Bible Strands
Genesis 30:25
Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob addresses Laban immediately after Rachel gives birth to Joseph, formally requesting permission to depart for his homeland.
The words — וַ/יֹּ֤אמֶר (va/i.Yo.mer) translates literally as "and he said," functioning as the narrative hinge that transitions from the birth account to Jacob’s spoken demand.
The thread — The request to "send me on my way" parallels the departure formulas in Genesis 24:54, Genesis 24:56, and Genesis 18:33, where figures are dispatched or return home following a completed divine or covenantal interaction.
Why it lands — The text records Jacob’s claim to leave after Rachel’s birth, preceding any inference about his motives or Laban’s response, and requires the reader to note the structural shift from temporary service to permanent departure.
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 it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
Cross-references
- Genesis 24:54 Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
- Genesis 24:56 But he replied, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me on my way so that I may go to my master.”
- Genesis 18:33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.
- Genesis 24:6 Abraham replied, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there.
- Genesis 26:3 Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.
- Genesis 28:13 And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.
- Genesis 28:15 Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
- Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
- Genesis 31:55 Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.
- Acts 7:4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God brought him out of that place and into this land where you are now living.