Introduction: Have you seen anyone wearing a “Mizpah” necklace recently? These items come and go in popularity and I frankly haven’t seen any of these in quite a while. But some time ago, these items were popular. They came as a pair of necklaces, and on each necklace there was a piece of a coin or medallion with half of this verse on each piece: “The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another (Genesis 31:49)”. I’ve never owned any of these, but it’s a good sentiment—except for one thing: this verse was never meant as a blessing!
It was almost a threat!
Let’s take a deeper look at Jacob’s “Mizpah moment”.
1 It started with a chase
Text: Genesis 31:22-25, KJV: 22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled. 23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. 24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
In the context, Jacob had kept his flocks and herds a three-day journey or distance from Laban’s livestock. Jacob had come to realize that it was time for him to leave Laban’s land (after 20 years!) and God’s message was confirmation enough. Without telling Laban anything, Jacob took his entire entourage (family, servants, livestock and who knows what else) and began the journey back to his homeland.
Now one of the Bible’s famous snitches informed Laban that Jacob “was fled” or, to put it more smoothly, had fled, leaving Laban behind for good (so some would say). Once he heard about this, Laban took his “brethren”, which could be close family or those of his household, and gave chase trying to catch up with Jacob. And catch Jacob, he did, right at Mount Gilead, which was Jacob’s destination (Genesis 31:21).
We’ll never be sure what Laban was thinking about saying when he met Jacob after a week’s long what could have been a wild goose chase. Part of this stems from God’s warning to Laban—in a dream! This wasn’t the first time God had spoken to someone who wasn’t a descendant of Abraham. God had also spoken to Abimelech, king of Gerar (Philistine land in those days) and told that man plainly, “You’re a dead man” if he continued with his plan to keep Sarah in his household. One wonders what Abimelech wanted with a woman as old as Sarah (she was 90! See Genesis 17:17). Regardless, God stepped in and overruled any and all of Abimelech’s plans (see Genesis 20 for the story).
I have to confess that the words of God to Laban are easy to hear and understand, but very difficult to follow! The people with Laban and Laban himself set up camp in the same general area as Jacob.
The chase was over. Now what was Laban going to say—or do?
2 It continued with a challenge
Text, Genesis 31:26-35, KJV: 26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? 27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp? 28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. 29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? 31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me. 32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. 33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. 35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.
Only a few comments need be added here. Note that Laban seems to ignore God’s warning about not saying anything good or bad by challenging Jacob! Laban accused Jacob of taking his daughters “as captives taken with the sword (prizes of war!), and not allowing time to say goodbye. By the way, this wasn’t the first time Laban had used the “let’s wait a little” excuse—back when Rebekah was given the opportunity to leave her home and go to marry Isaac, Laban and his mother said, “Ah, let’s not rush things, let’s wait 10 days and then she can decide (Gen. 24:55-56, paraphrased)”.
Then, almost as an afterthought, he adds, “I could have done you some hurt (probably a pause) but—(oh yeah, I almost forgot) the God of your father spoke to me last night and told me not to say anything good or bad to you.” Better late than never, I suppose.
And after this, Laban utters one of the most unintentionally funniest lines in the Bible, “Why did you steal my gods?” Laban had searched for his “gods”, the images which Rachel had stolen (verse 19). To digress for a moment, Laban was probably not the first, and he clearly wasn’t the last, to “worship” the LORD plus any number of other “gods”. I certainly don’t know why.
A word about these “images” is in order. Several commentators believe Rachel stole them so that Laban couldn’t use them to try and find out where Jacob was (divination?). Others believe these images were kind of a title to the household riches. To paraphrase a more or less popular saying, in those days, the one with the “gods” was the one with the “goods”.
More seriously, a few were afraid Rachel was a polytheist, worshiping other gods plus Jehovah, the LORD. Leah was no doubt a genuine believer in the True God, referring to Him when three of her oldest sons were born (Gen. 29:31-35). Moses didn’t write that Leah took her father’s images, rather, that Rachel did. We may never know why Rachel did this.
Jacob gave a somewhat unusual answer to Laban’s challenge. He said, perhaps weakly, “I was afraid you would take your daughters away from me by force.” Note he didn’t say “my wives” but “your daughters.” Was marriage not considered something permanent in those days? Oddly enough, many years later, David wanted his first wife back after being separated from her for several years. He still had feelings for her but she had lost whatever love or feelings she had for him and wound up hating him. David had Michal taken away from her current husband by force, but found out too late her heart wasn’t with him anymore (compare 1 Samuel 18:20 with 2 Samuel 3:13-16 and 2 Samuel 6:16-20).
Even so, Jacob respected Laban’s position and challenge. He gave Laban permission (kudos to Laban for not charging in first before challenging Jacob) to enter the various tents: his own, then Leah’s, after that the tent for Zilpah and Bilhah. Once Laban finished inspecting Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s and there entered into an act worthy of a Hollywood production. Take a look:
Rachel had taken the images, as mentioned earlier, and hid them “in the camel’s furniture”. Certainly this wasn’t a table and chairs or what we think is “furniture” but this could be the saddle, saddlebag, or something the camel carried. Rachel’s comment or appeal to “the custom of women” is likewise never defined—the phrase is not used anywhere else in the Bible—but there are some interesting ideas as to what this could mean. These ideas include not being able to rise in front of her father, which was apparently part of the “code” of those days, to suffering the monthly feminine cycle. The Law was not in effect at that time but when a woman’s time did come, in those days, the Law prescribed various things (see Leviticus 15:19-30).
Laban searched everywhere he could, trying his best, apparently, to find his images but he never did. Again, Rachel must have given an Oscar-winning performance, never giving any indication she knew anything about Laban’s images, all the while sitting on or near them!
The search completed, Laban seemed to change his entire tone and approach. Jacob, though, wasn’t having any of it. In verses 36-42, omitted here to save space, Jacob quotes “chapter and verse” how Laban had wronged him and how it was wrong for Laban to burst on the scene, as he did, and charge Jacob falsely. Jacob closed his message by saying unless that God had intervened, Laban would still have tried to cheat him. And both of them knew it.
I can’t help but think there was a pause or an awkward moment of silence before Laban said another word. Eventually he came to realize Jacob was right and he had been wrong, The question now was, what would happen next?
3 It ended with some construction
Text, Genesis 31:43-55, KJV: 43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born? 44 Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. 45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. 46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap. 47 And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; 49 And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. 50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. 51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee; 52 This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount. 55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.
Laban still tried to claim ownership (!) of all Jacob owned, starting with the daughters, the children, and all the cattle. He knew, of course, this wasn’t true—after all, he had agreed with Jacob that Jacob would serve seven years for each daughter and six more for the cattle and, hey, a deal’s a deal, right? But then Laban proposed to Jacob what might be a “face-saving” program or end to the situation.
Laban first suggested to Jacob they make a covenant to be a witness between each party. Covenant and bargain are closely related but a covenant is a firm and binding contract between each party. There is no written record of anything spoken at this point, but Laban and possibly Jacob both knew that they would need something more than just words to make this real.
Now Jacob took a stone, and just as he had done at Bethel some twenty years before, he set it up for a “pillar” (compare this with Genesis 28:18-22). In contrast, this was not to be “a house of God” but a witness or perhaps a memorial.
Then Jacob said to his “brethren” to gather more stones. These brethren were most likely not blood kin, unless Isaac and Rebekah had had more children and there is no record that happened. These folks could be the menservants or others who were part of Jacob’s household. We may never know who all of them were, or how they became part of Jacob’s household, or even if they worshiped the God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. Regardless, Jacob needed them and they seem to have served him well.
Once they had gathered the stones, they made a “heap” and ate a meal there. The custom of the day was to give or at least offer a visiting party something to eat. Abraham had done this for the Three Visitors in Genesis 18, and Laban himself had seen this when Abraham’s servant had come to find a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24). Ironically, there is no record Laban had given Jacob a meal when they met each other for the first time in Genesis 29. Had Jacob remembered this, and was simply returning good for evil?
But more than courtesy, the meal between two parties, regardless of size, meant much the same as a peace treaty. Certainly it would be pure treachery to eat someone’s food and then try to harm, shame, or take advantage of the other party! To Laban’s credit, again, he seemed to take part in Jacob’s meal in good faith. At least he didn’t threaten Jacob with anything now.
And now the construction seemed to be finished. Once the meal was finished, each man, Laban and Jacob, named the “heap” using two different languages. Laban’s name for it was from the Syriac, Chaldee, or Aramaic language (commentators do not all agree) but Jacob’s name for it, Galeed, was Hebrew. Then Laban added one final “charge” or, perhaps warning—maybe even a threat!—to Jacob by saying, “This heap is a witness between us this day!”
Now for the “Mizpah’ moment. Laban concluded his speech with these words, “The LORD watch between you and me when we’re absent from one another!” He added more to the speech and closed it by invoking the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor (their respective fathers). They had another meal, spent the night together, and after blessing his sons and daughters (there is no word for “grandparent” or “grandchild” in Hebrew), Laban went back to his place.
Conclusion: full disclosure, there was a Christian magazine in the early 1980’s that mentioned this passage and others that were used out of context by well-meaning (and, perhaps, others) for any number of reasons. Any overlap between then and now is accidental. The important thing is that Jacob faced a challenge and remained true to the God of his fathers and never went back past the “Mizpah” to deal with Laban in any way.
No one knows how long this heap or pile or whatever it was lasted. There is no other mention of it in the rest of the Bible. What is known is that this monument served as a reminder of a treaty or covenant between Jacob and Laban, and a threat if Jacob was to harm his family in any way or if either party would cross this line against the other You and I don’t need to build heaps like this to make agreements—bridges work much better, don’t you think?.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
