Everyone is familiar with the rules of root conjugation presented by Hebrew grammar. For example the root Shin-Mem-Resh means to watch. But
• Shin-Mem-Resh-Tauv-Yud means I had watched, while
• Yud-Shin-Mem-Resh means He will watch.
Here the conjugation rules determine tense (future-past) and person (I vs he).

Today Rashi presents a non-standard conjugation rule--a Biblical root can change meaning based on the object used with the verb. For example, the root Gimel-Nun-Beth means to steal:
• When used with an inanimate object Gimel-Nun-Beth means to steal as in Gn31-19 which states And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel stole her father’s idols
• When used with the object, heart (to steal someone's heart) Gimel-Nun-Beth means to deceive as in Gn31-20 which states And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he fled.
• When used with a person object (e.g. stole so and so) Gimel-Nun-Beth can mean either to deceive or to kidnap as in
  • Gn31-27 which states Why did you flee away steathily, and deceive me; and did not tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth, and with songs, with tambourine, and with harp?
  • Ex21-16 which states And he who kidnaps a man, and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

Sermonic Points: We all know that Laban was a cruel person; he withheld Jacob's wife from him on his wedding night and continuously changed his wages. But God doesn't punish him while in pursuit of Jacob; rather God simply warns him not to threaten or do favors to Jacob. Why?

Jacob had one minor sin; he had a right to flee Laban but shouldn't have deceived him. Laban had a right to know why Jacob was leaving. Paradoxically God protected this right of Laban by not punishing him and allowing him to overtake Jacob. We see here the importance of the ethical norm of non-deceipt.

We also see an irony here! 20 years earlier Laban deceived Jacob by switching wives on him on his wedding night. Now twenty years later Laban yells at Jacob why did you deceive me not realizing that Jacob's behavior is a mirror image of his own behavior.