It seems that the Patriarchs were covenant makers. Abraham made covenants with God (Genesis 12:1-5; 15:8-18; 17:1-14, 23-27), and he also made covenants with Mamre (Genesis 14:13), and Abimelech (Genesis 21:22-32). Besides being in a covenant with the Lord (Genesis 17:19, 21), Isaac also made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines (Genesis 26:26-31). Finally, Jacob made a covenant with the Lord, as well (Genesis 28:13-22), and later made a covenant with Laban, his father-in-law (Genesis 31:43-55).
There are two kinds of covenants that the ancients entered into with one another. The first type was the unilateral covenant. A unilateral covenant is made between two (or more) parties, whereby the first party dictates the terms of the covenant to the second party. The second party can only agree and obey, but he has no other input in the covenant. An example of this type of covenant can be seen in the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15:8-18. Abraham expected to walk through the animal carcasses with the Lord, but the Lord caused a deep sleep to come over him, and when Abraham awoke, God was already walking through the animals, making himself solely responsible for the terms of the covenant. Abraham had no input in the terms, nor could he do anything to break the covenant. The covenant was unilateral, and its terms were dictated to him.
The bilateral covenant was different. Both parties had input and both parties had their responsibilities to perform, which, if left undone, would break the covenant. An example of this type of covenant would be the Mosaic or Sinai Covenant. Both Israel and the Lord had input and both Israel and the Lord had specific responsibilities, which, if not performed, would break the covenant. The patriarchal covenants, which were made with men, vis-à-vis with Mamre, Abimelech and Laban, were bilateral covenants. Each party had their responsibilities. Mamre and his brethren helped Abraham recover Lot and his family, when they were taken captive by the kings of the east. The covenants made with Abimelech and Laban were also bilateral, in that each party had a responsibility to do no harm to the other party or his descendants. It is this type of covenant that Paul refers to, when he advised the Corinthians not to become unequally yoked with unbelievers (2Corinthians 6:14).
Therefore, after Jacob was through complaining about how his service to Laban went unappreciated, Laban replied, saying, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children, which they have born?” (Genesis 31:43). In other words, heretofore, Laban was in charge. He dictated the terms of any agreement he had with Jacob or Jacob’s family. Nevertheless, Jacob’s wives were Laban’s daughters and their children were his grandchildren. How could he harm them? So, the unilateral agreement he had with Jacob prior to Jacob’s fleeing Haran, no longer worked, because he couldn’t bring himself to harm his own flesh, whether through fear (verse-42) or in the honesty of his heart isn’t important to the reader. The fact remained that a new agreement had to be codified.
For the very first time Laban received his son-in-law as an equal. He could no longer dictate to him, what was to be done. The fact that other arrangements could be broken (Genesis 31:7, 41), shows that Laban had the power to dictate and change anything that was agreed upon. Nevertheless, now Jacob stood his ground, and there was no other option. Either make a new, bilateral covenant together, or do his worst upon his own flesh. Laban admitted he couldn’t strike out against his family, so he suggested that he and Jacob make a new agreement (Genesis 31:44).
Therefore, Jacob and his brethren, which included Laban and his sons, gathered stones and made a heap. Afterwards, both he and Laban named the heap and named it: Jegarshadutha, which is a Chaldee term and was used by Laban, meaning “Heap of Testimony.” Galeed, is a corresponding Aramaic term used by Jacob, and it means “Heap of Witness” (Genesis 31:45-47).
The heap of stones was witness to men that the covenant was made that neither he nor Jacob would pass over the heap to do the other harm. However, Laban also called upon the Lord to witness the covenant, because Laban didn’t trust that in his absence, Jacob would treat his daughters and his grandchildren fairly. Therefore, he called upon the Lord to do what he couldn’t do (Genesis 31:48-52), saying, “May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us” (Genesis 31:53).
Jacob agreed to the terms of the covenant, because it made no difference which gods Laban called upon to witness, if the God of Abraham was included, it was a covenant, to which Jacob could agree. Therefore, he sacrificed upon the mountain and invited everyone there to partake of the feast he made (Genesis 31:54). Afterward, in the morning Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren, bidding them farewell and he returned to Haran (Genesis 31:55).
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