What Does Genesis 31:7 Mean in the King James?
And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Laban changes the wages, but the decisive verb says God does not give him over to do harm.
THE MEANING
The verse lets you name repeated unfairness without treating the person causing it as sovereign over every outcome. Its specific claim is that God does not give Laban over to harm Jacob, even as the wages keep changing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being cheated repeatedly means the person cheating me has absolute power over what happens next.
THE ROOT
נְתָנוֹ
netano
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
Under “suffered him not” sits נְתָנוֹ (netano, “gave him”): God does not give Laban over to harm Jacob. Since נתן (natan, “give, set, place”) names what is handed over, the line pictures restraint as a boundary on what Laban can do; the changed wages remain real.
ALSO GROWS
natan: to give, set, or place
נָתַן
This is the verb in the verse: God does not give Laban over to harm Jacob.
mattanah: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
The same root names both the act of giving and what is given; here, what is withheld marks the limit on Laban’s reach.
THE PATTERN
Repeated human attempts to control another person’s terms do not grant unlimited power; harm remains subject to a boundary beyond the aggressor.
And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.THE THREAD
And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.The Hebrew verb נְתַנוֹ (netano, “gave him”) in this verse shares the root נתן (natan, “give”) with נְתַתִּיךָ (netaticha, “I gave you”) in Genesis 20:6. In both lines, the same verb makes restraint concrete: God does not hand someone over to the harmful act.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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