Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now come, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be for a witness between me and you.”
- BSB Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”
- NKJV Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”
- NASB So now come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it shall be a witness between you and me.”
- NLT So come, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment.”
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 proposes a covenant to formalize peace between him and Jacob. It shifts the tense confrontation toward a binding agreement witnessed before God.
Overview
Unable to overpower Jacob, Laban seeks a treaty to govern their future relations and protect his interests. Covenants were solemn, often sealed with signs and oaths invoking God as witness. This human pact, marked by mutual distrust, stands in contrast to God's gracious covenant freely given to Abraham's line.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Sam 20:14–17And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:
- Josh 24:25–27So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
- Deut 31:26Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
- Josh 22:27But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.
- Gen 31:48And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
- Gen 31:52This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.
- Deut 31:19Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
- Deut 31:21And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
- Gen 21:22–32And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
- Gen 15:18In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
- Gen 26:28–31And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
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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 31:44 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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