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†. Gen 32:14a . . After spending the night there, No one knows yet just exactly where Mahanaim was located. According to a Jordanian tourism web site, it was north of the river W. Zarqa (N. Yaboq) up in some elevated ground a few miles east of Deir Alla. If your map doesn't show Deir Alla; then...

†. Gen 32:4 . . Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, The Hebrew word for "messengers" is the same word often used for angels. Since that word has such wide application, some have proposed that Jacob dispatched the holy angels on ahead to meet...

†. Gen 32:1 . . Early in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward. Apparently nobody wanted to kiss Laban back, nor bid him a good-bye. The old boy didn't altogether lack at least some affection for his family. But he...

†. Gen 31:51 . . And Laban said to Jacob: Here is this mound and here the pillar which I have set up between you and me: Laban didn't set up anything. He only participated in dedicating the pillar. Jacob and his sons set it up with their own hands. And it was all their own idea, not his. †...

†. Gen 31:42 . . Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God took notice of my plight and the toil of my hands, and He gave judgment last night. In Jacob's opinion, Laban stood utterly condemned. For if...

†. Gen 31:33-35 . . So Laban went into Jacob's tent and Leah's tent and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them. Leaving Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Rachel, meanwhile, had taken the idols and placed them in the camel cushion and sat on them; and Laban rummaged...

†. Gen 31:29c . . said to me last night: Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad. That was a very serious threat and I think the man knew it. If Laban tried to persuade Jacob to return to Paddan-aram; he would die. If he harmed Jacob; he would die. If he attempted to take the...

†. Gen 31:22 . . On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Laban was off some distance from home shearing his sheep, which usually included a festival of some sort. The messengers probably waited till the shearing was done, and the party was over, before laying the bad news on ol'...

†. Gen 31:14-15 . .Then Rachel and Leah replied and said to him: Have we then still a share and an inheritance in our father's house? Are we not considered by him as strangers? For he has sold us and even totally consumed our money! Now the truth comes out. All along the girls had resented the...

†. Gen 31:1 . . Now he heard the things that Laban's sons were saying: Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from that which was our father's he has built up all this wealth. People have a habit of using the "all" word just a little to the extreme. Jacob certainly didn't take all of...

†. Gen 30:31-34 . . He said: What shall I pay you? And Jacob said; Pay me nothing! If you will do this thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flocks: let me pass through your whole flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted animal-- every dark-colored sheep and every...

†. Gen 30:22a . . Now God remembered Rachel; Does that mean The Almighty had somehow forgotten all about her? (chuckle) No. God's memory works just fine. Memories don't always have to be jogged. Case in point: can you remember how many toes are on each of your feet? Of course. You never forget...

†. Gen 30:17 . . God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore him a fifth son. God was favorably inclined to grant Leah's wishes. But why doesn't God grant the wishes of all barren women? Is that fair? Why is God sensitive to some while ignoring the feelings of others? I wish I could answer...

†. Gen 30:7-8 . . Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. And Rachel said; A fateful contest I waged with my sister; yes, and I have prevailed. So she named him Naphtali. rayyyrrr, scratch. Man that woman was scrappy! No second place winner; Rachel would keep kicking...

†. Gen 30:1a . .When Rachel saw that she had borne Jacob no children, she became envious of her sister; Sibling rivalry is bad enough. But when siblings compete for the affections of the same love object, it's all the worse. I don't know what it is about kin, but it's much easier to compete...

†. Gen 29:32 . . Leah conceived and bore a son, and named him Reuben; for she declared: The Lord has seen my affliction. Now my husband will love me. Reuben's name is from Re'uwben (reh-oo-bane') which means: See; a son! Children do have a way of bonding a (normal) man to their mother. It...

†. Gen 29:24 . . Laban had given his maidservant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid. Zilpah didn't say anything either. In fact she very likely assisted Leah to bathe and prepare for her wedding night. Poor Jacob. He was so defeated. It was like the whole world, and even the stars above in...

†. Gen 29:17b-18a . . Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel; Duh. Why does that not surprise us? You know, Jacob was fortunate about something. In those days, a man didn't have to win a woman's heart. He had to win her custodian's heart. So men could pick out a girl like they...

†. Gen 29:9-10 . .While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's flock; for she was a shepherdess. And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the...

†. Gen 29:1 . . Jacob resumed his journey and came to the land of the Easterners. The geographic region in Turkey where Jacob went wasn't actually east by his reckoning. It was just about dead north. But the people who populated that region had roots in the east. Here's another version. "Then...