For some reason, this chapter gives me kinda Dukes of Hazzard vibes. Seriously- I got Waylon Jennings in my head right now.

So I’m going to apologize in advance for the references to the show. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’re probably under 40 or one of my readers from outside the U.S.A.

We find out in this chapter that six years have passed since Jacob completed his 14 years of service to Laban in exchange for Rachel. In that time he’s been building his speckled and spotted flocks. Laban’s sons have caught on that their father’s livestock are puny while Jacob’s are all hale and hearty. And the tension with the in-laws is tighter than a bow string.

“And Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your family, and I will be with you.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭31‬:‭3‬ ‭LEB‬‬

That was all the nudge Jacob needed. He packs up the family (without telling Laban) and high-tails it back to the farm in Canaan like the Duke boys in the General Lee.

Laban (Boss Hogg) and his boys (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane) take off “in hot pursuit.”

As in all episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard, Boss Hogg and Roscoe catch the Dukes but they never manage to keep em.

Laban is warned by God in a dream not to harm Jacob. So he settles for making a grand show of being the poor victim grandpa who didn’t get to throw a going-away party for them. And he demands to know why Jacob would steal his teraphim.

Teraphim were household idols- like a statue of Buddha in a little shrine. They were generally human figures. Often they represented dead ancestors. They were viewed as guardians or healers or bestowers of blessings. Like all idols, they were meant to be a bridge between the spirit world and our realm. They were often passed down to brides as part of their dowry which may be why Rachel took them, unbeknownst to Jacob. We don’t know if Rachel was mostly sentimental about them or if she believed she needed the help of the ancestors. In any case, we learn something about Rachel in this. Of the two sisters, it seems that Leah is the more loyal in heart to Yahweh.

So Laban, who tricked Jacob with wives and livestock was not only tricked by Jacob but now also by his own daughter. I don’t approve of theft- particularly theft of graven images- but I have to admit that Rachel’s ruse to keep them hidden was clever. We don’t have the Law of Moses yet telling us that anything a menstruating woman sits on is “unclean,” but apparently it was already kinda a thing. She hides them in the camel saddle and sits on it. It is a rather Daisy Duke move.

After Laban rifles through the family’s belongings and comes up empty, Jacob reads him the riot act. And I think Laban is rather afraid of Jacob.

“So now, come, (says Laban), let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you.” And Jacob took a stone and set it up as a stone pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones.” Genesis‬ ‭31‬:‭44‬-‭46‬ ‭LEB‬‬

I don’t think it was a small rock pile. It was meant to be a landmark. And Laban said:

“May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭31‬:‭49‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It used to be a trend to have this piece of a verse on two half pendants that made a whole. A mom might give one half to a daughter when she went to college and wear the other. Or you might give half to your bestie if one of you moved. I think someone finally figured out that the context of this verse might not have been the most appropriate for such a gift. Laban’s attitude is more like, “God is watching. You better behave.”

They haul rocks all day, then…

“See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us. They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. I call on the God of our ancestors—the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of my grandfather Nahor—to serve as a judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath before the fearsome God of his father, Isaac, to respect the boundary line.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭31‬:‭51‬-‭53‬ ‭NLT‬‬

They share a covenant meal that night and Laban returns home first thing in the morning.

All episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard end the same way. Boss Hogg goes home empty-handed but pleased with himself, Roscoe will keep a watchful eye out for any hankypanky and the Dukes ride off to fight another day. One threatening family member down, one to go.