45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.(A) 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap,(B) and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.[a](C)

48 Laban said, “This heap(D) is a witness between you and me today.”(E) That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah,[b](F) because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat(G) my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness(H) between you and me.”(I)

51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap,(J) and here is this pillar(K) I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,(L) that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap(M) and pillar to my side to harm me.(N) 53 May the God of Abraham(O) and the God of Nahor,(P) the God of their father, judge between us.”(Q)

So Jacob took an oath(R) in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.(S)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 31:47 The Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap.
  2. Genesis 31:49 Mizpah means watchtower.

45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.

47 And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

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

49 And Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee:

52 This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

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When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,(A) the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men(B) from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones(C) from the middle of the Jordan,(D) from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.(E)

So Joshua called together the twelve men(F) he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.(G) Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign(H) among you. In the future, when your children(I) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’(J) tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off(K) before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial(L) to the people of Israel forever.”

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And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

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31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”(A) 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name(B) of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs[a] of seed.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 18:32 That is, probably about 24 pounds or about 11 kilograms

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

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