Genesis 31:39

Gen 31:39 That which was torn [of beasts] I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, [whether] stolen by day, or stolen by night.

Ver. 39. Of my hand didst thou require it.] Which was against all right and reason; {Exo 22:10; Exo 22:13} but that weighed little with this covetous cormorant. God "smites his fists" at such "dishonest gain," as Balak did at Balaam, in token of extreme indignation. {Eze 22:13} And lest Laban, or any like, should object, that these were but great words; - The Lord would not do it; They would deal well enough with the Lord for that matter; - he adds, in the next verse, "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it". {Gen 31:14}

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.

Gen 31:39-40. That which was torn I brought not unto thee — What Jacob here affirms, and for the truth of which he appeals to Laban, shows him to have been of a very industrious and faithful disposition, and that Laban’s temper was exceedingly selfish and sordid: for though Jacob was his relation, and his substance had increased so greatly under his hand, yet he was very rigid toward him, and required him to make good all the cattle that were lost, by whatever accident it happened. In the day the drought consumed me — “In Europe,” says Sir John Chardin, quoted by Harmer, vol. 1. p. 74, “the days and nights resemble each other, with respect to the qualities of heat and cold; but it is quite otherwise in the East. In the lower Asia, in particular, the day is always hot, and, as soon as the sun is fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt in the depth of winter itself. On the contrary, in the height of summer, the nights are as cold as at Paris in the month of March. It is for this reason that in Persia and Turkey they always make use of furred habits in the country, such only being sufficient to resist the cold of the nights.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, the torn, or taken by prey.

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

That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee--The shepherds are strictly responsible for losses in the flock, unless they can prove these were occasioned by wild beasts.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 39. That which was torn - of my hand didst thou require it] This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Ex 22:10; Ex 22:13. And it is very likely that this law was in force from the earliest times.

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

39. I brought not unto thee] Jacob allowed himself to be the loser by the animals that were killed by wild beasts. Instead of bringing the mangled remains so that their value might not be deducted, he cheerfully bore the full loss: see Exo_22:12-13; Amo_3:12. Jacob had exceeded the standard of fairness which was required by custom: “I bare the loss of it,” i.e. “I used to make myself responsible for the loss.”

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.

Thus have I been twenty years in thy house,.... Attended with these difficulties, inconveniencies, and hardships:

I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters; Rachel and Leah; first seven years for Rachel; and having Leah imposed upon him instead of her, was obliged to serve seven years more, which he did for her sake; whereas he ought to have given them, and a dowry with them, to one who was heir to the land of Canaan, and not have exacted servitude of him:

and six years for thy cattle, to have as many of them for his hire, as were produced from a flock of white sheep, that were speckled, spotted, or ringstraked, or brown:

and thou hast changed my wages ten times; See Gill on Gen 31:7;

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

Exact it. Laban acted in opposition both to custom and to justice, (Calmet) while Jacob forebore to claim what he might have done, agreeably to both. (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).

Which was unjust and unreasonable, except where it fell out through the shepherd’s default. See Exo 22:13.

Quest. How could Jacob pay these losses, seeing he came empty from his father’s house, and got nothing by his service, for the first fourteen years, but his wives?

Answ. Either, 1. He had some supplies sent from his father, though it be not mentioned in this history. Or,

2. He might have some inconsiderable allowances or privileges from Laban, out of which he could easily defray these charges, which because of his great care and watchfulness did but seldom happen. Or,

3. These losses were put to his account, to be satisfied by him as soon as he should be able to do it.

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

טרפה THAT WHICH WAS TORN by a lion or a wolf.

אנכי אחטנה I BARE THE LOSS OF IT — It has the same meaning as the verb in (Judges 20:16) “sling stones at a hair-breadth and not miss (יחטא)”, and (1 Kings 1:21) “that I and my son Solomon shall suffer the loss of it (חטאים)” i.e. shall be lacking in authority. The sense therefore is: “I” was short of it; if it was missing, it was missing to me because you required it of my hand.

אנכי אחטנה In the Targum it is translated by דהות שגיא ממנינא which means that which was missing and deficient from the number of the animals. The words (Numbers 31:49) “There is missing (נפקד) not one man of us”, is rendered in the Targum by ולא שגיא

גנבתי יום וגנבתי לילה WHETHER STOLEN BY DAY OR STOLEN BY NIGHT — everything I paid back.

גנבתי As regards the suffix י it is similar to the י in (Lamentations 1:1) “great (רבתי) among the nations, princess (שרתי) among the provinces”; (Isaiah 1:21) “that was full of (מלאתי) justice”; (Hosea 10:11) “that loveth (אהבתי) to thresh”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

טרפה לא, even if an animal had been attacked by wild beasts in a manner which could not have been the fault of the shepherd, I did not bring you the evidence to prove my innocence in such an accident but replaced it out of my own pocket. I did not want you to claim that I could have protected the animal against its attacker. I knew that it would have been futile to claim that I was not to blame as you would have illegally debited me with its worth.

אנכי אחטנה, I would have been blamed even if I had not been at fault

גנבתי יום, if an animal had been stolen from the flock either by day or by night I was always blamed for it and held responsible. I paid you for it regardless of the circumstances.

גנבתי, the letter י at the end has been added for reasons which are not clear. It is similar to another superfluous י which is found in Isaiah 1,21. If the function of the letter י had been that of a pronoun, i.e. “mine,” the letter ב would have had to be written with the vowel kametz.

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.