Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”
Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.
Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.
Comment: Laban seems concerned for his daughters and speaks clearly on their behalf. By then the two men seem to have come to a very honourable agreement before God – one in which they would, looking to God as their witness, behave well towards each other. They had a last seemingly happy meal together and next morning Laban returns home.
I find the phrase ‘the Fear of his father Isaac‘, apparently referring to Isaac’s God, fascinating. Is ‘fear’ in the sense of ‘terror’ or of ‘deep respect’? God is called ‘Love’, but He is also called ‘a Consuming Fire’. No doubt we’ll follow Jacob further after a short sojourn in the book of Acts.
Prayer: Please help me to never trivialise You, O God!
As I read it! 