Genesis 31:47

47 And the name Laban gave it was Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob gave it the name of Galeed.

Genesis 31:47 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:47

And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha
Which in the Syriac and Chaldee languages signifies "an heap of witness"; it being, as after observed, a witness of the covenant between Laban and Jacob: but Jacob called it Galeed;
which in the Hebrew tongue signifies the same, "an heap of witness"; or "an heap, [the] witness", for the same reason. Laban was a Syrian, as he sometimes is called, ( Genesis 25:20 ) ( Genesis 31:20 Genesis 31:24 ) , wherefore he used the Syrian language; Jacob was a descendant of Abraham the Hebrew, and he used the Hebrew language; and both that their respective posterity might understand the meaning of the name; though these two are not so very different but Laban and Jacob could very well understand each other, as appears by their discourse together, these being but dialects of the same tongue.

Genesis 31:47 In-Context

45 Then Jacob took a stone and put it up as a pillar.
46 And Jacob said to his people, Get stones together; and they did so; and they had a meal there by the stones.
47 And the name Laban gave it was Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob gave it the name of Galeed.
48 And Laban said, These stones are a witness between you and me today. For this reason its name was Galeed,
49 And Mizpah, for he said, May the Lord keep watch on us when we are unable to see one another's doings.
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