אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם וֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י נָחוֹר֙ יִשְׁפְּט֣וּ בֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּפַ֖חַד אָבִ֥יו יִצְחָֽק׃
May the God of Abraham’s [house] and the god of Nahor’s [house]”—their ancestral deities—“judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac’s [house].
Genesis 31:53 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
In Genesis 31:53, Laban presents a covenant with Isaac, calling upon a god that does not exist: “The god of Nahor.”
Laban, an idolator, the son of an idolator, doesn’t know that the God of Abraham is not merely an idol to manipulate, so he profanes the title of God (אלוהי) by making it level with his own idols.
It’s such a profanity that Jewish commentaries state “אלוהי אביהם: here too the word “elohey” is profane and may be erased from a Torah scroll if the occasion demands it.”