Kejadian 31:44-49
Konteks31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, 1 you and I, and it will be 2 proof that we have made peace.” 3
31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 31:46 Then he 4 said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. 5 They ate there by the pile of stones. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, 6 but Jacob called it Galeed. 7
31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement 8 today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 31:49 It was also called Mizpah 9 because he said, “May the Lord watch 10 between us 11 when we are out of sight of one another. 12
[31:44] 1 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[31:44] 2 tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition לְ (lÿ) means “become.”
[31:44] 3 tn Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”
[31:46] 4 tn Heb “Jacob”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[31:46] 5 sn The Hebrew word for “pile” is גַּל (gal), which sounds like the name “Galeed” (גַּלְעֵד, gal’ed). See v. 48.
[31:47] 6 sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”
[31:47] 7 sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.
[31:48] 8 tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”
[31:49] 9 tn Heb “and Mizpah.”
[31:49] 10 sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the
[31:49] 11 tn Heb “between me and you.”
[31:49] 12 tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”
