Genesis 31:54

Gen 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.

Ver. 54. Called his brethren to eat bread.] And so overcame evil with good; which is the noblest of all victories. God cannot but love in us this imitation of his mercy; and that love is never fruitless.

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.

Or, meat.

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

Verse 54. Offered sacrifice upon the mount] It is very likely that Laban joined in this solemn religious rite, and that, having offered the blood and fat to God, they feasted upon the sacrifice.

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

54. And called his brethren to eat bread. In courteously receiving his kindred, by whom he had been ill-treated, as his guests, Jacob showed his kindness. Moses also intimates that it was by the special favor of God that, after the most dreadful storm which threatened the holy man with destruction, a placid serenity suddenly shone forth. To the same cause is to be assigned what immediately follows, that Laban departed in a friendly manner: for by this method the Lord openly manifested himself as the guardian of his servant, seeing that he wonderfully delivered him as a lost sheep out of the jaws of the wolf. And truly, not only was the fury of Laban appeased; but he put on paternal affection, as if he had been changed into a new man.

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.

(54) Jacob offered sacrifice.—The meaning is, that Jacob slaughtered cattle, and made a feast: but as animals originally were killed only for sacrifice, and flesh was eaten on no other occasion, the Hebrew language has no means of distinguishing the two acts.

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

54. offered a sacrifice] Lit. “killed a sacrifice.” The killing of an animal for sacrifice was the occasion of a feast. The sacrifice consisted not only in an offering to the Deity, but also in the eating of portions of the sacrificial victim by both the contracting parties of the covenant; cf. Gen_26:30.

eat bread] i.e. to take a meal. To partake of food together was the sign of restored friendship and trust between disputing parties.

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.

Then Jacob offered sacrifice; either to give God thanks for the great mercies and deliverances vouchsafed to him, or to beg God’s blessing upon the present treaty, and upon their whole family. But it is not so probable that Jacob would choose that time for the offering of sacrifices when Laban was present, whom he could neither honestly admit to them, nor conveniently exclude from them. And therefore, seeing the same Hebrew word signifies killing as well as sacrificing, as appears from Num 22:40; 1Sa 28:24; 1Ki 1:9; 2Ch 18:2, &c., I rather understand it of his killing of beasts, in order to a feast which he made for his brethren, whom he called, as it here follows, to eat bread, & c., under which phrase all meats are usually comprehended in Scripture, as hath been already noted, and will appear hereafter. And this practice was usual in those times, to confirm covenants by a feast. See Gen 26:30.

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

54. Jacob offered sacrifice — He slew of the lambs of his flock, offered a solemn offering to his God, and made a sacrificial meal, and called his brethren to eat. It was the solemn evening of the last separation and farewell between the chosen seed and their “fathers on the other side of the flood.” Jos_24:14. Henceforth they diverge more and more widely, and none of Jacob’s sons go back to take wives in that eastern land.

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

Then Jacob offered sacrifice literally, slew a slaying, in ratification of the covenantupon the mount, and called his brethren (Laban"s followers, who may have withdrawn to a distance during the interview) to eat bread. The sacrificial meal afterwards became an integral part of the Hebrew ritual (Exo_14:3-8 Exo_29:27, Exo_29:28; Lev_10:14, Lev_10:15) And they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.

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

And Jacob swear by the fear of his father Isaac - The God whom his father Isaac feared, who had never served other gods, as Abraham and Nahor had done.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

called his relatives to eat a meal

Eating a meal together was part of making the covenant with one another. The full meaning of this may be made explicit. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Early in the morning ... returned home

Verse 55 is the first verse of chapter 32 in the original Hebrew text, but the last verse of chapter 31 in most modern Bibles. We suggest that you follow the numbering of Bibles in your national language.

blessed

This means expressing a desire for positive and beneficial things to happen to someone.

translationWords

sacrifice

Laban

kiss

bless

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

ויזבח יעקב זבח AND JACOB OFFERED A SACRIFICE — he slaughtered cattle for the feast

לאחיו HIS BRETHREN — those of his friends who were with Laban (cf Targum Jonathan)

לאכל לחם TO EAT BREAD — Any article of food is termed לחם bread, as (Daniel 5:1) “made a great feast (לחם רב)”, and (Jeremiah 11:19) “Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof (בלחמו)".

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.

ויזבח, he prepared a festive meal so that they would eat together before taking leave of each other. This was in honour of the covenant just concluded.

לאחיו, Lavan and the men with him. Now that they had concluded a peace treaty they considered themselves all as brothers.

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.