Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing proceeds from Yahweh. We can’t speak to you bad or good.
- KJV Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
- NKJV Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.
- NASB Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.
- NLT Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The Lord has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing we can say.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Laban and Bethuel acknowledge the matter is from Yahweh and cannot oppose it.
Overview
The family recognizes God's evident hand and confesses they can say nothing against it. Even outside the central covenant household, they bow to the Lord's clear leading. Their words testify that God's purposes are unmistakable when he is at work, and human plans must yield to his will.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 118:23This is from the LORD, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
- Gen 31:24But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Gen 31:29I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
- Mark 12:11This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
- 2 Sam 13:22And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad, because he hated Amnon for disgracing his sister Tamar.
- Gen 24:28The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
- Gen 24:55But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so. After that, she may go.”
- Gen 24:15Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.
- Matt 21:42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
- Acts 11:17So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”
- Gen 24:53Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
- Gen 24:60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 24:50 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.