Genesis 31:19

Laban went to shear his sheep. The RSV translation, “had gone,” is preferable to that of the KJV, “went,” for Laban had probably left home before Jacob called his wives to the field, and not after their decision to leave Haran. The fact that Rachel was able to steal her father’s images suggests Laban’s absence from home at the time of her own departure. Jacob knew that his father-in-law would be detained several days by the task of shearing his sheep and the festivities commonly connected with it (see 1 Sam. 25:4, 11; 2 Sam. 13:23), to which friends were often invited. Whether Jacob had not been invited, or had declined Laban’s invitation, owing to the dissension existing between them, is uncertain. But it did afford him an excellent opportunity to escape unhindered.

Rachel had stolen the images. These “images,” teraphim (see Judges 17:5; 18:14; etc.), were usually small (v. 34) human figurines, occasionally larger, often made of wood (1 Sam. 19:13-16). Near Eastern excavations have brought them to light in profuse numbers, made of wood, clay, and precious metals. Some represent male gods, but the majority are figurines of female deities 2 to 3 in. in length. They were used as household gods or were carried on the body as protective charms. Since most of them represent nude goddesses whose sexual features are accentuated, they were probably thought to promote fertility. This may be the reason Rachel especially cherished them. Cuneiform texts from Nuzi in Mesopotamia reveal that the household gods were inherited by adopted sons only when no actual sons were present at the father’s death. If a man had sons, his gods could not go to his daughters. Rachel therefore had no right to her father’s household gods, as Jacob frankly admitted (Gen. 31:32). Documents found at Nuzi, in Mesopotamia, indicate that in the patriarchal age the possession of the family’s household gods, such as Laban had, guaranteed to their holder the title to his father’s properties (ANET 219, 220). This was probably the chief reason why Laban was so eager to retrieve them (see vs. 30, 33-35).