That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
Verse 39. That which was torn-of my hand didst thou require it] This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Exod. xxii. 10, 13. And it is very likely that this law was in force from the earliest times.
