Genesis 31:21

21 So Jacob took all his possessions with him and crossed the Euphrates River, heading for the hill country of Gilead.

Genesis 31:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:21

So he fled with all that he had
His wives, his children, cattle and substance; and he rose up, and passed over the river;
the river Euphrates, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, which lay between Mesopotamia and Canaan; and set his face [toward] the mount Gilead:
he travelled and bent his course that way: this, was a mountain on the border of the land of Canaan, adjoining to Lebanon, near which was a very fruitful country, which had its name from it: it is so called here by way of anticipation; for this name was afterwards given it from the heap of stones here laid, as a witness of the agreement between Laban and Jacob, ( Genesis 31:45 ) .

Genesis 31:21 In-Context

19 At the time they left, Laban was some distance away, shearing his sheep. Rachel stole her father’s household idols and took them with her.

20 Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, for they set out secretly and never told Laban they were leaving.

21 So Jacob took all his possessions with him and crossed the Euphrates River, heading for the hill country of Gilead.

22 Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

23 So he gathered a group of his relatives and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with Jacob seven days later in the hill country of Gilead.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew the river.