Genesis 31:42

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work,^[a] and He issued His verdict last night."

Genesis 31:42 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:42

Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear
of Isaac, had been with me
One and the same God is meant, who was the God of his father Isaac, and before him the God of Abraham, and now the fear of Isaac, whom he feared and served with reverence and godly fear, being at this present time a worshipper of him: now Jacob suggests, that unless his father's God had been on his side, and had protected and preserved him, as well as before blessed and prospered him, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty:
coming with such force upon him, he would have stripped him of all he had, of his wives and children, and servants and cattle: God hath seen my affliction, and the labour of my hands;
what hardships he endured in Laban's service, and what pains he took in feeding his flocks: and rebuked [thee] yesternight;
in a dream, charging him to say neither good nor evil to Jacob, which he himself had confessed, ( Genesis 31:29 ) .

Genesis 31:42 In-Context

40 There I was-the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

41 For 20 years I have worked in your household-14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks-and you have changed my wages 10 times!

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and He issued His verdict last night."

43 Then Laban answered Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne?

44 Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us."

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit and the work of my hands