Genesis 31:43

43 Laban defended himself: "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flock is my flock - everything you see is mine. But what can I do about my daughters or for the children they've had?

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 For twenty years I've done this: I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flock and you changed my wages ten times.

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not stuck with me, you would have sent me off penniless. But God saw the fix I was in and how hard I had worked and last night rendered his verdict."

43 Laban defended himself: "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flock is my flock - everything you see is mine. But what can I do about my daughters or for the children they've had?

44 So let's settle things between us, make a covenant - God will be the witness between us."

45 Jacob took a stone and set it upright as a pillar.