29 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands.
This is based on notes from a hebrew language expert:
The angel uses a wordplay here between rod (מקל - makel) and ruler (מלך - melech). Also notice how the angel holds them accountable for their iniquity (avonah), because clearly they had no intention of keeping their words and thus were guilty before the Law of G-d.
