In the Hebrew, Laben kissing everyone goodbye and hitting the road is the first verse of chapter 32, but obviously, it ought to be numbered 31.55, as it is in many English Bibles.
I HATED this chapter. Very long and boring and repetitive. More about sheep and goats. Rocks and pillars. And sneaky Miss Rachel (men do choose wives like their mothers!) who steals her fathers household gods/teraphim (images? statuettes? masks?) and then stuffs them in a camel saddle and plonks herself down on it -- "don't ask me to stand up, Dad, it's that time of the month!"
Hmph.
Things I liked: in verses 20 and onwards we hear of Jacob deceiving Laban. There is a very pretty expression used here for deceive: וַיִּגְנֹב יַעֲקֹב אֶת-לֵב לָבָן (vayyignov yaakov et-lev lavan): Jacob stole Laban's heart.
That's what the NRSV says, anyway. The JPS (Jewish Publication Society) Tanakh and the New Jerusalem Bible say that Jacob outwitted Laban. The Revised English and the New American Bibles say he hoodwinked him. Both good choices, and better than deceived, I think.
It's easy to forget that lev (heart) in Hebrew is the area of the person where the will resides. It is where decisions are made. A Hebrew "hard-hearted" Pharaoh might be what we would call a block-head. Stupid. Or stubborn. Hard of mind. But not cruel, necessarily.
So when I read that Jacob "stole Laban's heart," I try to think about stealing or sneaking away with his mind, his thinking. Taking away his decision making ability. I think "outwit" wins the prize.
The other cool word I came across was the verb כסף (k-s-f) meaning "long for, long greatly for" It only shows up 4 times in the Bible, but it is the same root as the word for silver or money. Root of all evil, indeed!!
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