Genesis 31:40

Gen 31:40 [Thus] I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

Ver. 40. Thus I was; in the day, &c.] Nonresidents do none of all this, those idol, and idle shepherds: they cry out, as he, Pan curet oves, oviumque magistros; { a} being herein not only worse than this good shepherd in the text, but also than Ulysses’ swineherd, in Homer, who would not lie from his charge, {b}

{a} Virg.

{b} Oυδε συβωτη Hνδανεν αυτοθι κοιτος υων απο κοιμηθηναι. - Odyss., xiv. 525.

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.

31:40 Jacob, who preferred domestic life (25:27), had for twenty years endured the rigors of the outdoors that Esau had loved.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, I slept not.

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

in the day the drought . . . and the frost by night--The temperature changes often in twenty-four hours from the greatest extremes of heat and cold, most trying to the shepherd who has to keep watch by his flocks. Much allowance must be made for Jacob. Great and long-continued provocations ruffle the mildest and most disciplined tempers. It is difficult to "be angry and sin not" [Eph 4:26]. But these two relatives, after having given utterance to their pent-up feelings, came at length to a mutual understanding, or rather, God influenced Laban to make reconciliation with his injured nephew (Pro 16:7).

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 40. In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night] The being exposed to the heat by day, and frost by night, is made part of the heaviest punishment of Promethus by AEschylus.

Σταθευτος δ' ἡλιου φοιβῃ φλογι,

Χροιας αμευψεις· ασμενῳ δε σοι

Ἡ ποικιλεμων νυξ αποκρυψει φαος·

Παχνην θ' ἑῳαν ἡλιος σκεδᾳ παλιν.

AEschyl. Prom. Vinc., v. 22.

Opposed to the sun's most fervid beam,

The hue of beauty changed; till parch'd by heat

The night with spangled stole shall hide its light

From thee rejoicing, but again the sun

Chases the hoar frost from thy harass'd form.

J. B. B. C.

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

(40) The frost by night.—From September to May the nights in the East are usually cold, and the change from great heat by day to a freezing temperature as soon as the sun sets is very trying to health.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40. drought … frost] The extremes of midday heat and midnight frost. For the variations of temperature, cf. Jer_36:30.

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.

Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me,.... One and the same God is meant, who was the God of his father Isaac, and before him the God of Abraham, and now the fear of Isaac, whom he feared and served with reverence and godly fear, being at this present time a worshipper of him: now Jacob suggests, that unless his father's God had been on his side, and had protected and preserved him, as well as before blessed and prospered him:

surely thou hadst sent me away now empty: coming with such force upon him, he would have stripped him of all he had, of his wives and children, and servants and cattle:

God hath seen my affliction, and the labour of my hands; what hardships he endured in Laban's service, and what pains he took in feeding his flocks:

and rebuked thee yesternight; in a dream, charging him to say neither good nor evil to Jacob, which he himself had confessed, Gen 31:29.

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

Through my extraordinary thoughtfulness and care about thy cattle, especially in cases of danger.

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

40. Drought… frost — Comp. Psa_121:6; Jer_36:30. The extremes of heat and cold between day and night in the East are evidenced by all travellers.

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

"I have been; by day (i.e., I have been in this condition, that by day) heat has consumed (prostrated) me, and cold by night" - for it is well known, that in the East the cold by night corresponds to the heat by day; the hotter the day the colder the night, as a rule.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

אכלני חרב THE DROUGHT CONSUMED ME — the same metaphor as (Deuteronomy 4:24) אש אכלה “a consuming fire”.

וקרח THE FROST — as (Psalms 147:17) “He casteth forth his ice (קרחו)”. In the Targum it is rendered by גלידא “hoar-frost”.

שנתי means MY SLEEP.

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.

הייתי, seeing that I did not want to entrust the flock to another shepherd, I was forced to endure the sun’s heat by day and the extreme cold at night. I denied myself sleep at night for fear something could happen to any of the animals.

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.