Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me.
Parallel translations
- KJV Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
- BSB Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
- NKJV So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
- NASB So God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
- NLT In this way, God has taken your father’s animals and given them to me.
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 declares that God has taken Laban's livestock and given them to him. He credits his wealth entirely to God.
Overview
Jacob explicitly attributes his prosperity to God's action, not to clever breeding techniques. This statement reframes the entire account of chapter 30, revealing God as the true cause of the marked offspring. It models giving God the glory for one's blessings rather than crediting human effort or schemes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 31:1He heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. From that which was our father’s, has he gotten all this wealth.”
- Gen 31:16For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”
- Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.
- Esth 8:1–2On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.
- Ps 50:10For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills.
- Matt 20:15Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
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 31:9 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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