Genesis 31:26

26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.

Genesis 31:26 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?
English Standard Version (ESV)
26 And Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?
New Living Translation (NLT)
26 “What do you mean by deceiving me like this?” Laban demanded. “How dare you drag my daughters away like prisoners of war?
The Message Bible (MSG)
26 "What do you mean," said Laban, "by keeping me in the dark and sneaking off, hauling my daughters off like prisoners of war?
American Standard Version (ASV)
26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
26 Then Laban asked Jacob, "What have you done by tricking me? You've carried off my daughters like prisoners of war.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
26 Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war!
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
26 Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have tricked me. You have taken my daughters away like prisoners of war.

Genesis 31:26 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:26

And Laban said unto Jacob
Upon their meeting together; perhaps in some middle place between their two tents: what hast thou done?
what evil hast thou committed? what folly art thou guilty of? and what could induce thee to take such a step as this? suggesting that he could see no necessity for it; and as if he had done nothing that should occasion it, and that Jacob had done a very ill thing that thou hast stolen away unawares to me:
of this phrase (See Gill on Genesis 31:20); and carried away my daughters, as captives [taken] with the sword;
as were commonly done by a band of robbers that made incursions upon their neighbours, and plundered them of their substance, and carried away by force their wives and daughters; and such an one Laban represents Jacob to be, a thief and a robber; who had not only stolen away from him, but had stole away his goods, and even his gods, and carried away his daughters against their will: all which were false, and particularly the latter, since they went along with him with their free and full consent.

Genesis 31:26 In-Context

24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.
26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.
27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?
28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Genesis 12:18
  • 2. S Genesis 27:36
  • 3. Genesis 34:29; 1 Samuel 30:2-3
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