Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.
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.
- BSB Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.
- NKJV Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either 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 Yahweh’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
- Gen 31:24God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”
- Gen 31:29It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.’
- Mark 12:11This was from the Lord, it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
- 2 Sam 13:22Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
- Gen 24:28The young lady ran, and told her mother’s house about these words.
- Gen 24:55Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go.”
- Gen 24:15Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder.
- Matt 21:42Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?’
- Acts 11:17If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?”
- Gen 24:53The servant brought out jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.
- Gen 24:60They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them.”
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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.