Genesis 31:43

But Laban answered Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, these sons are my sons, and these flocks are my flocks! Everything you see is mine! Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne?

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Laban addresses Jacob at their parting boundary, immediately after invoking God as witness in verse 42 and before proposing a formal covenant in verse 44.

The words — The supplied terms בְּנֹתַי (be.notay, "my daughters") and וְהַבָּנִים (ve.ha.ba.nim, "and the children") anchor Laban's rhetorical question in his asserted claim over Jacob's wives and their offspring.

The thread — This verse advances the Genesis 31 narrative of contested ownership and shifting authority between Laban and Jacob. The tension between human claims and divine oversight continues as Laban immediately pivots from rhetorical assertion to a formal covenant proposal in Genesis 31:44.

Why it lands — The text forces a reader to confront the gap between Laban's spoken claims of ownership and his admitted inability to alter Jacob's departure. It asks the reader to evaluate how verbal assertions of power function when they conflict with established divine and practical realities.

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

וַיַּ֨עַןva/i.Ya.'anand/ he answered לָבָ֜ןla.VanLaban וַיֹּ֣אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said אֶֽל־'el-to יַעֲקֹ֗בya.'a.KoJacob הַבָּנ֨וֹתha./ba.Notthe/ daughters בְּנֹתַ֜יbe.no.Ta/i[are] daughters/ my וְהַבָּנִ֤יםve./ha./ba.Nimand/ the/ children בָּנַי֙ba.Na/i[are] children/ my וְהַצֹּ֣אןve./ha./Tzonand/ the/ flock צֹאנִ֔יtzo.N/i[is] flock/ my וְכֹ֛לve./Kholand/ all אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-that אַתָּ֥ה'a.Tahyou רֹאֶ֖הro.'Eh[are] seeingלִי־li/-[belongs] to <the>/ meה֑וּאHu'it וְלִבְנֹתַ֞יve./li/v.no.Ta/iand/ for/ daughters/ my מָֽה־mah-what?אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֤ה'e.'e.Sehwill I do לָאֵ֙לֶּה֙la./'E.lehfor/ these הַיּ֔וֹםhai./Yomthis/ day א֥וֹ'oor לִבְנֵיהֶ֖ןli/v.nei./Henfor/ children/ their אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhom יָלָֽדוּ׃ya.La.duthey have borne

King James Version

And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

People named

JacobLaban