Genesis 31:3

3 And Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your family, and I will be with you."

Genesis 31:3 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:3

And the Lord said unto Jacob
In answer to a prayer of his; or seeing what difficulties and discouragements Jacob laboured under, he appeared unto him for his encouragement and instruction how to proceed: return unto the land of thy fathers;
the land of Canaan, given to Abraham and Isaac by promise: and to thy kindred:
his father and mother, and brother, who all dwelt in the land of Canaan at this time, or as many as were living: or "to thy nativity" ^F23, the place where he was born, and to which he must have a natural desire to return: and I will be with thee;
to protect him from any injury that might be attempted to be done unto him, either by Laban or Esau.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (Ktdlwml) "ad natale solum", Tigurine version; "ad nativitatem tuam", Vatablus, Drusius.

Genesis 31:3 In-Context

1 Now he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, "Jacob has taken all that our father has," and "From that which [was] our father's he has gained all this wealth."

2 Then Jacob saw the face of Laban and, behold, {it was not like it had been in the past}.

3 And Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your family, and I will be with you."

4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks,

5 and he said to them, "Look, I see the face of your father, that {it is not like it has been toward me in the past}. But the God of my father is with me.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "fathers"