The Life of Jacob (14): Jacob and Laban's Covenant at Galeed (Genesis 31:36-55) by Rev. Angus Stewart
I. The Covenant Witnesses
II. The Covenant Vow
III. The Covenant Meal
J. G. Vos: “‘And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed’ (Gen. 31:47). This interesting item is included by Moses in the narrative. Laban spoke Aramaic, the language of Mesopotamia; Jacob spoke Hebrew, the language of Canaan. Jacob, of course, having lived twenty years in Mesopotamia, must have been able to speak and understand the Aramaic language. But in this sacred matter of a covenant he used the language of Canaan, the land of promise. The two names, in Aramaic and Hebrew, mean approximately the same thing: ‘heap of testimony’ or ‘heap of witness.’”