And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?

And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.

And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war?

And Laban saith to Jacob, 'What hast thou done that thou dost deceive my heart, and lead away my daughters as captives of the sword?

And Laban said to Jacob, Why did you go away secretly, taking my daughters away like prisoners of war?

And Laban said to Jacob: 'What hast thou done, that thou hast outwitted me, and carried away my daughters as though captives of the sword?

And he said to Jacob: "Why have you acted this way, departing from me in secret, with my daughters like captives of the sword?

Et dixit Laban ad Iahacob, Quid fecisti, et furatus es cor meum, et abduxisti filias meas sicut captivas gladio?

And Laban said unto Jacob,.... Upon their meeting together; perhaps in some middle place between their two tents:
what hast thou done? what evil hast thou committed? what folly art thou guilty of? and what could induce thee to take such a step as this? suggesting that he could see no necessity for it; and as if he had done nothing that should occasion it, and that Jacob had done a very ill thing
that thou hast stolen away unawares to me: of this phrase See Gill on Genesis 31:20,
and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword; as were commonly done by a band of robbers that made incursions upon their neighbours, and plundered them of their substance, and carried away by force their wives and daughters; and such an one Laban represents Jacob to be, a thief and a robber; who had not only stolen away from him, but had stole away his goods, and even his gods, and carried away his daughters against their will: all which were false, and particularly the latter, since they went along with him with their free and full consent.

Laban said . . . What hast thou done?--Not a word is said of the charge (Genesis 31:1). His reproaches were of a different kind. His first charge was for depriving him of the satisfaction of giving Jacob and his family the usual salutations at parting. In the East it is customary, when any are setting out to a great distance, for their relatives and friends to accompany them a considerable way with music and valedictory songs. Considering the past conduct of Laban, his complaint on this ground was hypocritical cant. But his second charge was a grave one--the carrying off his gods--Hebrew, "teraphim," small images of human figures, used not as idols or objects of worship, but as talismans, for superstitious purposes.

"Like sword-booty;" i.e., like prisoners of war (2-Kings 6:22) carried away unwillingly and by force.