Genesis 31:43

43 Then Laban, answering, said, These women are my daughters and these children my children, the flocks and all you see are mine: what now may I do for my daughters and for their children?

Genesis 31:43 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:43

And Laban answered and said unto Jacob
Not denying the truth of what he had said, nor acknowledging any fault he had been guilty of, or asking forgiveness for it, though he seemed to be convicted in his own conscience of it: [these] daughters [are] my daughters:
though thy wives, they are my own flesh and blood, and must be dear to me; so pretending strong natural affections for them: and [these] children [are] my children;
his grandchildren, for whom also he professed great love and affection: and [these] cattle [are] my cattle;
or of my cattle, as the Targum of Jonathan, sprung from them, as indeed they did: and all that thou seest [is] mine;
all this he observed in a bragging way, that it might be thought that he was generous in not insisting upon having it, but giving all back to Jacob again: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their
children which they have born?
I cannot find in my heart to do them any hurt, or wrong them of anything, and am therefore willing all should be theirs.

Genesis 31:43 In-Context

41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I was your servant for fourteen years because of your daughters, and for six years I kept your flock, and ten times was my payment changed.

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away with nothing in my hands. But God has seen my troubles and the work of my hands, and this night he kept you back.

43 Then Laban, answering, said, These women are my daughters and these children my children, the flocks and all you see are mine: what now may I do for my daughters and for their children?

44 Come, let us make an agreement, you and I; and let it be for a witness between us.

45 Then Jacob took a stone and put it up as a pillar.