Genesis 31:23

And he took his brethren with him,.... Some of his relations, the descendants of his father's brethren, the sons of Nahor, of whom there were seven, besides Bethuel; and who all perhaps lived in

And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead. Overtook him in the mount Gilead.

Genesis 31:23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.Ver. 23. And he took his brethren.] The wicked may band themselves, and bend their strength against the saints; but they are bounded by God. He lets them have the ball on their foot many times, till they come to the very goal, and yet then makes them miss the game. He lets out their tether, and then pulls them back again to their task.

(23) His brethren.—As Jacob, who had no relatives with him except his sons, applies this term in Genesis 31:46 to his followers, it is, probably, an honourable way of describing retainers, who were freemen and of a higher class than men-servants. Seven days’ journey.—The route chosen by Jacob was apparently the more easterly one, past Tadmor, and through the Hauran, leaving Damascus to the west. The hill, which subsequently was called Mount Gilead, lay to the south of the Jabbok; but asMahanaim, reached some days after the meeting with Laban, is to the north of that river, the word Gilead was evidently applied to the whole of the region of chalk cliffs on the east of the Jordan. This is made certain by the fact that Laban overtook Jacob in seven days. But as the distance from Haran to the most northerly part of this country (afterwards assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh) was fully three hundred miles, it would require hard riding on the part of Laban and his brethren to enable them to overtake Jacob, even on the borders of this region. There is no difficulty about Jacob’s movements. His flocks were pastured at so remote a distance from Haran that it would be easy for him to send them in detachments to the ford of the Euphrates, distant about sixty or seventy miles; he would make all the arrangements with his four elder sons and trusty servants, and, probably, even see them across the ford himself, and would return to Haran to fetch his wives and younger children only when all was well advanced. Finally, when Laban goes to a distance, in another direction, for his sheep-shearing, Jacob “sets his sons and his wives upon camels,” and follows with the utmost speed. They would have remained quietly at Haran to the last, to avoid suspicion, and, excepting Leah’s four elder sons, the rest would have been too young to be of much use. When Jacob, with his wives, overtook the cattle, they would, probably, not travel more than ten or twelve miles a day; but three days passed before Laban learned what had taken place, and a couple of days at least must have been spent in returning to Haran and preparing for the pursuit. Thus Jacob had reached Canaanite ground—a matter of very considerable importance—before his father-in-law overtook him.

22–55. The Pursuit of Laban, &c. 23. his brethren] i.e. the men of his kindred and clan, as in Genesis 31:25; Genesis 31:32. Jacob is similarly attended; cf. Genesis 31:37; Genesis 31:46; Genesis 31:54, Genesis 24:60. seven days’ journey] The distance from Haran to the land of Gilead for a company with flocks and herds would require a longer time. It is computed to be over 300 miles in a straight line. But we do not need to be very exacting about geographical accuracy in old-world popular stories. The point to notice is that Jacob was encumbered with his flocks and herds and household, and that Laban, travelling without encumbrance in pursuit, overtook him in ten days from his flight.

23. Took his brethren — Various relatives who were with him at the feast of sheep shearing. Compare the use of this word in Genesis 13:8.