Genesis 31:53

Gen 31:53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

Ver. 53. And Jacob swear by the Fear of his father.] The Chaldee Paraphrast sometimes useth the word fear, or terror, for God, for the reason above given. {Gen 31:42} Hence Jacob, coming from Syria, and being to swear to a Syrian, swears here by "the Fear of his father Isaac." Where note, that he riseth up no higher than his father, whereas Laban, the idolater, pretends antiquity, appeals to the gods of Abraham, of Nahor, and of their father Terah, who served strange gods. {Jos 24:2} Papists boast much of antiquity, as once the Gibeonites did of old shoes and mouldy bread. A gentleman being importuned by a Popish questionist, to tell where our religion was before Luther; answered, That our religion was always in the Bible, where your religion never was. Mine antiquity is Jesus Christ, saith Ignatius, and we with him. {a}

{a} Eμοι αρχεια εστιν Iησους ο Cριστος - Ignat.

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.

Behold, how the idolaters mingle the true God with their feigned gods.

Meaning, by the true God whom Isaac worshipped.

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

Verse 53. The God of their father] As Laban certainly speaks of the true God here, with what propriety can he say that this God was the God of Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor? It is certain that Terah was an idolater; of this we have the most positive proof, Jos 24:2. Because the clause is not in the Septuagint, and is besides wanting in some MSS., Dr. Kennicott considers it an interpolation. But there is no need of having recourse to this expedient if we adopt the reading אביכם abichem, YOUR father, for אביהם abihem, THEIR father, which is supported by several of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and is precisely the same form made use of by Laban, Ge 31:29, when addressing Jacob, and appears to me to be used here in the same way; for he there most manifestly uses the plural pronoun, when speaking only to Jacob himself. It is therefore to be considered as a form of speech peculiar to Laban; at least we have two instances of his use of it in this chapter.

Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.] See Clarke on Ge 31:42.

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

53. The God of Abraham. It is indeed rightly and properly done, that Laban should adjure Jacob by the name of God. For this is the confirmation of covenants; to appeal to God on both sides, that he may not suffer perfidy to pass unpunished. But he sinfully blends idols with the true God, between whom there is nothing in common. Thus, truly, men involved in superstitions, are accustomed to confound promiscuously sacred things with profane, and the figments of men with the true God. He is compelled to give some honor to the God of Abraham, yet he lies plunged in his own idolatrous pollution; and, that his religion may not appear the worse, he gives it the color of antiquity. For in calling him the God of his father, he boasts that this God was handed down to him from his ancestors. Meanwhile Jacob does not swear superstitiously. For Moses expressly declares, that he sware only by “the fear of Isaac;” whence we learn that he did not assent to the preposterous form of oath dictated by his father-in-law; no too many do, who, in order to gain the favor of the wicked, pretend to be of the same religion with them. But when once the only God is made known to us, we wickedly suppress his truth, unless by its light all the clouds of error are dispersed.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(53) Judge.—The verb is plural, “be he judges,” and as Laban thus joins the name Elohim with a verb plural, it seems as if he regarded Abraham’s Elohim as different from the Elohim of Nahor. We ought, therefore, to translate the gods of their father. Apparently, he thought that Abraham took one of Terah’s Elohim, and Nahor another. His views were thus polytheistic and so, generally, the ancients regarded the gods as local beings, with powers limited to certain districts. Jacob swears by the one Being who was the sole object of Isaac’s worship. (See Note on Gen_20:13.)

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

53. The God of Abraham … Nahor] The verb “judge” is in the plural. See note on Gen_20:13 for the rare use of the plural verb with “Elohim.” Laban speaks of the God of Abraham, i.e. of the Hebrews in Canaan, and of the God of Nahor, i.e. of the Hebrews in Haran, and as a Syrian may possibly have regarded them as distinct deities. The plural with Elohim is found in Gen_20:13, Gen_35:7.

the God of their father] R.V. marg. gods. These words are not found in the LXX and some Hebrew MSS., and are probably a gloss. If they are omitted, the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor were treated in the original form of the narrative as separate, not identical, deities.

the Fear of his father Isaac] See note on Gen_31:42.

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.

God of Nachor. Hebrew uses Elohim, which is often applied to idols, such as Nachor worshipped along with the true God. (Calmet) --- Jacob swears by the one only God, whom his father revered. (Menochius) --- The God of their father, is omitted in the Septuagint and is deemed an interpolation by Kennicott. The Samaritan reads again the God of Abraham. (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).

The God of Nahor, the God of their father. He joins idols with the true God, and secretly chargeth the religion of Jacob and Abraham with novelty, and prefers his own as the most ancient religion. See Jos 24:2. Whence we may learn that antiquity of itself is no certain argument of the true church or religion.

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

אלהי אברהם GOD OF ABRAHAM — Here the word אלהים is holy (i.e. it is the Divine Name). (Genesis Rabbah 74:17)

אלהי נחור THE GOD OF NAHOR — Here the name is non-holy (i.e. it is a designation for an idol) (Genesis Rabbah 74:17).

אלהי אביהם THE GOD OF THEIR FATHER — Here the name is non-holy (Genesis Rabbah 74:17).

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.

אלוקי אברהם ואלהי נחור, the first word “elo-hey” is sacred, the second is profane and may therefore be erased, seeing that Nachor had been an idolater. Lavan himself also believed in the gods of his grandfather Nachor. Neither Yitzchok nor Betuel have been mentioned here, seeing they were well known, famous even.

אלוהי אביהם, here too the word “elohey” is profane and may be erased from a Torah scroll if the occasion demands it. Whenever an expression denoting G’d includes idols, even if as something minor, the word is treated as profane. What was meant here are the respective gods of Yaakov’s father and Lavan’s father, each one in accordance with his religious convictions. Yaakov, when rendering his oath, swore by פחד יצחק, the G’d that Yitzchok had been in awe of when he was prepared to be slaughtered by his father. (as we explained on verse 42)

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.