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.
And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed,
Years of scheming between Jacob and Laban end not with an embrace but with a pile of stones. So what was that heap a witness to — a friendship, an agreement, or something less flattering to both men?
Each man named the heap in his own language.
Aramaic name given by Laban to the heap of stones raised as a witness between him and Jacob, which Jacob called GALEED, both meaning "cairn of witness."
Why raise stones at all? One writer links a later place-name in the region to this heap.
Gesenius gives Gilead as meaning "hard, rocky." But there seems reason to connect it instead with Jacob's Galeed (Gen. 31:47), "a heap of witness." That would put it in striking contrast with Manasseh, the name linked with it, which means "forgetting." A heap of witness exists for the very purpose of making forgetfulness impossible.
This is not the first stone Jacob set up. The earlier one came with a vow of his own; this one records something different.
Jacob sets up his second pillar. His first was in Genesis 28:18, where he made his fleshly vow, and so it was the 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, for it tells us that the flesh has proved it cannot be trusted. A heap of stones underlines this. Both Laban and Jacob called it a "heap of witness" — Laban in Aramaic, Jacob in Hebrew (v. 47). They eat upon the heap — not the most comfortable dining room!
The words in this verse come from Laban, not Jacob. The same writer listens to Laban's tone.
It is Laban who pronounces the terms of their covenant, saying that the heap was a witness to it. He brings in the Lord's name here. He expects Him to watch between himself and Jacob while they are apart (v. 49). He is really telling Jacob, "I cannot trust you out of my sight, so I want the Lord to watch." Of course it was true the other way also. Jacob had learned not to trust Laban. So this pillar is the milestone in Jacob's life that clearly proclaims the untrustworthiness of the flesh. Very often it takes two parties to expose it to one another!
Why did relatives need a treaty at all? One writer traces it back to what Laban lacked.
It is a sorry sight to the eye of faith: retribution for Laban, rescue for Jacob and his house through God's overruling hand and goodness. Yet inside the chosen family the wife had stolen idolatrous images, and her husband knew nothing of it. Laban did not crush him; instead Laban begged him for a covenant. For, as he did not fear God, he had no confidence in his own nearest relative. But what had Jacob still to learn, as he weighed his old self-seeking and scheming before Jehovah?
Jacob set up pillars more than once. What did the one at Galeed do?
He set up pillars several times in his life — it seems to have been a favourite practice with him. He erected one by Galeed, east of Jordan, to stand as a witness of God's intervention on his behalf. Along with the heap raised by him and his brothers, it marked the boundary which neither he nor Laban was to cross to injure the other (Gen. 31:24-25, 52).
- Witness named. Each man named the heap in his own language — Laban in Aramaic, Jacob calling it Galeed — and both names mean a cairn of witness.
- Witness remembers. A heap of witness exists to make forgetting impossible. It stands where memory would fail.
- Witness accuses. Jacob's first pillar marked confidence in the flesh. This second one marks trust between relatives that had collapsed.
- Witness demanded. A man who did not fear God could not trust even his closest relative, so he asked for terms instead.
- Witness guards. The stones recalled God's stepping in for Jacob. They also fixed the line neither man was to cross to harm the other.