פירוש על בראשית 31:31

כי יראתי BECAUSE I FEARED — He answered his first question first, for he had asked him (Genesis 31:26) “[what hast thou done…] that thou hast carried away my daughters etc.” (this being the first of all Laban’s questions).

כי יראתי...עם אשר תמצא, Yaakov answered Lavan’s first accusation first, and the second one afterwards.

פן תגזול את בנותיך, by saying that you had not given me your daughters in marriage in order for me to remove them from your homeland you would in effect commit robbery as you would detain both my children and my estate. In fact, Lavan used exactly this kind of argument when he said: “the children are my children the daughters are my daughters, etc.” (verse 43). You might have succeeded in doing all this with the help of the local townspeople. Now that I have left your country you will not be able to carry out such a plan.