Genesis 31:48
New International Version
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed.

New Living Translation
Then Laban declared, “This pile of stones will stand as a witness to remind us of the covenant we have made today.” This explains why it was called Galeed—“Witness Pile.”

English Standard Version
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed,

Berean Standard Bible
Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.

King James Bible
And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

New King James Version
And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed,

New American Standard Bible
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed,

NASB 1995
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed,

NASB 1977
And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed;

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed,

Amplified Bible
Laban said, “This mound [of stones] is a witness [a reminder of the oath taken] today between you and me.” Therefore he [also] called the name Galeed,

Christian Standard Bible
Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed

American Standard Version
And Laban said, This heap is witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Laban said, “This mound is a witness between me and you today”; because of this, he called its name Galeed

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and the pillar, which I have set between me and thee; this heap witnesses, and this pillar witnesses; therefore its name was called, the Heap witnesses.

Contemporary English Version
Laban said to Jacob, "This pile of rocks will remind us of our agreement." That's why the place was named Galeed.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and thee this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is, The witness heap.

English Revised Version
And Laban said, This heap is witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Laban said, "This pile of stones stands as a witness between you and me today." This is why it was named Galeed

Good News Translation
Laban said to Jacob, "This pile of rocks will be a reminder for both of us." That is why that place was named Galeed.

International Standard Version
Then Laban said, "This stack will serve as a witness between you and me today." That's how the place came to be named Galeed.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Laban said: 'This heap is witness between me and thee this day.' Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

Literal Standard Version
And Laban says, “This heap [is] witness between me and you today”; therefore has he called its name Galeed;

Majority Standard Bible
Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.

New American Bible
Laban said, “This mound will be a witness from now on between you and me.” That is why it was named Galeed—

NET Bible
Laban said, "This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement today." That is why it was called Galeed.

New Revised Standard Version
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he called it Galeed,

New Heart English Bible
Laban said, "This mound is a witness between me and you today." Therefore it was named Galeed

Webster's Bible Translation
And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed:

World English Bible
Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” Therefore it was named Galeed

Young's Literal Translation
And Laban saith, 'This heap is witness between me and thee to-day;' therefore hath he called its name Galeed;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jacob's Covenant with Laban
47Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. 48Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed. 49It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other.…

Cross References
Genesis 21:30
He replied, "You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well."

Joshua 22:27
Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.' Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, 'You have no share in the LORD!'

Joshua 24:27
And Joshua said to all the people, "You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God."


Treasury of Scripture

And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and you this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;

This heap.

Joshua 24:27
And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

Galeed.

Genesis 31:23
And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

Deuteronomy 2:36
From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:

Deuteronomy 3:16
And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;

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Genesis 31
1. Jacob, displeased with the envy of Laban and his sons, departs secretly.
19. Rachel steals her father's household gods.
22. Laban pursues after him, and complains of the wrong.
34. Rachel's plan to hide the images.
36. Jacob's complaint of Laban.
43. The covenant of Laban and Jacob at Galeed.














Verses 48-50. - And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. The historian adding - Therefore was the name of it called (originally by Jacob, and afterwards by the Israelites from this transaction) Galeed (vide on ver. 21). The stony character of the regon may have suggested the designation. And Mizpah; - watchtower from Tsaphah, to watch. Mizpah afterwards became the site of a town in the district of Gilead (Judges 10:17; Judges 11:11, 19, 34); which received its name, as the historian intimates, from the pile of witness erected by Laban and his kinsmen, and was later celebrated as the residence of Jephthah (Judges 11:34) and the seat of the sanctuary (Judges 11:11). Ewald supposes that the mound (Galeed) and the watch tower (Mispah) were different objects, and that the meaning of the (so-called) legend is that, while the former (the mountain) was riled up by Jacob and his people, the latter (now the city and fortress of Mizpah on one of the heights of Gilead) was constructed by Laban and his followers (vide 'History of Israel,' vol. 1. p. 347); but the "grotesqusnesa" of this interpretation of the Hebrew story is its best refutation - for he (i.e. Laban) said, The Lord - Jehovah; a proof that vers. 49, 50 are a Jehovistic interpolation (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso, Kalisch); an indication of their being a subsequent insertion, though not warranting the inference that the entire history is a complication (Keil); a sign that henceforth Laban regarded Jehovah as the representative of his rights (Lange); but probably only a token that Laban, recognizing Jehovah as the only name that would bind the conscience of Jacob (Hengstenberg, Quarry), had for the moment adopted Jacob's theology ('Speaker's Commentary'), but only in self-defense (Wordsworth) - watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another - literally, a man from his companion. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters (Laban's concern for his daughters, though hitherto not conspicuous, may, in the hour of parting from them, have been real: his language shows that he was not quite at ease as to Jacob's integrity. Perhaps the remembrance that he had been the cause of Jacob's taking two wives made him anxious to secure that Jacob should not improve upon his evil instructions), no man is with us; - either then they stood apart from Laban's clan followers (Inglis); or his meaning was that when widely separated there would be no one to judge betwixt them, or perhaps even to observe them (Rosenmüller), but - see, God (Elohim in contrast to man) is witness betwixt me and thee. Vers 51-53. - And Laban said to Jacob, - according to Ewald the last narrator has transposed the names of Laban and Jacob (vide 'History of Israel,' vol. 1. p. 346) - Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast (same word as in ver. 45. The Arabic version and Samaritan text read yaritha, thou hast erected, instead of yarithi, I have erected or cast up) betwixt me and thee; this heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that (literally, if, here = that) I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar (Laban bound himself never to pass over the heap which he had erected as his witness; whereas Jacob was required to swear that he would never cross the pillar and the pile, both of which were witnesses for him) unto me, for harm. The emphatic word closes the sentence. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge - the verb is plural, either because Laban regarded the Elohim of Nahor as different from the Elohim of Abraham (Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, Wordsworth, 'Speaker's Commentary'), or because, though acknowledging only one Elohim, he viewed him as maintaining several and distinct relations to the persons named (cf. Quarry, p. 499) - betwixt us. Laban here invokes his own hereditary Elohim, the Elohim of Abraham's father, to guard his rights and interests under the newly-formed covenant; while Jacob in his adjuration appeals to the Elohim of Abraham's son. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac (vide supra, ver. 42).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Laban
לָבָ֔ן (lā·ḇān)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3837: Laban -- father-in-law of Jacob

declared,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“This
הַזֶּ֥ה (haz·zeh)
Article | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

mound
הַגַּ֨ל (hag·gal)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1530: Something rolled, a heap of stone, dung, a spring of water

is a witness
עֵ֛ד (‘êḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5707: A witness, testimony, a recorder, prince

between you
בֵּינִ֥י (bê·nî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 996: An interval, space between

and me
וּבֵינְךָ֖ (ū·ḇê·nə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's 996: An interval, space between

this day.”
הַיּ֑וֹם (hay·yō·wm)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

Therefore
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the place was called
קָרָֽא־ (qā·rā-)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

Galeed,
גַּלְעֵֽד׃ (gal·‘êḏ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1567: Galeed -- 'witness-pile', a memorial of stones East of the Jordan River


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OT Law: Genesis 31:48 Laban said This heap is witness between (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 31:47
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