Page 233 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
212
212 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
15.4 Mixing Religious Faiths

When Laban makes a covenant with Jacob , he excitedly exclaims, “The God of

Abraham and the God of Nachor will judge between the two of us” (Gen. 31:53).

The same sentence can also be read, “The gods of Abraham and the gods of
Nachor will judge between the two of us” (in Hebrew, the word Elohim can mean
both God and gods).
Let us read it again to make sure no mistake has been made: “The God of
Abraham and the God of Nachor “? Did we really read this sentence in the Bible?
Previously, we have related to the fact that Nachor and Laban were both

pagans—idol worshippers. Abraham had already called upon the name of God,

Jehovah (Gen. 12:8). Obviously, Laban is swearing in the names of totally dif-
ferent perceptions of God. He is mixing together the world of paganism and

the world of monotheism as if they were on the same footing—of equal validity,
indistinguishable from one other. Again, Laban is incredibly nondiscerning; in his
world, everything goes.

15.5 Mixing Languages

’
Throughout Genesis, Laban s language is always Hebrew. He never uses terms
borrowed from a foreign language. Furthermore, his daughters all carry names
with a Hebrew meaning (Rachel is “sheep”; Lea literally means “exhausted”).

Therefore, when Laban suggests to Jacob a covenant between them, and they

build a monument to serve as testimony for the covenant, Jacob properly calls this
4
monument Gal-Ed, which in Hebrew literally means “a testimony pile of stones.”
5
Laban has the same name in his mind, only he uses Aramaic: Yegar Sahaduta
(Gen. 31:47). Yegar is a pile, and sahaduta means “testimony.” Thus, for Laban,
languages can also be mixed together with no consequence.

15.6 Mixing Property

The same pattern of mixing together is revealed in how Laban relates to his
property and to Jacob s. Any attempt by Jacob to separate his cattle from Laban’s is
’
responded to with deceit, and Laban does his utmost to obstruct such separation.

The story of how Laban repeatedly tries to play tricks with Jacob in order to

avoid separation and discrimination between their flocks is recounted in detail in

Genesis 30–31.