What Does Genesis 31:24 Mean?
And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, Guard yourself from speaking to Jacob, from good to bad.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.THE KEY
Before Laban speaks to Jacob, God puts the whole range of his words under watch.
THE MEANING
Speech stands under a boundary before it reaches another person: Laban is told to guard himself from speaking to Jacob, whether for good or ill. The command covers the full span named by “good or bad,” leaving no side of that range outside the warning.
THE ROOT
הִשָּׁמֶר
hishamer
GROWS FROM
שׁ־מ־ר
sh-m-r
To guard, keep, or watch over.
The verb rendered “take heed” is a reflexive command: “guard yourself.” The same root forms words for watchmen and guarded charges, so the warning pictures speech as something kept under watch; “good or bad” stretches the boundary across the full range.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: A watchman; one who guards.
שֹׁמֵר
The watchman branch makes the command’s image visible: Laban is to keep watch over what he says to Jacob.
mishmeret: A guard duty, watch, or charge to keep.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch carries the sense of something entrusted to watch, echoing the boundary placed around Laban’s speech.
THE PATTERN
God’s intervention places a boundary around human action before harm unfolds.
And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I perceive that you did this with an unbroken heart. I also held you back from missing the mark against me, and therefore I did not let you touch her.Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep guard over the door of my lips.And being warned by God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they withdrew into their own land by another road.THE THREAD
Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep guard over the door of my lips.Both verses use שׁמר (shamar, to guard or keep): Laban is told to guard himself from speaking, while the psalm asks God to keep watch over the speaker’s mouth. The shared root reveals speech as something held under watch.
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