Genesis 31:34-35
34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.
A text cannot stand in isolation, hence it would be pertinent for the antecedent and the succedent texts to be observed before any attempt to explain a text. Let us observe the antecedent texts.
Genesis 31:19-20
19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father’s. 20 And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee.
Rachael stole her father’s idols and went away with her family from Laban’s household.
Genesis 31:22
22 And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. 23 Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead.
When Laban heard that Jacob had fled with his daughters, he pursued Jacob and eventually met him. (Verse 25).
Genesis 31:27
27 Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? 28 And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing.
Laban approached him and questioned him concerning why he fled from his household with his daughters. Laban asked Jacob another question in the succedent text.
Genesis 31:30
30 And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
Laban had thought that Jacob stole his household idols which he called ‘his gods’, hence he accused him. He did not know that his daughter, Rachael had taken his household idols.
Genesis 31:32
32 With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
Jacob also did not know that the idols that his father-in-law, Laban sought was inside his tent with his beloved wife, Rachael. He had even told Laban to go in and not spare the person found with the gods.
Genesis 31:33
33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the two maids’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.
Laban went into all the tents in search for his household idols. He did not find his idols in Jacob’s tent, neither was it found in Leah’s. He also searched in the tents of Rachael’s maid and Leah’s maid, he also did not find them there. Then he went into Rachael’s tent.
Genesis 31:34
34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them.
The phrase ‘had taken’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘לקח’ (lâqach) which means ‘to carry’. She had carried the idols and she put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them afterwards.
The word ‘put’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘שׂים שׂוּם’ (ώûm ώîym) which means ‘to set on’.
The word ‘sat’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘ישׁב’ (yâshab) which means ‘to sit’, ‘to remain on a spot or place’. The same word was used in Genesis 18:1
Genesis 18:1
18 Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he WAS SITTING in the tent door in the heat of the day.
The word ‘was sitting’ as used here is the same one that Moses used in Genesis 31:34.
The same was also used by Moses in Genesis 19:1
Genesis 19:1
19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot WAS SITTING in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
The word ‘was sitting’ as used here is the same word used by Moses in Genesis 31:34
Back to Genesis 31:34
34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them.
Racheal remained on the camel’s saddle, where she kept the idols that she had stolen in her father’s house. Laban searched for the idols in her tent but he did not find them.
The word ‘searched’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word משׁשׁ’’ (mâshash) which means ‘to grope’. The word was used nine times in the Bible. Moses used this word seven times. It was used in Genesis 27:12
Genesis 27:12
12 Perhaps my father WILL FEEL me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
Here, Jacob uses this word for his mother when she told him to pretend as Esau in order to receive the blessings meant for Esau. Jacob had said that his father would feel him and know that he wasn’t Esau because Esau was hairy.
The phrase ‘will feel’ as used here is the same one Moses used in Genesis 32:34
Genesis 31:35
35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.
Rachael had known that her father would want to check where she was seated and before he could say anything, she told him that she could not rise because the ‘manner of women’ was upon her.
The phrase translated as ‘let it not displease’ here was gotten from two Hebrew words which are ‘אַל־’ (’al-) and יִ֙חַר֙ (yi·ḥar). The first word means ‘not’ and the second one means ‘to be angry’, ‘to blaze up with anger’. Putting these words together, it means ‘to not be angry’.
The word ‘cannot’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘ל֤וֹא’ (lō·w) which means ‘not’. It is a negative particle.
The word ‘rise’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘לָק֣וּם’ (lā·qūm) which means ‘to stand up’, ‘to get up’.
The phrase ‘before you’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘מִפָּנֶ֔יךָ’ (mip·pā·ne·ḵā) which means ‘face’. The word is in the second person’s stance.
Rachael was telling her father not to be angry because she could not stand up to his face and this according to her was because of ‘the manner of women’. She lied that the ‘manner of women’ was upon her.
The word ‘manner’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘דֶ֥רֶךְ’ (ḏe·reḵ) which means ‘a course of life’ or ‘a mode of action’.
The phrase ‘of women’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘נשׁים’ (nâshîym) which means ‘woman’. It carries the plural form of ‘woman’ which is ‘women’. What Rachael was referring to here would be ‘a course of life of women’, that is, something that has to do with only women. Rachael uses a figure of speech known as ‘euphemism’ here.
According to the Livio Android Dictionary, an euphemism is ‘the use of a word or phrase to replace another with one that is considered less offensive, blunt or vulgar than the word or phrase which it replaces.’ An example of an euphemism is the phrase ‘pound sand’ which means ‘get lost’, ‘go to hell’ or ‘go away’. Using the phrase ‘pound sand’ is a subtle phrase used in dismissing a person.
It is required for children to honour their parents. This was one of the ten commandments given to the children of Israel by Moses in Exodus.
Exodus 20:12
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
The word ‘honor’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘כּבד’ (kâbêd) which means ‘to glorify’, ‘to venerate’ or ‘to respect’.
The same word was used in Leviticus 10:3
Leviticus 10:3
“And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:
‘By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be GLORIFIED.’”
So Aaron held his peace.”
The word ‘glorified’ as used here is the same word Moses used in Exodus 20:12.
The law on honoring one’s parents was also reiterated in Leviticus 19:3
Leviticus 19:3
3 ‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
The word ‘revere’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘ירא’ (yârê) which means ‘to reverence’, ‘to regard someone with awe’.
The same word was used in Exodus 1:17 for the midwives who spared the sons of the Hebrew women.
Exodus 1:17
17 But the midwives FEARED God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
The word ‘feared’ as used here is the same one Moses used in Leviticus 19:3
1 Kings 2:19
19 Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right hand.
Here, Solomon, Bathsheba’s son who was also the king bowed down to his mother as a show of respect to her. Solomon was the king but he still showed his respect to his mother regardless of his status. He venerated her. Bowing down was a show of respect to his mother to acknowledge her presence.
Back to Genesis 31:35
35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.
Rising while her father was in her tent would be a show of respect to her father. It would mean that she was honoring his presence. She had to plead with her father not to be angry because she did not rise up to him.
The phrase ‘manner of women’ used by Rachael which is ‘the course of life’ was her excuse for not rising up to her father.
This same phrase was used in Genesis 18:11.
Genesis 18:11
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
(New King James Version has footnotes in some texts, which further explains such texts. There is a footnotes in this text that explains the text).
‘…Sarah had passed the age of childbearing…’
The footnote has it as this.
‘The manner of women has ceased to be with Sarah’.
Here, God told Abraham that his wife would conceive and bear a child. Sarah was already old and ‘the manner of women’ has ceased to be with her. This was what made Sarah to laugh within herself in the succedent text.
Genesis 18:12
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
The ‘manner of women’ based on this succedent text will be something that a woman who is very advanced in age, like Sarah would not have again. Sarah was ninety years old at that time. (Genesis 17:17).
Genesis 17:17
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
Let us observe Genesis 18: 11-12 again.
Genesis 18:11-12
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
The text says that Sarah and Abraham were OLD, WELL ADVANCED in age.
The word ‘old’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘זקן’ (zâqên) which means ‘aged’.
The phrase ‘well advanced’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘בּוא’ (bô’) which means ‘well stricken in’.
Hence, Sarah was well stricken in age. This means that she was very old and due to the fact that she was well aged, it was naturally impossible for her to conceive. She had passed the childbearing age. We can safely say that she was menopausal, that is, she had reached menopause. Menopause according to the Livio Android Dictionary is ‘the period in a woman’s life when menstruation becomes irregular and less frequent before eventually stopping altogether, usually accompanied by a range of unpleasant symptoms; the period spanning perimenopause up to postmenopause.’
The way the phrase ‘manner of women’ was used in Genesis 18:11 is the same way it was used in Genesis 31:35. Let us observe the text again.
Genesis 31:35
35 And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the household idols.
The phrase ‘manner of women’ as used here, which we have also seen in Genesis 18:11 means ‘menstrual cycle’ or ‘menstruation’. Rachael was telling her father that she was on her period and she uses a figure of speech known as euphemism.
Many other bible translations have that phrase as ‘monthly period’ or ‘period’. Let us check through a few of them.
Genesis 31:35
New International Version
Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’M HAVING MY PERIOD.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.
New Living Translation
She said to her father, “Please, sir, forgive me if I don’t get up for you. I’M HAVING MY MONTHLY PERIOD.” So Laban continued his search, but he could not find the household idols.
Berean Study Bible
Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I AM HAVING MY PERIOD.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.
Christian Standard Bible
She said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I AM HAVING MY PERIOD.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.
Contemporary English Version
Rachel said, “Father, please don’t be angry with me for not getting up; I’M HAVING MY PERIOD.” Laban kept on searching, but still did not find the idols
Good News Translation
Rachel said to her father, “Do not be angry with me, sir, but I am not able to stand up in your presence; I AM HAVING MY MONTHLY PERIOD.” Laban searched but did not find his household gods.
World English Bible
She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for I’M HAVING MY PERIOD.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.
New Heart English Bible
She said to her father, “Do not let my lord be angry that I can’t get up for you; for I AM HAVING MY PERIOD. “He searched, but did not find the idols.
NET Bible
Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I AM HAVING MY PERIOD.” So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols.
Holman Christian Standard Bible
She said to her father, “Sir, don’t be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence; I AM HAVING MY PERIOD.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.
Under the law, when a woman is having her period, she is considered ‘unclean’ and anyone who touches her too would be unclean.
Leviticus 15:19
19 ‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
‘…set apart seven days…’
The phrase ‘set apart’ as used here was translated from the Hebrew word ‘נדּה’ (niddâh) which means ‘to separate’, ‘to put apart’.
‘…EVERYTHING she SITS on shall be UNCLEAN…’
Hence, since she was sitting on the camel’s saddle, it would be UNCLEAN!
‘…whoever TOUCHES ANYTHING SHE SAT ON shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and BE UNCLEAN UNTIL EVENING’.
Although the purity Laws were given years after this incidence, it would appear that they were derived from a prevalent custom amongst the Palestinians. Hence, Laban would not want to touch her, since she said she was observing her menstrual cycle since touching her would make him UNCLEAN. She lied that she was menstruating because she knew the custom and law that concerns ‘menstruation’. She knew that he would not force her to get up from the camel’s saddle. Although, in some pulpit commentaries, it has been said that she might have been on her period just as she told Laban. Either way, what we are certain about is that she stole her father’s household idols and the ‘manner of women’ means ‘menstruation’.
© Josh Banks Ministries. 2020.
