Bible Strands
Genesis 31:18
and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob initiates a covert departure from Laban’s household while Laban is away shearing sheep, transporting his family and accumulated wealth toward his father Isaac in Canaan. This action occurs immediately after Jacob loads his wives and children onto camels.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּנְהַג (va/yinnēhag) literally means “he drove” or “he led,” describing Jacob’s physical control over his flocks. His accumulated wealth is termed רְכֻשׁוֹ (rəḵūšō), meaning “his possessions,” specifically the goods gathered in Paddan-aram.
The thread — Jacob’s journey to Isaac in Canaan echoes his earlier vow to return safely to his father’s house (Genesis 28:21) and fulfills the departure that triggered Esau’s resentment (Genesis 27:41). The movement away from Paddan-aram toward Canaan marks the geographic and spiritual pivot of his life.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Jacob’s physical relocation requires the deliberate movement of everything he acquired, leaving no room for partial commitment. A reader must account for the practical weight of moving a household and the theological tension of fleeing toward a promised inheritance while being pursued.
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 carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padan–aram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
Cross-references
- Genesis 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
- Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
- Genesis 28:21 so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.
- Genesis 35:27 Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.