GEN1334 The Hebrew term for falsely propping oneself up [is] Genaivat Da’at, which technically means “stealing someone else’s thoughts.”   It signifies a conscious effort by an individual to look better than he or she actually deserves to be viewed in the eyes of another person or other people or, similarly, it means making an object for sale appear more desirable and valuable than it really is.   … Jacob, who lived in [his father-in-law] Lavan’s home for twenty years, snuck away at night because he was afraid that Lavan would never let him leave.  Lavan’s reaction to Jacob’s leaving (when he caught up to him) was to say, “What did you do? Why did you steal my heart?” In the next verse he again says, “You stole me,” because he escaped and ran away.   Rashi says these phrases in the verse refer to Genaivat Da’at – i.e., that Lavan accused Jacob of appearing to be friendly, appreciative, and satisfied with is life in Lavan’s house, when he obviously was not.   Chatam Sofer comments that this feigning by Jacob to Lavan would generally be forbidden for a Jew, even towards a non-Jew like Lavan, but he explains that Jacob legitimately did this only because he was afraid for his life.   AMJV 260