Genesis 31:2 | 61 for whom I have served you , 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 .” 28 He add ed , “ Name your wag es , and I will pay them .”
29
Ja cob said to him , “ You know how I have worked for you and how your live stock has fared un der my care . 30 The lit tle you had be fore I came has in creased great ly , and the Lord has blessed you wher ev er I have been . But now , when may I do some thing for my own house hold ?”
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 . They will be my wag es . 33 And my hon es ty will tes ti fy for me in the fu ture , when ev er you check on the wag es 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 consid 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 . 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 ev er , took fresh-cut branch es 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 branch es . 38 Then he placed the peeled branch es in all the wa ter ing troughs , so that they would be di rect ly in front of the flocks when they came to drink . When the flocks were in heat and came to drink , 39 they mat ed in front of the branch es . And they bore young that were streaked or speck led or spotted . 40 Ja cob set apart the young of the flock by them selves , 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 ev er the stron ger fe males were in heat , Ja cob would place the branch es in the troughs in front of the an i mals so they would mate near the branch es ,
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 Ja cob . 43 In this way the man grew ex ceed ing ly pros per ous and came to own large flocks , and fe male and male ser vants , and cam els and don keys .
Jacob Flees From Laban
Ja cob heard that La ban ’ s sons were saying , “ Ja cob has tak en ev ery thing our fa ther
31 owned and has gained all this wealth from what be longed to our fa ther .” 2 And Ja cob no ticed that Laban ’ s at ti tude to ward him was not what it had been . of his brothers . If Joseph ’ s name derives from yasaph , it is a reference to his being added to the family through the formerly barren Rachel . 30:27 I have learned by divination Most translations understand the Hebrew verb used here as a reference to divination — discerning the will of a deity based on using an object , omen or method . However in other occurrences in the OT , there is often an explanation of the divination procedure used but one is not offered here ( compare 44:15 – 17 ; Lev 16:8 ; Nu 5 ). because of you This seems to be a result of God ’ s promise to Abraham in Ge 12:3 ( see 22:18 ; 26:4 ). Since God has blessed Jacob , via Abraham and his father Isaac , Jacob ’ s presence blesses others .
30:32 – 36 In this part of the world , sheep are typically white and goats are dark brown or black . Consequently , the markings Jacob describes on the animals he demands for his wages would lead Laban to presume he was getting the better side of the agreement ( v . 34 ). Jacob is confident he will do well and ultimately becomes successful . Jacob attributes this turn of events not to his own actions , but to God ( 31:8 – 9 ).
30:37 – 43 For Jacob to succeed in increasing his flock , monochrome sheep and goats must produce offspring with the specified markings . In order to increase his herd , Jacob employs sympathetic magical practices . Sympathetic magic was based on the belief that the user could influence something based on its relationship or resemblance to another thing . Sympathetic magic was employed throughout the ancient Near East . Jacob ’ s actions also reflect the ancient Near Eastern belief that the offspring of an animal was affected by what it saw during the procreation process .
Since Jacob attributes his success to God ( 31:9 – 11 ), he believed he was acting in faith that God would supernaturally increase his flocks . While there is no natural explanation for Jacob ’ s success and God does take credit for Jacob ’ s achievement ( 31:12 ), this does not mean that God responded directly to Jacob ’ s techniques — instead , God is simply choosing to look out for Jacob as he promised ( see 31:13 ; compare 28:15 ).
31:1 – 55 After manipulating the flocks to increase his wages , Jacob leaves Laban . Jacob originally fled to Laban to escape his brother ( see 28:1 – 9 and note ). Now Yahweh tells him to go home ( v . 3 ). Jacob explains to his wives that Laban has cheated him . He recounts a dream in which God appears and reveals that he knows about Laban ’ s wrongs against Jacob ( vv . 4 – 13 ). Jacob and his wives leave , but Rachel steals the household idols ( vv . 14 – 21 ). When Laban discovers that Jacob has fled , he pursues him , eventually catching him ( vv . 22 – 25 ). Rachel hides the stolen idols from her father , and Jacob confronts Laban over the 20 years of mistreatment ( vv . 26 – 42 ). Jacob and Laban make a covenant not to harm each other , and Laban returns ( vv . 43 – 55 ).