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Genesis 31:45

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 31:45 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
Genesis 31:45 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 31

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
42Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
43And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children whom they have borne?
44And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
45And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
46And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap: and they did eat there by the heap.
47And Laban called it Jegar-saha-dutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
48And Laban said, This heap is witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed:
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Jacob took a stone, and set it up [for] a pillar.] To show his readiness to agree to the motion, he immediately took a large stone that lay upon the mount, and set it up on one end, to be a standing monument or memorial of the agreement now about to be made between them.”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“31:45-48 The stone and the heap of stones were a monument to the border treaty between the two men, as a witness to future generations. Each man named the monument witness pile in his native language. It remained the perpetual border between Israel and the kingdom of Aram (Syria), two nations often at war.”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification