And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.”
- BSB “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked. “We know him,” they replied.
- NKJV Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”
- NASB So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”
- NLT “Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked. “Yes, we do,” they replied.
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
Jacob asks if the shepherds know Laban, and they reply that they do.
Overview
Jacob immediately seeks out his mother's family by name, and the shepherds know Laban well. Laban is here called "son of Nahor" to tie him to Abraham's brother, anchoring the covenant kinship. God is drawing the threads together to bring Jacob into the household of his future wives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Gen 24:24And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.
- Gen 24:29And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.
- Gen 31:53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
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 29:5 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
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