Genesis 31:35

Gen 31:35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women [is] upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

Ver. 35. For the custom of women is upon me.] A subtle, but sinful excuse, to shift a shame. Women’s wits, we say, are best at a pinch: but they must take heed they be not as C. Curio the Roman, ingeniose nequam , wittily wicked, {a} Wit will not bear out sin.

{a} Velleius, lib. ii. c. xlviii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, let not anger be in the eyes of my Lord.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 35. The custom of women is upon me.] This she knew must be a satisfactory reason to her father; for if the teraphim were used to any religious purpose, and they seem to have been used in this way, as Laban calls them his gods, he therefore could not suspect that a woman in such a situation, whose touch was considered as defiling, would have sat upon articles that were either the objects of his adoration, or used for any sacred purpose. The stratagem succeeded to her wish, and Laban departed without suspicion. It seems very natural to suppose that Rachel did believe that by the use of these teraphim Laban could find out their flight, and the direction they took, and therefore she stole them; and having stolen them she was afraid to acknowledge the theft, and probably might think that they might be of some use to herself. Therefore, for these reasons, she brought them away.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

35. rise] i.e. in honour to her father. For the custom of rising to do honour to age, see Lev_19:32.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff,.... Or all my vessels (n), or utensils; whether household goods, or such as were used with regard to the cattle, or armour for defence:

what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? is there any vessel or utensil, or anything whatever thou canst claim as thine own? is there anything that has been taken away from thee either by me or mine?

set it here before my brethren and thy brethren; publicly before them all, and let it be thoroughly inquired into whose property it was, and whether lawfully taken or not:

that they may judge betwixt us both; Jacob was so conscious to himself of his own uprightness, that he could safely leave anything that might be disputed in arbitration with the very men that Laban had brought with him: it was so clear a case that he had not wronged him of anyone thing.

(n) "omnia vasa mea", Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Vain. For who would imagine, that a woman should treat in this manner the objects of her father’s adoration? (Calmet) --- It would hence appear, that she did not herself adore them, unless fear overcame her religion. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Quest. How could that occasion hinder her from rising up to her father?

Answ. 1. It might be attended in her, as it was and is in some other women, especially in those hot countries, with a great flux of blood, or with more than ordinary infirmity and sickness; and this Laban might know to be usual with her by former observation or information.

2. She offers this as a reason, not why she could not rise up to show a civility to him, but why she could not rise up from his face, or from before him, as the words in the Hebrew sound, i.e. so as to give way to him that he might come and search there for the images; because menstruous women were anciently esteemed polluted, and to pollute the things which they touched or sat upon, as you may see by Lev 15:19-22; which law, though it were not yet given and written, yet that, as well as divers other ceremonial rites, might be enjoined by God, and observed by sober heathens at that time, especially by such as were akin to Abraham, as Laban and his family were, who by that means might easily come to the knowledge of such matters. Add to this, one of the seven precepts given to the sons of Noah, was that of uncovering nakedness; which both Jewish and Christian writers take to be a very comprehensive expression, and to include all such things as have a natural turpitude in them, among which this is confessed to be one. And the words thus understood contain a solid and satisfactory reason why Laban should not now come near her, nor search the things which she sat upon, which had been an uncivil and immodest thing.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

35. My Lord — Rachel addresses her father in terms of cold but dignified respect.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And she said to her father, theft by subtlety and untruth" (Kalisch), and thus proving herself a time daughter of Laban, as well as showing with how much imperfection her religious character was taintedLet it not displease my lord literally, let it not burn with anger (rjyi, from hrj to glow, to burn) in the eyes of my lord (Adoni) that I cannot rise up before thee; Oriental politeness required children to rise up in the presence of their parents (vide Lev_19:32; and cf. 1Ki_2:19) Hence Rachel"s apology was not unnecessaryfor the custom of women (literally, the way of women; a periphrasis for menstruation (cf. Gen_18:11) which, under the law, required females, as ceremonially unclean, to be put apart. (Lev_15:19) That, prior to the law, this particular statute concerning women was in force among the Aramaeans appears from the present instance; and that it was not exclusively Jewish, but shared in by other nations of antiquity, is the opinion of the best authorities (vide Kurtz, "History of the Old Covenant," "Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament," Keil in loco; both of whom quote Bahr"s "Symbolik of the Mosaic Cultus," 2. 466). Roberts mentions that under similar circumstances with Rachel no one in India goes to the temple or any religious ceremony ("Oriental Illustrations," p. 37)is upon me. It is just possible Rachel may have been speaking the exact truth, though the probability is she was guilty of fabrication. And he searched (everywhere except among the camel"s furniture, partly from fear of defilement, but chiefly as regarding it impossible that Rachel in her then state would sit upon his gods), but found not the images (teraphim). The three times repeated phrase "he found not," emphasizes the completeness, of Lahan"s deception.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

LET NOT MY LORD BE ANGRY THAT I CANNOT RISE UP BEFORE THEE. I do not understand what kind of an apology this is. Do women in that condition not rise or stand? Perhaps she said that her head and limbs feel heavy, and she was sick on account of the menstruation, for such is the customary way among them, and all the more among those such as Rachel, whose birth-giving powers are diminished since they have little blood, and menstruation presses very heavily upon them.The correct interpretation appears to me to be that in ancient days menstruants kept very isolated for they were ever referred to as niddoth on account of their isolation since they did not approach people and did not speak with them. For the ancients in their wisdom knew that their breath is harmful, their gaze is detrimental and makes a bad impression, as the philosophers have explained. I will yet mention their experiences in this matter. And the menstruants dwelled isolated in tents where no one entered, just as our Rabbis have mentioned in the Beraitha that for some reason had not been included in the Mishnah by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. The collection of Beraithoth was compiled by Rabbi Chiyah and Rabbi Oshayah. They are generally found in the Tosephta. which follows the order of the Mishnah. of Tractate Niddah:. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 177, and commencing with the second edition also on p. 548, column 2, top of page. “A learned man or talmud here is not clear. is forbidden to greet a menstruant. Rabbi Nechemyah says, ‘Even the utterance of her mouth is unclean.’ Said Rabbi Yochanan: ‘One is forbidden to walk after a menstruant and tread upon her footsteps, which are as unclean as a corpse; so is the dust upon which the menstruant stepped unclean, and it is forbidden to derive any benefit from her work.’” Therefore Rachel said, “It would be proper for me to rise before my lord to kiss his hands, but the way of women is upon me, and I cannot come near you nor walk at all in the tent so that you should not tread upon the dust of my feet.” And Laban kept silent and did not answer her, as it was customary not to converse with them at all because the speech of a menstruant was unclean.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ותאמר...כי דרך נשים לי, she referred to menstruation. The Torah elsewhere described this as אורח הנשים, when describing Sarah as no longer experiencing these cycles (Genesis 18,11).

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.