Then early in the morning Laban got up, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.
Parallel translations
- WEB Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.
- KJV And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.
- BSB Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.
- NKJV And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.
- NLT Laban got up early the next morning, and he kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.
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 rises early, blesses and kisses his daughters and grandchildren, and returns home. The long, tangled relationship between Jacob and Laban ends in peace.
Overview
With the covenant complete, Laban departs after a final affectionate farewell, and he disappears from the narrative. His exit closes the chapter of Jacob's exile in Paddan-Aram. God has brought Jacob safely through twenty years of conflict, fulfilling His promise to be with him and bring him back.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Gen 31:28and didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly.
- Gen 30:25When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country.
- Deut 23:5Nevertheless Yahweh your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam; but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because Yahweh your God loved you.
- Gen 18:33Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
- Gen 33:4Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept.
- Prov 16:7When a man’s ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
- Gen 31:43Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do today to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne?
- Acts 28:4–5When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live.”
- Ruth 1:14They lifted up their voices, and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth joined with her.
- Ps 76:10Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
- Num 23:8How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
- Num 24:25Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
- Gen 28:1Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
- Num 23:11Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether.”
- Deut 32:36For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
- Num 23:5Yahweh put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
- 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 31:55 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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