Bible Strands
Genesis 31:16
Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rachel and Leah speak to Jacob as he prepares to depart, noting that their father has treated them as outsiders and spent their marriage price. They command him to follow God’s explicit instruction to leave.
The words — The verb הִצִּ֤יל (hiṣṣîl) translates literally as “he has taken away” or “delivered,” paired with כָּל־עֹשֶׁר (khol-'ōšer, “all wealth”) to mark total transfer. The pronoun ה֖וּא (hu') functions as “it” or “they,” anchoring the subject to the livestock and assets God removed.
The thread — The passage directly recalls Genesis 30:35, where Laban stripped his own flocks, and Genesis 31:9, which records God taking those animals and giving them to Jacob. The text describes a concrete redistribution of property rather than a theological principle.
Why it lands — The verse requires obedience to a specific divine command over personal claims to inheritance. It forces the reader to separate material entitlement from explicit instruction and act accordingly.
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
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
Cross-references
- Genesis 30:35 That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons.
- Genesis 31:9 Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
- Psalms 45:10 Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,