NOTES for Gen 31:22-55
As a result of the agreement with Laban, Jacob finally receives the long-awaited opportunity to live independently. The agreement is made in a very difficult situation for both sides. Jacob leaves secretly and takes with him his whole family and everything he has. Laban is outraged by his departure and by the fact that he took the idols with him. Only Jacob's absolute certainty that he is not guilty of the theft, and his readiness to punish any member of his family for the crime, convinces his father-in-law that Jacob is innocent. Strength is on Laban's side, but he has been warned by God. Thanks to this intervention, both sides make an agreement about the division of boundaries and the rules of mutual behavior. It is significant that the pagan Laban, defining how Jacob must behave toward his family, speaks words that for him, in general, have little meaning, but are very important for Jacob: "May the Lord watch between you and me, when we are hidden from each other." A human being again recognizes that there is One who is higher and more important in the world. Oversight, real for every person but unseen and unnoticed, becomes the foundation for building new relationships between human beings and God.