Discovery BoxGenesis 21:23 
Context21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name 1 that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. 2 Show me, and the land 3 where you are staying, 4 the same loyalty 5 that I have shown you.” 6
Genesis 31:51-53
Context31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. 7 31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. 8 31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, 9 the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. 10
1 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
2 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
3 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
4 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
5 tn Or “kindness.”
6 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
7 tn Heb “and Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between men and you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”
9 tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.
10 tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.
