Bible Strands
Genesis 29:5
“Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked. “We know him,” they replied.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob questions local shepherds at a well about their acquaintance with Laban. This exchange follows the shepherds’ confirmation of their Haran origin and precedes their announcement of Rachel’s arrival.
The words — The inquiry centers on הַיְדַעְתֶּם (ha-yada'tem, "do you know") and the genealogical tag לָבָן בֶּן־נָח֑וֹר (Laban ben-Nahor, "Laban son of Nahor"). The shepherds answer with יָדַעְנוּ (yada'nu, "we know him"), confirming familiarity.
The thread — Laban’s lineage appears in Genesis 24:24 and 24:29 as the brother of Rebekah and son of Bethuel, a grandson of Nahor. Genesis 31:53 later recalls this same patriarchal line when Jacob invokes the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor.
Why it lands — The verse documents Jacob’s intentional verification of kinship ties in a foreign region. It requires the reader to see how physical displacement initiates a return to ancestral identity and covenant continuity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.
Cross-references
- Genesis 24:24 She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.”
- Genesis 24:29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring.
- Genesis 31:53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.