Genesis 30:43 | 71
30:20 q Ge 35:23 ; 49:13 ; Mt 4:13
30:22 r Ge 8:1 ; 1Sa 1:19-20 s Ge 29:31
30:23 t ver 6 u Isa 4:1 ; Lk 1:25
30:24 v Ge 35:24 ; 37:2 ; 39:1 ; 49:22-26 w Ge 35:17
30:25 x Ge 24:54
30:26 y Ge 29:20 , 30 ; Hos 12:12
30:27 z Ge 26:24 ; 39:3 , 5
30:28 a Ge 29:15
30:29 b Ge 31:6 c Ge 31:38‐40
30:30 d 1Ti 5:8
30:32 e Ge 31:8 , 12 30:35 f Ge 31:1
30:43 g ver 30 ; Ge 12:16 ; 13:2 ; 24:35 ;
26:13‐14
19 Leah con ceived again and bore Ja cob a sixth son . 20 Then Leah said , “ God has presented me with a pre cious gift . This time my hus band will treat me with honor , be cause I have borne him six sons .” So she named him Zeb u lun . a q 21 Some time later she gave birth to a daugh ter and named her Di nah . 22 Then God remembered Rachel ; r he lis tened to her and en abled her to con ceive . s 23 She be came preg nant and gave birth to a son t and said , “ God has taken away my dis grace .” u 24 She named him Joseph , b v and said , “ May the Lord add to me an other son .” w
Jacob ’ s Flocks Increase
25 Af ter Ra chel gave birth to Jo seph , Ja cob said to La ban , “ Send me on my way x so I can go back to my own home land . 26 Give me my wives and chil dren , for whom I have served you , y and I will be on my way . You know how much work I ’ ve done for you .”
27 But La ban said to him , “ If I have found fa vor in your eyes , please stay . I have learned by div i na tion that the Lord has blessed me be cause of you .” z 28 He added , “ Name your wages , a and I will pay them .”
29 Ja cob said to him , “ You know how I have worked for you b and how your live stock has fared un der my care . c 30 The lit tle you had be fore I came has in creased greatly , and the Lord has blessed you wher ever I have been . But now , when may I do some thing for my own household ? d ” 31 “ What shall I give you ?” he asked . “ Don ’ t give me any thing ,” Ja cob re plied . “ But if you will do this one thing for me , I will go on tend ing your flocks and watch ing over them : 32 Let me go through all your flocks to day and re move from them ev ery speck led or spot ted sheep , ev ery dark-col ored lamb and ev ery spot ted or speck led goat . e They will be my wages . 33 And my hon esty will tes tify for me in the fu ture , when ever you check on the wages you have paid me . Any goat in my pos ses sion that is not speck led or spot ted , or any lamb that is not dark-col ored , will be con sid ered sto len .”
34 “ Agreed ,” said La ban . “ Let it be as you have said .” 35 That same day he re moved all the male goats that were streaked or spot ted , and all the speck led or spot ted fe male goats ( all that had white on them ) and all the dark-col ored lambs , and he placed them in the care of his sons . f 36 Then he put a three-day jour ney be tween him self and Ja cob , while Ja cob con tin ued to tend the rest of La ban ’ s flocks .
37 Ja cob , how ever , took fresh-cut branches from pop lar , al mond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peel ing the bark and ex pos ing the white in ner wood of the branches . 38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the wa ter ing troughs , so that they would be di rectly in front of the flocks when they came to drink . When the flocks were in heat and came to drink , 39 they mated in front of the branches . And they bore young that were streaked or speck led or spot ted . 40 Ja cob set apart the young of the flock by themselves , but made the rest face the streaked and dark-col ored an i mals that be longed to La ban . Thus he made sep a rate flocks for him self and did not put them with La ban ’ s an i- mals . 41 When ever the stron ger fe males were in heat , Ja cob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the an i mals so they would mate near the branches , 42 but if the an i mals were weak , he would not place them there . So the weak an i mals went to La ban and the strong ones to Jacob . 43 In this way the man grew ex ceed ingly pros per ous and came to own large flocks , and fe male and male ser vants , and cam els and don keys . g
a 20 Zebulun probably means honor . b 24 Joseph means may he add .
30:22 – 24 After her sister Leah has given birth to six sons and a daughter , Rachel ’ s prayer is eventually answered by God , and she gives birth to Joseph . The threefold reference to God in these verses underlines that he is the one who enables the matriarchs to have children . Childlessness in Genesis is an important motif , especially in the light of God ’ s promise in 3:15 that salvation will come through the offspring of Eve . The divine gift of children to those who are barren takes on added significance , which is reflected in the importance of Isaac , Jacob , and Joseph in the Genesis story . 30:25 – 43 Jacob ’ s Flocks Increase . After a period of at least 14 years , Jacob makes plans to return to Canaan . However , his father-in-law , Laban , does not want him to go , for Jacob ’ s presence has been a source of blessing . As the patriarchal stories reflect elsewhere , the “ firstborn ” members of the family lineage mediate God ’ s blessing . Laban yet again acts deceitfully toward Jacob and pays the consequences . 30:27 by divination . Laban discovers that God has blessed him because of Jacob . Later , God bans the practice of divination ( Deut 18:10 ) because it uses inappropriate means ( e . g ., reading omens ) to interpret present events or discern the future . the Lord has blessed me . Laban readily acknowledges Jacob ’ s role in this . The motif of blessing is important in Genesis , especially in view of how humanity comes under God ’ s disfavor because of their sinfulness . Having received the blessing of the “ firstborn ,” Jacob brings blessing to others . 30:31 – 34 The sheep and goats in Laban ’ s flocks would have been variously colored , with only some being speckled or spotted . 30:35 Although Laban agrees to Jacob ’ s proposal , he deliberately removes from his flock all the animals that should have belonged to
Jacob , giving them to his own sons . Laban ’ s self-seeking attitude is very much a match to Jacob ’ s , for Jacob deceived his own father through the use of goatskins ( 27:1 – 29 , especially v . 16 ). 30:38 peeled branches . How these influenced the outcome of the breeding is not immediately apparent . 30:39 streaked or speckled or spotted . By manipulating the breeding activity of Laban ’ s flock ( vv . 37 – 39 ), Jacob succeeds in creating for himself a large flock of animals . 30:40 – 42 By selective breeding Jacob ensures that the strongest animals in Laban ’ s flocks produce streaked or dark-colored animals . Although Laban deliberately attempted to keep Jacob ’ s wages to a minimum , Jacob succeeds in becoming very wealthy . Having arrived in Paddan Aram with little ( 32:10 ), he now has abundant possessions , resembling those of Abraham ( 12:16 ; 24:35 ).