Comentario sobre Génesis 31:48

AND LABAN SAID, THIS STONE-HEAP IS A WITNESS. After Jacob had called it Galed,²⁵²Verse 47 here. Laban spoke in Jacob’s language, This stone-heap is a witness, and therefore its name was called Galed, for they mutually agreed upon this name. It may be that Laban’s words are translated into the Sacred Language, [but he himself did not use the term Galed].

ויאמר לבן הגל הזה עד, he humbled himself to refer to it in Hebrew, Yaakov’s language, after having named it in Aramaic first. He meant that the pile of stones would serve as a witness to what he was about to say.

ויאמר, he made the statement following in his own language. Alternatively, he said all this in Hebrew as it is quite possible that Lavan knew Hebrew and when speaking with Yaakov used to speak to him in Hebrew.

ויאמר לבן הגל הזה עד, “Lavan said: “this pile of stones will be witness.” After Yaakov had named this pile of stones “Gilad,” (a pile of stones that is testimony), Lavan adopted Hebrew for the sake of confirming the agreement, seeing that they were able to agree on a mutually acceptable name for the monument in question. Alternatively, the Torah renders what Lavan said in Aramaic in Hebrew for the sake of the readers who do not understand Aramaic.

על כן קרא שמו, Yaakov named the monument Galed, meaning that the heap of stones should be a witness between himself [and the Torah mentions that this had been his intention already before the thought was articulated. Paraphrased by me. Ed.]