Genesis 31:48

Gen 31:48 And Laban said, This heap [is] a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

Ver. 48. {See Trapp on "Gen 31:44"}

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.

Verse 48. See Clarke on Ge 31:49.

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

48. Therefore was the name, &c.] A popular etymology thus accounted for the name “Gilead” by derivation from “Galeed.” Probably, some well-known “cairn” on the hill-frontier of Gilead was the reputed scene of the compact between Laban and Jacob. That border feuds were waged between Aramaeans and Israelites, and that the boundaries between the two nations were marked by cairns, is indicated in this story.

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.

And Laban said to Jacob,.... Continued speaking to him, as follows:

behold this heap, and behold this pillar which I have cast betwixt me and thee; the heap of stones seems to be gathered and laid together by the brethren, and the pillar to be erected by Jacob; and yet Laban says of them both, that he cast them, or erected them, they being done by his order, or with his consent, as well as Jacob's; unless the pillar can be thought to design another beside that which Jacob set up, and was like that, a single stone at some little distance from the heap: but the Samaritan and Arabic versions read, "which thou hast seen or set", &c. agreeably to Gen 31:45.

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

48. Laban said — The following verses appear more like an antique song than formal narrative, and may be regarded as an ode composed upon this occasion, or soon after. We may regard the whole passage as the words of Laban, and translate, literally, thus:

And Laban said, This heap, a witness, Between me and thee to-day.

Therefore he called its name Galeed, And the Watch-Tower, as he said:

Let Jehovah watch between me and thee. For we are hidden, a man from his fellow, If thou afflict my daughters, And if thou take wives upon my daughters, No man with us!

Behold, God, a witness between me and thee! And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, And behold the pillar.

Which I have cast between me and thee! A witness this heap, And a witness the pillar, If I pass not to thee over this heap, And if thou pass not to me over this heap, And over this pillar for evil.

The God of Abraham, And the God of Nahor, Shall judge between us, — The God of their father. And let Jacob swear In the Fear of his father Isaac.

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

Vers. 48-50. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. The historian addingTherefore was the name of it called (originally by Jacob, and afterwards by the Israelites from this transaction) Galeed (vide on ver. 21). The stony character of the regon may have suggested the designation. And Mizpah; watchtower from Tsaphah, to watch. Mizpah afterwards became the site of a town in the district of Gilead; (Jud_1:10:17 11:11, 19, 34) which received its name, as the historian intimates, from the pile of witness erected by Laban and his kinsmen, and was later celebrated as the residence of Jephthah (Jud_1:11:34) and the seat of the sanctuary. (Jud_1:11:11) Ewald supposes that the mound (Galeed) and the watch tower (Mispah) were different objects, and that the meaning of the (so-called) legend is that, while the former (the mountain) was riled up by Jacob and his people, the latter (now the city and fortress of Mizpah on one of the heights of Gilead) was constructed by Laban and his followers (vide "History of Israel," vol. 1. p. 347); but the grotesqusnesa " of this interpretation of the Hebrew story is its best refutationfor he (i.e. Laban) said, The Lord Jehovah; a proof that vers. 49, 50 are a Jehovistic interpolation (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso, Kalisch); an indication of their being a subsequent insertion, though not warranting the inference that the entire history is a complication (Keil); a sign that henceforth Laban regarded Jehovah as the representative of his rights (Lange); but probably only a token that Laban, recognizing Jehovah as the only name that would bind the conscience of Jacob (Hengstenberg, Quarry), had for the moment adopted Jacob"s theology ("Speaker"s Commentary"), but only in self-defense (Wordsworth)watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another literally, a man from his companion. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters (Laban"s concern for his daughters, though hitherto not conspicuous, may, in the hour of parting from them, have been real: his language shows that he was not quite at ease as to Jacob"s integrity. Perhaps the remembrance that he had been the cause of Jacob"s taking two wives made him anxious to secure that Jacob should not improve upon his evil instructions), no man is with us; either then they stood apart from Laban"s clan followers (Inglis); or his meaning was that when widely separated there would be no one to judge betwixt them, or perhaps even to observe them (Rosenm but see, God (Elohim in contrast to man) is witness betwixt me and thee.

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

This pile is a witness between me and you

The stones do not actually bear witness as a person. AT: "This pile will be a reminder between me and you" (See: Personification)

Galeed

Translators may add a footnote that says: "The name Galeed means 'heap of witness' in Jacob's language. See how you translated this in Genesis 31:47. (See: How to Translate Names)

Mizpah

Translators may add a footnote that says: "The name Mizpah means 'watchtower.'" (See: How to Translate Names)

when we are out of sight one from another

Here "out of sight" stands for no longer being in each other's presence. AT: "when we are no longer with each other" (See: Metonymy)

although no one else is with us

Here "us" refers to Laban and Jacob. AT: "even if no one else is there to see us"

see

"look" or "remember" or "pay attention to what i am about to tell you"

translationWords

Laban

testimony

Yahweh

God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

AND LABAN SAID, THIS STONE-HEAP IS A WITNESS. After Jacob had called it Galed, Laban spoke in Jacob’s language, This stone-heap is a witness, and therefore its name was called Galed, for they mutually agreed upon this name. It may be that Laban’s words are translated into the Sacred Language, [but he himself did not use the term Galed].

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.

ויאמר, he made the statement following in his own language. Alternatively, he said all this in Hebrew as it is quite possible that Lavan knew Hebrew and when speaking with Yaakov used to speak to him in Hebrew.

על כן קרא שמו, Yaakov named the monument Galed, meaning that the heap of stones should be a witness between himself [and the Torah mentions that this had been his intention already before the thought was articulated. Paraphrased by me. Ed.]

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.