly disperses because Rachel had come up with a brilliant strategy. She placed the idols in a pocket of her riding saddle, sat on them, and claimed she couldn’t move due to having her period.
Whether real or feigned, Rachel’s menstruation guaranteed Laban would not touch the saddle. Both the Israelites and their neighbors considered menstrual blood an impurity, making Rachel, the saddle, and the idols all unclean.4 Suddenly Laban went from a threat to an object of ridicule, along with his so-called gods. The deities he looked to for protection couldn’t even protect themselves from being bled on and defiled.
Rachel’s ruse succeeded. Though Laban searched, he never found the idols. Jacob’s God had rescued him, but Laban failed to rescue his humiliated gods.
Jacob’s Rant
So Jacob grew angry and scolded Laban, “What crime have I committed? How have I wronged you that you would hunt me down like this? You have scoured everything I have! What did you find that belongs to your household? Lay it before your relatives and mine so they can judge between us.
“During the twenty years I’ve been with you, your ewes and goats didn’t miscarry. I didn’t eat rams from your flock. When a predator killed one of your animals, I didn’t bring you the evidence. I compensated you myself. You demanded restitution whether it was stolen during the day or at night! The heat tormented me by day and the frost by night, depriving me of sleep.
“This was my lot for the twenty years I was a part of your household. I served you fourteen years to marry your two daughters and six years to acquire your flock. Yet you repeatedly changed my wages!”
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When Laban failed to find his family idols, Jacob felt vindicated and grew angry. He demanded Laban produce some evidence of wrongdoing that justified hunting him down like a criminal. Jacob had reached his breaking point. Finally free to speak his mind, he vented twenty years of pent-up frustration.
Jacob had worked hard, and Laban’s flock had flourished under his care. Yet Jacob had not enjoyed the protections hired shepherds normally received. If a wild animal killed an animal in the flock, the shepherd would bring part of the carcass as evidence and would not have to compensate the owner. The owner would also bear the loss when an animal was stolen, unless the shepherd had been negligent.5
Contrary to these cultural norms, Laban demanded restitution for every loss, forcing Jacob to remain outside guarding the flock day and night. This exposed him to the extreme temperature changes of arid regions, making it hard to sleep.6 Laban’s greed had made his life miserable. For twenty years, Jacob had endured mistreatment, and everything he owned he had earned. Jacob had not stolen from Laban. Laban had stolen from him!
The Fear of Isaac
“If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, hadn’t intervened for me, by now you would have sent me away with nothing. But God saw my misery and how hard I worked, and last night he pronounced judgment.”
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At the end of Jacob’s climactic confrontation with his uncle, he makes a profound statement of faith that summarizes the entire story. Abraham’s story centers around the idea that God provides all we need.7 Jacob’s story centers around the idea that God intervenes on behalf of his people. Without God’s intervention, Jacob would have left Harran with nothing to show for his twenty years of service. But God protected him. And through the trials he experienced in Laban’s household, Jacob’s faith had finally reached maturity. He credited his deliverance fully to “the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac.”
Only here and in verse 53 is the Hebrew word pahad (“fear, terror”) used as a title for God. The phrase “the Fear of Isaac” could mean “the one Isaac fears,” an accurate description of Yahweh but one that has no relevance to the story. Instead, the name subtly reminded Laban who he was really dealing with—the terrifying God of Jacob’s father!8 Laban needed to fear God, as he himself admitted.9
Jacob interpreted Laban’s dream as a judicial verdict in his favor. By forbidding Laban from threatening Jacob, God acknowledged Jacob didn’t deserve the mistreatment he had suffered. Although God had already judged between them, Jacob allowed Laban to search his camp. Now, having found no evidence of theft, Laban needed to back down or face the consequences.
A Witness
Laban responded, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flock is my flock. Everything you see belongs to me! But my daughters—what can I do for them today? Or for their children? So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Then there will be a witness between us.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a sacred pillar. Then Jacob told his relatives to gather stones, and they piled the stones up in a heap. Then they ate there next to the stones. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
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Laban knew he had lost and could do nothing more about his perceived wrongs. But he was too proud to admit it. As he sought a safe way out of his embarrassing situation, he quickly ran the emotional gamut from defiance to resignation to resolve.
Laban first tried to justify himself. Jacob had demanded some evidence of theft, and Laban responded by claiming ownership of everything Jacob had! Laban then feigned concern for his daughters and grandchildren. He acted as if they would be in danger because he could no longer control their lives. Finally, Laban came up with a way to claim success without harming Jacob and angering his God—a covenant of peace.
Jacob accepted Laban’s proposal by setting up the sacred pillar that would serve as the witness of the covenant. Their relatives who had accompanied Laban from Harran gathered smaller stones and piled them up around the standing stone. Laban and Jacob both named the stones “pile of witness,” Laban in Aramaic and Jacob in Hebrew.10 They swore their covenant oaths and ate the covenant meal next to the pile of stones.11
Terms of the Covenant
Laban said, “This pile is a witness between you and me.” That’s why Jacob named it Galeed. He also called it Mizpah because Laban said, “May Yahweh watch us even when we cannot see each other. If you mistreat my daughters or take any other wives besides my daughters—even though no one is with us—be aware that God is a witness between us.”
“Look,” Laban continued, “I have set up this pile of stones and this pillar between you and me. May this pile be a witness! May this pillar be a witness! I will not pass beyond this pile to harm you, and you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the gods of Nahor judge between us.”
So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father, Isaac. Then he offered a sacrifice on the hill and invited his relatives to the meal. They ate and then spent the night in the hills. The next morning, Laban rose early, kissed his daughters and grandchildren, and blessed them. Then he left to return home.
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Having recovered from the embarrassment of Jacob’s rebuke, Laban reasserted himself as the head of the household and Jacob’s superior. He took it upon himself to dictate the terms of the covenant and called on Yahweh to watch over them ensure they each kept the terms. Jacob later named the area where they made the covenant Mizpah, which means “place of watching.”
The terms themselves contained nothing unusual. Laban warned Jacob that if he mistreated Leah and Rachel, even though Laban wouldn’t see, God would. By making Jacob vow not to marry any other wives, Laban ensured the inheritance status of his grandchildren—though it was Laban who had forced Jacob into polygamy in the first place.12 Finally, Laban made the sacred pillar a boundary stone between himself and Jacob.13 Neither would cross the boundary with hostile intent.
Jacob wisely ignored Laban’s power play and accepted his terms. He swore by the Fear of Isaac, while Laban swore by the gods of Abraham and Nahor.14 Jacob then sacrificed some of his animals as a fellowship offering for the covenantal meal.15 The next morning, Laban said a proper goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren before he left to return home. God not only rescued Jacob from Laban but even allowed him to depart in peace.
- The story requires this unmentioned time gap because Jacob could not have traveled the 350 miles from Harran to Gilead in only ten days. Walton, “Genesis,” 111–113.
- See The Forbidden Tree.
- See A Family United.
- Walton, “Genesis,” 113; Leviticus 15:19–20.
- Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 277; see Exodus 22:10–13.
- WorldAtlas, “What Is an Arid Climate?,” by Victor Kiprop, May 13, 2019, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-an-arid-climate.html.
- Genesis 22:8, 14.
- Hamilton, Book of Genesis: Chapters 18–50, 310.
- Genesis 31:29.
- Hamilton, Book of Genesis: Chapters 18–50, 314; Ross, “Genesis,” 186; Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 280.
- The meal eaten by the stones is the same meal mentioned in verse 54. The covenant is summarized here, with the details following.
- See Genesis 29:20–30.
- Laban’s claim that he set up the pillar does not contradict verse 45, where Jacob set it up. Rather, Laban was again trying to assert his authority by claiming that Jacob and their relatives had acted under his leadership. See Outcry.
- That Laban was referring to more than one deity is shown by the plural verb yishpetu (“may they judge”).
- Because this was a fellowship offering, not a burnt offering, only a portion of the meat was burned on the altar. The rest was eaten by those participating in the covenant.