And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones. And they took stones, and made a heap, and ate there upon the heap.
Genesis 31 ends with Jacob parting from his father-in-law Laban, and the pile of stones in this verse is the monument they leave behind. It looks like a peace treaty, but commentators read it as something sadder: two relatives who cannot trust each other.
Jacob had set up a stone once before, in Genesis 28:18, when he made his vow. This second heap marks a very different moment.
Jacob sets up his second pillar. His first was in Genesis 28:18, where he made his fleshly vow. That first pillar was a pillar of confidence in the flesh. This time his pillar is a memorial to broken confidence between relatives. It stands in contrast to the first pillar, because it tells us that the flesh has proved it cannot be trusted. A heap of stones underlines this. Both Laban and Jacob call it a "heap of witness" — Laban in the Chaldee language, Jacob in Hebrew. They eat upon the heap, not the most comfortable dining room!
The next verse gives the pile two names. A Bible dictionary explains Laban's name for it, Jegar-sahadutha:
This is the Aramaic name Laban gave to the heap of stones raised as a witness between him and Jacob. Jacob called it GALEED. Both names mean 'cairn of witness.'
A family should not need a legal contract. Laban asked for one anyway.
It is sad to think that he considered this necessary between relatives. It is again a legal arrangement instead of a trusting relationship shaped by grace, as every family relationship should be. There is still evidence here of mere confidence in the flesh, instead of the faith that trusts in the living God.
Laban set all the terms, and Jacob accepted them.
But he tries to put a good face on the matter, and asks for a covenant between himself and Jacob. Jacob leaves all the terms to Laban, and to his wretched thoughts and fears. Yet Jacob solemnly carries the covenant out, and accepts the name that stood. He not only swore by the Fear of Isaac; he also offered peace offerings, and they ate bread together.
Laban pressed for a covenant. Jacob added a sacrifice, and one commentator sees that as the better part of the scene.
While Laban has emphasized the covenant, Jacob offered a sacrifice, which was far better. Then he invited the whole company to eat a meal with him. At least the sacrifice was a reminder that God had rights far more important than those of either Jacob or Laban. Eating together eased the tension between them, so that they could part on fairly friendly terms.
Another writer links the offering and the meal. At Mount Gilead they made a covenant, "offering sacrifice, and then eating together as upon the sacrifice" (J. G. Bellett).
Behind the ceremony stand twenty-one hard years of service to Laban. One writer reads them as discipline.
You get Mizpah, or Jegar-sahadutha, or Galeed, and much instruction in it all, for the Lord takes care of the believer. But where the believer walks in this low, fleshly way, God chastens him through and through. Twenty-one years a slave — he cheats, and is cheated. He believed, and came to be believed, but his means were of the flesh. It was discipline in every possible way, because he walked after the flesh.
The heap also marks the point where Jacob's break with Laban becomes final and peaceful.
But Jacob's prosperity turns Laban against him, just as spiritual growth separates a believer from the world. Then comes the call of God to return to Canaan. Laban can no longer get on with him, yet Jacob's leaving turns him into an open enemy — just as the world feels the sting of separation, though there can be no more fellowship. Laban follows Jacob. God appears for Jacob and shields him. Jacob departs at last in peace, with a covenant between him and Laban, at Galeed, the "heap of witness."
The stones also guard him while they stand: "A 'heap of witness' separates him from every evil that may come. Until that heap of witness is removed, and the pillar is taken out of the way, the world will not seek to harm the chosen of God" (The Bible Treasury).
- Witness raised. Jacob named the heap Galeed; Laban named it Jegar-sahadutha. Both names mean "cairn of witness."
- Witness to what. Not to friendship, but to broken confidence between relatives. The pillar proves the flesh cannot be trusted.
- Witness instead of trust. Laban wanted a legal deal where grace should have ruled a family. That is confidence in the flesh, not faith in the living God.
- Witness softened by sacrifice. Jacob's offering put God's rights above the rights of both men. The meal by the heap let them part on friendly terms.
- Witness as a boundary. The heap fixes the line of separation. Behind it lie twenty-one years in which God chastened a schemer through and through, and still kept him.
And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
Jacob leaves Laban, and Laban chases after him. The two men part at a heap of stones, and each names that heap in his own language. The two names mean the same thing, so why did the moment need a monument at all?
The heap gets a double title because two languages meet at it. Laban's word is Aramaic, and one reference work explains it simply:
This is the Aramaic name Laban gave to the heap of stones set up as a witness between him and Jacob. Jacob called it GALEED. Both names mean the same thing: a heap of witness.
Nothing changes in translation. Each man says the same thing over the same stones.
Laban's word is the first Aramaic in the Bible. One reference work sets out where that language belonged:
Aramaic is the language of Aram. It takes in both Chaldean and the language of Syria. Its true home was Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Syria. The first time we meet it in Scripture is Genesis 31:47. There Laban called the heap of witness 'Jegar-sahadutha,' which is Chaldean, while Jacob gave it a Hebrew name, 'Galeed.'
The two names also point back to Abraham. One writer notes that Abraham's family took up the language of the land they had moved to:
Hebrew was the language of Palestine. The names of places and people there, from before Israel owned the land, show this. Hebrew was the language Abraham and his descendants took as their own. The difference between Jacob's language and that of Laban the Mesopotamian shows it plainly (Gen. 31:47).
The heap says something about the two men. One commentator sets it beside an earlier pillar Jacob had put up:
Jacob sets up his second pillar. His first was in Genesis 28:18, where he made his vow in the strength of the flesh. That was a pillar of confidence in the flesh. This pillar is the opposite. It is a memorial of broken trust between relatives, and it tells us that the flesh has proved it cannot be trusted. A heap of stones makes the point stronger. Both Laban and Jacob call it a "heap of witness" — Laban in the Chaldean language, Jacob in Hebrew (v. 47).
Laban is the one who asks for the covenant. One writer finds the reason in Laban's own heart:
Laban, instead of crushing Jacob, begs him for a covenant. Laban did not fear God, so he had no confidence even in his own closest relative. But how much Jacob had to learn, as he weighed his old self-seeking and scheming before Jehovah!
The heap is also a boundary. The two men separate there. One writer takes that parting as a picture of what spiritual growth does to a person's ties with the world:
But Jacob's prosperity turns Laban against him, just as spiritual growth separates a person from the world. Then comes God's call to return to Canaan. Laban can no longer get along with Jacob, and Jacob's leaving makes him openly hostile — just as the world feels the sting of separation, though there can be no more fellowship. Laban follows Jacob. God appears for Jacob and shields him. In the end Jacob leaves in peace, with a covenant between him and Laban at Galeed, the "heap of witness."
A pile of stones does one thing no spoken promise can do: it stays. The name itself says why:
A heap of witness exists for one purpose: to make forgetting impossible.
Commentators differ on how much to draw from the scene. Some stay with the language and the history. Others read the heap as a picture of separation from the world. All agree on the plain sense of the two names.
- Witness. Jegar-sahadutha and Galeed are one phrase in two languages: a heap of witness between Jacob and Laban.
- Witness in two tongues. Laban speaks Aramaic, Jacob Hebrew. This is the first Aramaic in the Bible. It shows that Abraham's line had taken up a different language from their relatives in Mesopotamia.
- Witness because trust died. Jacob's first pillar marked a vow. This one marks broken trust between relatives, and proves the flesh cannot be trusted.
- Witness because Laban feared no God. Laban asks for the covenant. A man who does not fear God cannot trust even his own family.
- Witness that outlasts memory. A heap of witness exists to make forgetting impossible. There Jacob leaves in peace, separated from the world he had prospered in.