Genesis 31:32
But whereas thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search, and if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when he said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.
Open Genesis 31:32 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Quod autem furti me arguis : apud quemcumque inveneris deos tuos, necetur coram fratribus nostris : scrutare, quidquid tuorum apud me inveneris, et aufer. Hæc dicens, ignorabat quod Rachel furata esset idola.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ἰακώβ Παρ᾽ ᾧ ἐὰν εὕρῃς τοὺς θεούς σου, οὐ ζήσεται ἐναντίον τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν· ἐπίγνωθι τί ἐστιν τῶν σῶν παρ᾽ ἐμοὶ καὶ λάβε. καὶ οὐκ ἐπέγνω παρ᾽ αὐτῷ οὐθέν· οὐκ ᾔδει δὲ Ἰακὼβ ὅτι Ῥαχὴλ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἔκλεψεν αὐτούς.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- עִ֠ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּמְצָ֣א אֶת אֱלֹהֶיךָ֮ לֹ֣א יִֽחְיֶה֒ נֶ֣גֶד אַחֵ֧ינוּ הַֽכֶּר לְךָ֛ מָ֥ה עִמָּדִ֖י וְקַֽח לָ֑ךְ וְלֹֽא יָדַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֥י רָחֵ֖ל גְּנָבָֽתַם
Haydock's commentary
Slain. Homer says, "the father judges his children and wives;" and thus Jacob pronounces sentence. The Rabbins pretend it had its effect soon after in the death of Rachel, chap. xxxv. 18. (Calmet)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Ambrose On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter XLIX. We must reserve the likeness of the virtues in ourselves. The likeness of the devil and of vice must be got rid of, and especially that of avarice; for this deprives us of liberty, and despoils those who are in the midst of vanities of the image of God
250. Let not the adversary find his image in thee, let him not find fury nor rage; for in these exists the likeness of wickedness. “Our adversary the devil as a roaring lion seeketh whom he may kill, whom he may devour.” Let him not find desire for gold, nor heaps of money, nor the appearance of vices, lest he take from thee the voice of liberty. For the voice of true liberty is heard, when thou canst say: “The prince of this world shall come, and shall find no part in me.” Therefore, if thou art sure that he will find nothing in thee, when he comes to search through thee, thou wilt say, as the patriarch Jacob did to Laban: “Know now if there is aught of thine with me.” Rightly do we account Jacob blessed with whom Laban could find naught of his. For Rachel had hidden the gold and silver images of his gods.