Genesis 31:23: “Taking his relatives with him, Laban pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.”
Jacob’s caravan left in the early afternoon. He took with him his family, his servants and all of his livestock. Soon they crossed the Euphrates River.
Setting camp that evening, Leah noticed that Rachel didn’t look well. She took her aside and said: “Rachel, I noticed you acted a little strange when our husband broke the news to us this morning. What was this bulky thing you added last minute to our luggage?” Rachel didn’t answer at first, but her pale face flushed. “That is none of your concern!” she finally replied, but Leah didn’t give up. “Don’t treat me like this. You can trust me. What is going on?” Rachel replied: “I’m pregnant.” Leah gasped and said: “Bad timing. We will be on the road for months.” Rachel nodded, “Exactly. That’s why I took our father’s household gods.” – “You did what?” Leah cried out. “Shhhh! Keep your voice down!” Rachel whispered. Seeing her sister’s worried expression she started defending herself: “What was I supposed to do? I don’t know Jacob’s God very well, but I’m sure that his God only concerns Himself with male things – like winning wars and protection from our enemies. But I need my goddess to watch over the birth of my next son.” Leah shook her head, saying: “This is a foolish thing you have done, Rachel. Let’s hope that this will not come back to bite you.”
On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Immediately he and his men saddled his horses to pursue him. In a week’s time Laban finally caught up with his son-in-law in the hill country of Gilead where he set camp. That night God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said [Genesis 31:24, Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)]:
“Be careful! Be careful of every word you say to Jacob.”
Laban had brought along all of his relatives with the purpose to intimidate Jacob, but as he awoke from his dream he knew that he had to change gear. “Everybody stays here”, he addressed his men. “I will only take my sons with me to meet with Jacob.”
Jacob came towards them as Laban and his two sons entered his campground. Laban was still angry. “How could you do this to me – running away with my daughters and grandchildren like a thief in the night? You know that I could seriously hurt you, but your God appeared to me in a dream last night and warned me against it.” Jacob was speechless as he considered the fact that the God of his fathers had gone out of His way to speak to his uncle on his behalf. Laban continued: “You left because you are homesick. I can understand that. But what I don’t understand: Why did you steal my gods?”
Jacob was still frozen with fear, but when he was falsely accused of stealing his uncle’s household gods he became angry. “Why would I steal your household gods?” he fumed. “I tell you what: Go and look around. If you find anything that belongs to you, bring it out here. I’m sure you will find nothing, but should you come across a single thing that is stolen from you, the thief among us shall die.”
Leah blanched when she heard Jacob’s curse and she cast a sharp look at her sister. Without a word Rachel turned around and headed to her tent. There she took the household gods and hid them under her camel’s saddle. Her father found her sitting on the camel’s saddle when he entered to search through her belongings. “Please forgive me, father that I can’t get up to greet you. I’m having my period.” In ancient Mesopotamia, everything a woman sat on during her monthly period was considered unclean. So Laban was careful not to touch her seat when he rummaged through her belongings.
After Laban had looked high and low and found nothing belonging to him, Jacob confronted him: “So what did you find? Did you seriously think I’m interested in you and your gods after all that you have done to me? You have cheated and changed my wages ten times. If it wasn’t for the God of Abraham and Isaac, I would have left Paddan Aram emptyhanded.” – “Your wives are my daughters and your children are my grandchildren”, Laban insisted. “All your livestock came from mine. But none of this matters now.”
Laban spread his hands and said: “Jacob, I am ready to make a non-aggression pact with you. A pile of stone shall be the witness of our agreement.”
In the ceremony that followed Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice to the Lord. He invited Laban and his sons, and the men shared a meal. Together they built a pile of rocks at the location and swore: “We will never go past this heap with the intention to harm one another.” Jacob called this place “Galeed”, while his father-in-law called it “Yegar Sahadutha”, both names meaning “rock pile of the agreement.”
The following morning Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren goodbye and returned to his homeland while Jacob’s caravan continued west.