And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
25 43 (J, E). Jacob’s Wages
In this passage and in the following chapter Laban is depicted in the Israelite narrative as the typical Aramaean, a crafty, selfish, grasping man of business. Jacob, however, in spite of Laban’s duplicity, prospers exceedingly. By greater cunning he outwits Laban himself, and God gives him protection and prosperity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 30:25
Send me away that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country
The lights of home
There is in Switzerland a hill known as the Heimweh Fluh, or Home-sick Mount.
It is so called because it is usually the last spot visited by the traveller when leaving that part of the country at a time when his thoughts are turned homeward. It commands a glorious view of the whole valley of Interlaken, with its fields and pastures, its villages and lakes, with a back-ground of snow-capped mountains. It is a fair scene, but the heart of the traveller is not there. His thoughts are with his friends and loved ones at home. He looks upon the homesick mount, and seems to murmur with the patriarch Jacob, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. There are many such homesick mounts, such landmarks, to remind us of home. The sailor on the slippery deck points to some dark towering cliff, and says, We shall soon see the Lizard Light; or, Yonder is Beechy Head! The traveller along the wintry road strains his eyes through the darkness to catch a glimpse of the lights of home. And we, if we have learnt to think of our life here as a pilgrimage, shall often stand, as it were, upon some Heimweh Fluh, some mount of home-sickness, and whilst we gaze on the beauties of this world; we shall feel, This is not my home, I am a stranger and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. We shall press onward through the night of doubt and sorrow, straining our eyes to catch sight of the lights of home. Let us, by Gods grace, try to live and work for Him daily, and when death comes we can say, without fear, Send me away, that I may go to mine own place, and to my country. The dying Baxter, who wrote The Saints Rest, said, I am almost well, and nearly at home! and another dying man exclaimed, I am going home as fast as I can, and I bless God that I have a good home to go to. Yes, that thought of home is a blessed one, both for time and for eternity. During the American Civil War the two rival armies were encamped opposite each other on the banks of the Potomac River. When the federal bands played some national air of the union, the confederate musicians struck up a rival tune, each band trying to out-play and silence the other. Suddenly one of the bands played Home, Sweet Home, and the contest ceased. The musicians of both armies played the same tune, voices from opposite sides of the river joined the chorus, Theres no place like home! So we, the pilgrim band, are bound together by that one strong link–we are going to our own place and our own country, Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. When that brave soldier of Jesus Christ, Charles Kingsley, lay dying, he was heard to murmur, No more fighting; no more fighting. No one knows the full meaning of those words except one who has fought the good fight, whose life has been one long battle with sin. Those words have no meaning for the coward who yielded himself a prisoner to the enemy, the drunkard who never fought against his besetting sin, the angry man who never wrestled with the demon of his temper. What know they of fighting? (H. J.Wilmot Buxton, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 25. Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away] Having now, as is generally conjectured, fulfilled the fourteen years which he had engaged to serve for Leah and Rachel. See Ge 30:26, and conclusion of Clarke’s notes “Ge 31:55“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Canaan, which he calleth his country, in regard both of his former and long habitation in it, and of the right which he had to it by Gods promise: see Gen 28:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. when Rachel had bornJosephShortly after the birth of this son, Jacob’s term ofservitude expired, and feeling anxious to establish an independencefor his family, he probably, from knowing that Esau was out of theway, announced his intention of returning to Canaan (Heb13:14). In this resolution the faith of Jacob was remarkable, foras yet he had nothing to rely on but the promise of God (compare Ge28:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,…. At which time his fourteen years of servitude were ended; for Jacob was in Laban’s house twenty years, fourteen were spent in serving for his wives, and the other six for his cattle, which begun from this time, as the context clearly shows; see Ge 31:41; so that, as the Jewish writers l truly observe, in seven years’ time Jacob had twelve children born to him, eleven sons and one daughter; for he had served seven years before he had either of his wives: they also pretend that a twin was born with each, except with Joseph, but for that there is no foundation:
that Jacob said unto Laban, send me away; give me leave to depart thy house: he had a right to demand his liberty, and to insist upon it, since the time of his servitude was up; but he chose to have leave, and part in a friendly manner:
that I may go unto mine own place, and to my own country; to Beersheba, where his father and mother lived, and whom, no doubt, he longed to see; and to the land of Canaan, in which that place was, which was his native country and was given him by promise, and was to be the inheritance of his seed.
l Pirke Eliezer, c. 36. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 6. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
New Contract of Service Between Jacob and Laban. – As the second period of seven years terminated about the time of Joseph’s birth, Jacob requested Laban to let him return to his own place and country, i.e., to Canaan. Laban, however, entreated him to remain, for he had perceived that Jehovah, Jacob’s God, had blessed him for his sake; and told him to fix his wages for further service. The words, “ if I have found favour in thine eyes ” (Gen 30:27), contain an aposiopesis, sc., then remain. “a heathen expression, like augurando cognovi ” ( Delitzsch). thy wages, which it will be binding upon me to give. Jacob reminded him, on the other hand, what service he had rendered him, how Jehovah ‘s blessing had followed “ at his foot, ” and asked when he should begin to provide for his own house. But when Laban repeated the question, what should he give him, Jacob offered to feed and keep his flock still, upon one condition, which was founded upon the fact, that in the East the goats, as a rule, are black or dark-brown, rarely white or spotted with white, and that the sheep for the most part are white, very seldom black or speckled. Jacob required as wages, namely, all the speckled, spotted, and black among the sheep, and all the speckled, spotted, and white among the goats; and offered “ even to-day ” to commence separating them, so that “ to-morrow ” Laban might convince himself of the uprightness of his proceedings. (Gen 30:32) cannot be imperative, because of the preceding , but must be infinitive: “I will go through the whole flock to-day to remove from thence all…;” and signifies “what is removed shall be my wages,” but not everything of an abnormal colour that shall hereafter be found in the flock. This was no doubt intended by Jacob, as the further course of the narrative shows, but it is not involved in the words of Gen 30:32. Either the writer has restricted himself to the main fact, and omitted to mention that it was also agreed at the same time that the separation should be repeated at certain regular periods, and that all the sheep of an abnormal colour in Laban’s flock should also be set aside as part of Jacob’s wages; or this point was probably not mentioned at first, but taken for granted by both parties, since Jacob took measures with that idea to his own advantage, and even Laban, notwithstanding the frequent alteration of the contract with which Jacob charged him (Gen 31:7-8, and Gen 31:41), does not appear to have disputed this right.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Jacob’s Bargain with Laban. | B. C. 1745. |
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. 27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. 28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. 29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? 31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: 32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. 33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. 34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35 And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
We have here,
I. Jacob’s thoughts of home. He faithfully served his time out with Laban, even his second apprenticeship, though he was an old man, had a large family to provide for, and it was high time for him to set up for himself. Though Laban’s service was hard, and he had cheated him in the first bargain he had made, yet Jacob honestly performs his engagements. Note, A good man, though he swear to his own hurt, will not change. And though others have deceived us this will not justify us in deceiving them. Our rule is to do as we would be done by, not as we are done by. Jacob’s term having expired, he begs leave to be gone, v. 25. Observe, 1. He retained his affection for the land of Canaan, not only because it was the land of his nativity, and his father and mother were there, whom he longed to see, but because it was the land of promise; and, in token of his dependence upon the promise of it, though he sojourn in Haran he can by no means think of settling there. Thus should we be affected towards our heavenly country, looking upon ourselves as strangers here, viewing the heavenly country as our home, and longing to be there, as soon as the days of our service upon earth are numbered and finished. We must not think of taking root here, for this is not our place and country, Heb. xiii. 14. 2. He was desirous to go to Canaan, though he had a great family to take with him, and no provision yet made for them. He had got wives and children with Laban, but nothing else; yet he does not solicit Laban to give him either a portion with his wives or the maintenance of some of his children. No, all his request is, Give me my wives and my children, and send me away,Gen 30:25; Gen 30:26. Note, Those that trust in God, in his providence and promise, though they have great families and small incomes, can cheerfully hope that he who sends mouths will send meat. He who feeds the brood of the ravens will not starve the seed of the righteous.
II. Laban’s desire of his stay, v. 27. In love to himself, not to Jacob or to his wives or children, Laban endeavours to persuade him to continue his chief shepherd, entreating him, by the regard he bore him, not to leave him: If I have found favour in thy eyes, tarry. Note, Churlish selfish men know how to give good words when it is to serve their own ends. Laban found that his stock had wonderfully increased with Jacob’s good management, and he owns it, with very good expressions of respect both to God and Jacob: I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for thy sake. Observe, 1. Laban’s learning: I have learned by experience. Note, There is many a profitable good lesson to be learned by experience. We are very unapt scholars if we have not learned by experience the evil of sin, the treachery of our own hearts, the vanity of the world, the goodness of God, the gains of godliness, and the like. 2. Laban’s lesson. He owns, (1.) That his prosperity was owing to God’s blessing: The Lord has blessed me. Note, worldly men, who choose their portion in this life, are often blessed with an abundance of this world’s goods. Common blessings are given plentifully to many that have no title to covenant-blessings. (3.) That Jacob’s piety had brought that blessing upon him: The Lord has blessed me, not for my own sake (let not such a man as Laban, that lives without God in the world, think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord, Jam. i. 7), but for thy sake. Note, [1.] Good men are blessings to the places where they live, even where they live meanly and obscurely, as Jacob in the field, and Joseph in the prison, ch. xxxix. 23. [2.] God often blesses bad men with outward mercies for the sake of their godly relations, though it is seldom that they have either the wit to see it or the grace to own it, as Laban did here.
III. The new bargain they came upon. Laban’s craft and covetousness took advantage of Jacob’s plainness, honesty, and good-nature; and, perceiving that Jacob began to be won upon by his fair speeches, instead of making him a generous offer and bidding high, as he ought to have done, all things considered, he puts it upon him to make his demands (v. 28): Appoint me thy wages, knowing he would be very modest in them, and would ask less than he could for shame offer. Jacob accordingly makes a proposal to him, in which,
1. He shows what reason he had to insist upon so much, considering, (1.) That Laban was bound in gratitude to do well for him, because he had served him not only faithfully, but very successfully, v. 30. Yet here observe how he speaks, like himself, very modestly. Laban had said, The Lord has blessed me for thy sake; Jacob will not say so, but, The Lord has blessed thee since my coming. Note, Humble saints take more pleasure in doing good than in hearing of it again. (2.) That he himself was bound in duty to take care of his own family: Now, when shall I provide for my own house also? Note, Faith and charity, though they are excellent things, must not take us off from making necessary provisions for our own support, and the support of our families. We must, like Jacob, trust in the Lord and do good, and yet we must, like him, provide for our own houses also; he that does not the latter is worse than an infidel, 1 Tim. v. 8.
2. He is willing to refer himself to the providence of God, which, he knew, extends itself to the smallest things, even the colour of the cattle; and he will be content to have for his wages the sheep and goats of such and such a colour, speckled, spotted, and brown, which should hereafter be brought forth, Gen 30:32; Gen 30:33. This, he thinks, will be a most effectual way both to prevent Laban’s cheating him and to secure himself from being suspected of cheating Laban. Some think he chose this colour because in Canaan it was generally most desired and delighted in; their shepherds in Canaan are called Nekohim (Amos i. 1), the word here used for speckled; and Laban was willing to consent to this bargain because he thought if the few he has that were now speckled and spotted were separated from the rest, which by agreement was to be done immediately, the body of the flock which Jacob was to tend, being of one colour, either all black or all white, would produce few or none of mixed colours, and so he should have Jacob’s service for nothing, or next to nothing. According to this bargain, those few that were party-coloured were separated, and put into the hands of Laban’s sons, and sent three days’ journey off; so great was Laban’s jealously lest any of them should mix with the rest of the flock, to the advantage of Jacob. And now a fine bargain Jacob has made for himself! Is this his providing for his own house, to put it upon such an uncertainty? If these cattle bring forth, as usually cattle do, young ones of the same colour with themselves, he must still serve for nothing, and be a drudge and a beggar all the days of his life; but he knows whom he has trusted, and the event showed, (1.) That he took the best way that could be taken with Laban, who otherwise would certainly have been too hard for him. And, (2.) That it was not in vain to rely upon the divine providence, which owns and blesses honest humble diligence. Those that find men whom they deal with unjust and unkind shall not find God so, but, some way or other, he will recompense the injured, and be a good pay-master to those that commit their cause to him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 25-36:
Jacob’s fourteen-year servitude for his wives ended. His family now included eleven sons and at least one daughter. The listing of these sons is not in chronological order, but arranged according to the mothers who bore them. All the children were evidently born in the latter seven-year period of Jacob’s service. Thus they were all quite young, when Jacob approached Laban with the request that he be allowed to return to his ancestral home.
Laban was reluctant to let Jacob go. He realized that he had a very profitable arrangement with him. Jacob had faithfully served him for fourteen years, with the only wages being Laban’s two daughters and their handmaidens. During that time he had greatly prospered. Under Jacob’s, care his flocks of livestock had multiplied. He did not want to lose this talented and faithful employee.
The blessings that came to Laban during this time were directly related to the Covenant Promise, that Jehovah would bless those who blessed the Chosen Seed. Laban’s interest was not in the Covenant, but in the material benefits it brought to him. His religion included idol worship (Ge 31:19).
Jacob was concerned about his own material welfare. All he had was a large family. All the livestock he tended belonged to Laban. Thus he was receptive to Laban’s offer that he continue to work for him, and that his wages should be the speckled and spotted among the cattle, the brown or off-color among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This arrangement seemed to be weighed heavily in Laban’s favor, because among the Orientals the sheep were usually white and the goats black. The number of off-color animals is unusually small.
Jacob wanted nothing from Laban as a gift. He would depend upon Jehovah for his reward. This was the aim of his grandfather Abraham, at the offer of the King of Sodom (Ge 4:21-24). But unlike Abraham, Jacob had already begun to formulate a plan that would “help the Lord” and assure his own personal gain.
Laban then proceeded to separate his flocks, removing all the livestock that was spotted, patched, ring-marked or striped, and dark-colored. He separated them by a three-days’ journey from his main flocks, and placed them under the care of his sons. By the terms of the contract. Jacob continued to care for the main flock, being left to collect his wages the best way he could.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
25. Send me away, that I may go. Seeing that Jacob had been retained by a proposed reward for his services, it might appear that he was acting craftily in desiring his dismissal from his father-in-law. I cannot, however, doubt that the desire to return had already entered his mind, and that he ingenuously avowed his intention. First; having experienced, in many ways, how unjust, how perfidious, and even cruel, Laban had been, there is no wonder that he should wish to depart from him, as soon as ever the opportunity was afforded. Secondly; since, from the long space of time which had elapsed, he hoped that his brother’s mind would be appeased, he could not but earnestly wish to return to his parents; especially as he had been oppressed by so many troubles, that he could scarcely fear a worse condition in any other place. But the promise of God was the most powerful stimulant of all to excite his desire to return. For he had not rejected the benediction which was dearer to him than his own life. To this point his declaration refers, “I will go to my own place and to my country;” for he does not use this language concerning Canaan, only because he was born there, but because he knew that it had been divinely granted to him. For if he had said that he desired to return, merely because it was his native soil, he might have been exposed to ridicule; since his father had passed a wandering and unsettled life, continually changing his abode. I therefore conclude, that although he might have dwelt commodiously elsewhere, the oracle of God, by which the land of Canaan had been destined for him, was ever fresh in his memory. And although, for a time, he submits to detention, this does not alter his purpose to depart: for necessity, in part, extorted it from him, since he was unable to extricate himself from the snares of his uncle; in part also, he voluntarily gave way, in order that he might acquire something for himself and his family, lest he should return poor and naked to his own country. But here the insane wickedness of Laban is discovered. After he had almost worn out his nephew and son-in-law, by hard and constant toil for fourteen years, he yet offers him no wages for the future. The equity, of which at first he had made such pretensions, had already vanished. For the greater had been the forbearance of Jacob, the more tyrannical license did he usurp over him. So the world abuses the gentleness of the pious; and the more meekly they conduct themselves, the more ferociously does the world assail them. But though, like sheep, we are exposed, in this world, to the violence and injuries of wolves; we must not fear lest they should hurt or devour us, since the Heavenly Shepherd keeps us under his protection.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Gen. 30:27. I have learned by experience.] This verb is taken from a noun, which means a serpent. It seems to have such a meaning as, to ascertain by means of a close, subtle, and insidious inspection. Alford says that the word literally means, I have used divination, I have learned by consulting omens.
Gen. 30:33. So shall my righteousness answer for me.] That is, my honesty shall be vindicated.
Gen. 30:37. Pilled white streaks in them.] He pealed off the bark of different trees which were very white under the bark, so that they would be speckled and ring-streaked. (Jacobus.)
Gen. 30:40. And Jacob did separate the lambs, etc.] Kalisch translates thus, And he set the faces of (Labans) flocks towards (his own) ring-streaked, and all (his) dark (he set) to the flocks of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and did not put them to Labans cattle.
Gen. 30:43. And the man increased exceedingly.] Heb. The man broke forth largely, largely. On every side he expandedhis prosperity was enlarged.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 30:25-43
JACOBS NEW CONTRACT OF SERVICE
I. It was entered upon in opposition to his better feelings and convictions. There were ordinary considerations of self interest which would urge Jacob to leave the service of Laban. He felt now that the time had come when he must make an adequate provision for his own house. (Gen. 30:30.) And with Labans selfishness there was very little chance of accomplishing this. But in consenting to stay, he had to do violence to better feelings than this of self interest.
1. Natural affection. He longs to see his parents again and to visit the land of his nativity. He had been detained in a strange country for a much longer time than he had expected. The old feelings for home and kindred now grow strong within him. He had to overcome them in consentingfor the presentto stay.
2. Religious faith. Jacob has now reached the age of fourscore years and ten, and as the birthright son he longed to visit the land which God had promised to him and to his seed. He remembered that the land of his sojourning was not the land of his inheritance. He now calls to mind the hereditary hope of his family, the parting benediction of Isaac, the vision at Bethel. He is also full of joy at the birth of Joseph, whom he considered as the Messianic son, and he naturally desires to bring him into the promised land. And if he overcomes these feelings for a time, it was only at the urgent solicitations of Laban, whom he did not like to make his enemy by refusing him. He also wanted to gain some wealth, so that he might not return to his friends in Canaan empty-handed. But his faith grasped the old promise. (Heb. 11:9; Heb. 13:14.)
II. It was marked by worldly prudence.
1. That prudence which calculates. Jacob hints at the value of his long services, and Laban is ready to acknowledge how much they had contributed to his own prosperity. (Gen. 30:26-27.) Jacob agrees to remain for a sufficient consideration. (Gen. 30:28-33.) Here was the calculating prudence of a man who was able to survey the whole situation at a glance.
2. The prudence which takes advantage of superior knowledge. Throughout the whole of these long years of Jacobs service, Laban had been working entirely for his own advantage. He now flatters Jacob, while he is trying all the time to overreach him. When he asks what wages Jacob would require, he makes sure to himself all the time that Jacobs modesty would dispose him to name a small sum. Laban now thought that he had caught him, but he had to deal with a man of cunning and of deep resources. Jacob took advantage of the superior knowledge, which he had gained from the study and observation of nature, in order to outdo his uncle. (Gen. 30:37-43). Here were cunning and sagacity matched against avarice. This kind of cunning, which makes use of superior knowledge, is often the resource of the weak against the strong. Men who are grasping and treacherous without art are often overmatched by men of unsuspected device and skill. There is much both to praise and to blame in Jacobs conduct.
(1.) He had justice on his side. His claims were righteous. (Gen. 30:29-30.) He was now only taking advantage of his superior knowledge of nature as an offset to the disadvantage under which he started. But
(2) he is to be blamed for his want of candour. He lacked that openness and simplicity of character which we expect to see in the righteous man. His plan was successful, but the craft of it is not to be wholly commended. However, if we regard the historical order of development in Revelation, we must not severely consider the conduct of Jacob by the Christian standard.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 30:25. In this declaration there was something more than the mere longing of the natural man for the land of his nativity; we behold in it the strong and influential faith of these ancient patriarchs, believing implicitly the promises of their God, that the land, of which not an acre belonged to them, should, in due time, be wholly theirs; that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, and that from their loins should spring the Saviour of the world. In looking to Canaan, they looked to the heaven which it typified. They saw the promises afar off. (Heb. 11:13; Heb. 11:16.)
When the close of our services on earth has arrived, and we have done the work which God has given us to do, then we may look for our pure and permanent home in heaven. We may pray, in all meekness and humility, Lord, send me away, that I may go to the place and to the country which Thou has prepared for me through Thy Son.
Gen. 30:26-27. His greedy kinsman expresses his regret at hearing his departure spoken of. But it is not regret at the thought of parting with his daughters and his grand-children; it is not the tender concern of bidding a long farewell to a near relation and a devoted servant; no, it is regret at losing an instrument of gain. It is the sorrow of a man who loves only himself.(Bush.)
Men of the world often see that the good and pious are a benefit to them, and they prefer such for servants. They often receive temporal benefits of such pious associations and relationships in life.(Jacobus.)
Gen. 30:28-30. Jacob touches upon the value of his services, perhaps with the tacit feeling that Laban in equity owed him at least the means of returning to his home.(Murphy.)
Gen. 30:31-33. Thou shalt not give me anything. This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with. Remove from thence every speckled and spotted sheep, etc. These were rare colours, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. And such shall be my hire. Such as these uncommon parti-coloured cattle, when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them; and not those of this description that are now removed. For in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob was resolved to be entirely dependent on Divine providence for his hire. And my righteousness will answer for me. The colour will determine at once whose the animal is.(Murphy.)
Jacob was willing to trust to Providence with an artful use of the means which his experience furnished him.(Jacobus.)
Gen. 30:34-36. If Laban had been honest, he would have represented to Jacob, that he would be a great loser by this bargain.(Lange.)
Gen. 30:37-43. In the very shapes and colours of brute creatures there is a Divine hand, which disposeth them to His own ends. Small and unlikely means shall prevail where God intends an effect. Little peeled sticks of hazel or poplar laid in the troughs, shall enrich Jacob with an increase of his spotted flocks, Labans sons might have tried the same means and failed. God would have Laban know that He put a difference between Jacob and him; that as for fourteen years He had multiplied Jacobs charge of cattle to Laban, so now, for the last six years, He would multiply Labans flock to Jacob, and if Laban had the more, yet the better were Jacobs.(Bishop Hall.)
The attainment of varieties and new species among animals and plants is very ancient, and stands closely connected with civilization and the kingdom of God.(Lange.)
As regards the morality, however, Jacob seems to have bargained with his secret scheme in view, and consulted only his own interest and avarice, the effect of which was to secure a large portion of the flocks. Laban, discovering this, regarded himself as released from the compact, and changed the terms time after time. This loss to Laban was only a providential punishment for his exaction of Jacobs service those fourteen years. But Jacob was guilty in relying more upon craft than upon the covenant of God.(Jacobus.)
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
4. Negotiations With Laban (Gen. 30:25-43).
Jacob proposes to provide for his own household, Gen. 30:25-31. From the reading of the text it seems that Joseph must have been born at the end of the fourteen years of Jacobs service. However, it must be understood that apparently there is no attempt made here to report the births of Jacobs sons in strict sequence chronologically. Apparently the children born of one mother are listed in a group in order to dispose of all of them at once, except in the case of Leah where approximately a year may have elapsed between the birth of her fourth and fifth sons. By this time Jacobs family was almost complete, and he might well be thinking of establishing his own household. When the birth of Joseph occurred, evidently at the earliest in the fifteenth year, Jacob enters into a preliminary parley with Laban for the purpose of taking his household back unto his own place and his own country, that is, to Canaan in general, and to that part of it where he had formerly resided (Gen. 28:10, Gen. 34:18, Gen. 35:6-7). Since Jacob had pledged himself to seven additional years of service for Rachel, he could hardly call his whole household his own until the second seven years were fulfilled. He now wants Laban to acknowledge the fulfilment of his contract by giving him his wives and children so that he may depart, pointing out the fact that his service throughout all these years had been marked by faithfulness (Gen. 30:26). There is no obsequiousness about Jacobs attitude, no difference. He knows his father-in-law must be dealt with firmly. On the other hand, he also knows how to treat him with becoming respect. Laban deferentially replies that he has divined that Jehovah was blessing Jacobs endeavors, and through His blessing of Jacobs service was indirectly blessing him, i.e., Laban himself, with material prosperity, What is the import of the word divined as used here (Gen. 30:27)? Does it mean simply close observation and minute inspection (Murphy)? Or is there a reference here to augury, divination, or something of the kind? Leupold gives it, he had consulted omens. What heathen device Laban had resorted to in consulting the omens cannot be determined. But the act as such does reveal a departure from the true service of God and practically stamps him as an idolator. His reference to God as Yahweh is merely a case of accommodating himself to Jacobs mode of speech. Laban did not know Him as such or believe in Him. Any man with even a measure of insight could have determined without augury what Laban claimed had been revealed to him by augury. Jacobs faithful service of Yahweh was not kept hidden from him (EG, 818). In a Mesopotamian context, such as the present, the term refers undoubtedly to inquiries by means of omens: cf. Eze. 21:26) (Speiser, ABG, 236). We know that Laban was addicted to heathen superstitions (cf. Gen. 31:22-32).
Laban, an eminently selfish man, was ready to go to almost any limit to retain a man whose service had been so advantageous to himself. He makes Jacob a proposition which at once substantially alters Jacobs status. From the position of a bond servant he is raised to that of a partner who may freely dictate his own terms. Now, indeed such an offer is not to be despised, for it puts Jacob in a position where he can build up a small fortune of his own and removes him from the necessity of returning home practically a penniless adventurer, though a man with a good-sized family. (We present here the translation which is given us in the Jerusalem Bible, which, for simplicity and clarity is unexcelled, as follows: When Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Release me, and then I can go home to my own country. Give me my wives for whom I have worked for you, and my children, so that I can go. You know very well the work I have done for you. Laban said to him, If I have won your friendship . . . I learned from the omens that Yahweh had blessed me on your account. So name your wages, he added, and I will pay you. He answered him, You know very well how hard I have worked for you, and how your stock has fared in my charge. The little you had before I came has increased enormously, and Yahweh has blessed you wherever I have been. But when am I to provide for my own House? Laban said, How much am I to pay you? and Jacob replied, You will not have to pay me anything; if you do for me as I propose, I will be your shepherd once more and look after your flock.
The new contract, Gen. 30:32-36. Continuing the JB rendering: Today I will go through all your flock. Take out of it every black animal among the sheep, and every speckled or spotted one among the goats. Such shall be my wages, and my honesty will answer for me later: when you come to check my wages, every goat I have that is not speckled or spotted, and every sheep that is not black shall rank as stolen property in my possession. Laban replied, Good! Let it be as you say, That same day he took out the striped and speckled he-goats and all the spotted and speckled she-goats, every one that had white on it, and all the black sheep, He handed them over to his sons, and put three days journey between himself and Jacob, Jacob took care of the rest of Labans flock.
Jacobs stratagem, Gen. 30:37-43. Jacob gathered branches in sap, from poplar, almond and plane trees, and peeled them in white strips, laying bare the white on the branches. He put the branches he had peeled in front of the animals, in the troughs in the channels where the animals came to drink; and the animals mated when they came to drink, They mated therefore in front of the branches and so produced striped, spotted and speckled young. As for the sheep, Jacob put them apart, and he turned the animals towards whatever was striped or black in Labans flock, Thus he built up droves of his own which he did not put with Labans flock. Moreover, whenever the sturdy animals mated, Jacob put the branches where the animals could see them, in the troughs, so that they would mate in front of the branches. But when the animals were feeble, he did not put them there; thus Laban got the feeble, and Jacob the sturdy, and he grew extremely rich, and became the owner of large flocks, with men and women slaves, camels and donkeys.
To understand Jacobs stratagem it must be understood that in the Orient sheep are normally white (Psa. 147:16; Son. 4:2; Son. 6:6; Dan. 7:9), and goats are normally black or brownish black (Son. 4:1). Exceptions to this differentiation, it is said, are not numerous, Jacob said at the beginning of the negotiations that Laban should not give him anything: in the proposition he is now making he is not changing his mind: he means simply that in subsequent breeding, separation of his animals from those of his father-in-law shall be determined by the principles of selective breeding which he now proposes. For his wages Jacob asks the abnormal animals (black sheep and white-spotted goats): Laban agrees, shrewdly, as he thinks. Jacobs plot is briefly this: 1. He sees to it that when the goats mate, Gen. 30:37-39, they are in sight of white-striped rods: this affects the formation of the embryo. 2. At the same time he makes sure that the sheep are looking at the black goats in the flock, v. 40. 3. For this operation he selects the robust strains, leaving the weaker animals and their offspring to Laban. In this way Jacob takes his honorable revenge (JB, 51, n.).
Laban not only recognizes, almost fawningly, Jacobs worth to his house, but is even willing to yield unconditionally to his determinationa proof that he did not expect of Jacob too great a demand. But Jacob is not inclined to trust himself to his generosity, and hence his cunningly calculated though seemingly trifling demand. Labans consent to his demand, however, breathes in the very expression the joy of selfishness; and it is scarcely sufficient to translate: Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. But Jacobs proposition seems to point to a very trifling reward, since the sheep in the East are nearly all white, while the goats are generally of a dark color or speckled. For he only demands of Labans herds those sheep that have dark spots or specks, or that are entirely black, and those only of the goats that are white-spotted or striped. But he does not only demand the speckled lambs brought forth thereafter, after the present number of such are set aside for Laban (Tuch, Baumgartner, Kurtz), but the present inspection is to form the first stock of his herds (Knobel, Delitzsch). [The words, thou shalt not give me anything, seem to indicate that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with, and did not intend to be dependent upon him for any part of his possessions. Those of this description which should appear among the flocks should be his hire, He would depend on divine providence and his own skill, He would be no more indebted to Laban than Abraham was to the king of SodomGosman]. Afterwards, also, the speckled ones brought forth among Labans herds are to be added to his, as is evident from his following arts. For when he invites Laban to muster his herds in time to come, it surely does not mean literally the next day . . . but in time to come. As often as Laban came to Jacobs herds in the future he must regard all the increase in speckled and ringstreaked lambs as Jacobs property, but if he found a purely white sheep or an entirely black goat, then, and not only then, he might regard it as stolen. . . . Labans language is submissive, while that of Jacob is very frank and bold, as became his invigorated courage and the sense of the injustice which he had suffered (Lange, CDHCG, 536537).
Jacobs management of Labans herds. Note the three days journey between them, Gen. 30:36. Certainly these days journeys were those of the herds and are not to be measured according to journeys of human beings. Thus it will be seen that although separated by three days journey of the animals, they were close enough that Laban could overtake Jacob at any time if he so desired. By means of this separation if would seem that Jacob not only gained Labans confidence but his property as well. All in all, in this exchange of artifices it is difficult to determine which of the twoson-in-law or father-in-lawwas the trickier, and more hypocritical, of the two. The first artifice that Jacob employed was that of the peeled rods in the watering troughs. Jacob managed by skill to acquire the best portion of Labans flock of sheep and goats. Black sheep, or goats other than black or brown, were rarities, and those Jacob was to have. According to the story he employed an ingenious breeding device to use maternal impression on the unborn of the flocks. He set peeled rods in the watering-troughs, where the flocks came to breed, to impress the mothers of the stronger of the flocks. Thus he managed to breed an ample supply of the new varieties (Cornfeld, AtD, 86). Jacob, of course, must select rods from trees whose dark external bark produced the greatest contrast with the white one below it. The text suggests the fresh poplar (or styrax-tree), the almond-tree (or perhaps the hazelnut tree), and the plane tree (which resembled somewhat the maple tree). For the purpose Jacob had in mind, the gum-tree, we are told, might be betted adapted than white poplars, almond-tree or walnut better than hazelnut, and maple better than plane-tree). Jacob took fresh rods of storax, maple and walnut-trees, all of which have a dazzling white wood under their dark outside, and peeled stripes upon them, peeling the white naked in the rods. These paritally peeled, and therefore mottled rods, he placed in the drinking-troughs . . . to which the flock came to drink, in front of the animals, in order that, if copulation took place at the drinking time, it might occur near the mottled sticks, and the young be speckled and spotted in consequence. . . . This artifice was founded upon a fact frequently noticed, particularly in the case of sheep, that whatever fixes their attention in copulation is marked upon the young (K-D, BCOTP, 293). Was this an old wives superstition? Or had it some validity? The physiological law involved is said to be well established (Driver), and was acted on by ancient cattle breeders (see the list of authorities in Bochart, Hierozoicon, etc. II, c. 49, also Jeremias, Das Alte Testamwnt im Lichte des alten Orients, 2nd ed. 1906). The full representation seems to be that the ewes saw the reflection of the rams in the water, blended with the image of the parti-colored rods, and were deceived into thinking they were coupled with parti-colored males (Jer., We [llhausen], Die Composition des Hexateuchs, 41) (Skinner, ICCG, 393). This artifice was founded upon a fact frequently noticed, particularly in the case of sheep, that whatever fixes their attention in copulation is marked upon the young (K-D, ibid., 293), This crafty trick was based upon the common experience of the so-called fright of animals, especially of sheep, namely, that the representations of the senses during coition are stamped upon the form of the foetus (see Boch, Hieroz, I, 618, and Friedreich on the Bible, I 37, etc.) (Lange ibid., 537). Jacobs second artifice was the removal of the speckled animals, from time to time, from Labans herds and their incorporation into Jacobs; in the exchange Jacob put the speckled animals in front of the others, so that Labans herds had always these parti-colored before their eyes, and in this manner another impression was produced upon the she-goats and sheep. Obviously, this separation of the new-born lambs and goats from the old herds could only be gradual; indeed this whole transaction was gradual, extending over several years (cf. 38:41). Jacobs third artifice. He so arranged the thing that the stronger cattle fell to him, the feebler to Laban. His first artifice, therefore, produced fully the desired effect. It was owing partly, perhaps, to his sense of equity toward Laban, and partly to his prudence, that he set limits to his gain; but he still, however, takes the advantage, since he seeks to gain the stronger cattle for himself (Lange ibid., 537).
Gen. 30:40-42. A further refinement: Jacob employed his device only in the case of the sturdy animals, letting the weaker ones gender freely. The difference corresponds to a difference of breeding-time, The consequence is that Jacobs stock is hardy and Labans delicate (ICCG, 393).
The following summarization is clear: V. 40Jacob separated the speckled animals from those of a normal color, and caused the latter to feed so that the others would be constantly in sight, in order that he might in this way obtain a constant accession of mottled sheep. As soon as these had multiplied sufficiently, he formed separate flocks (viz., of the speckled additions) and put them not unto Labans cattle, i.e., he kept them apart in order that a still larger number of speckled ones might be produced, through Labans one-colored flock having this mottled group constantly in view. Gen. 30:41-42He did not adopt the trick with the rods, however, on every occasion of copulation, for the sheep in those countries lamb twice a year, but only at the copulation of the strong sheep . . . but not in the weakening of the sheep, i.e., when they were weak, and would produce weak lambs. The meaning is probably this: he adopted this plan only at the summer copulation, not the autumn, for, in the opinion of the ancients (Pliny, Columella), lambs that were conceived in the spring and born in the autumn were stronger than those born in the spring (Bichart, p. 582). Jacob did this, possibly, less to spare Laban, than to avoid exciting suspicion, and so leading to the discovery of his trick (BCOTP, 294).
Murphy explains as follows: Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. Gen. 30:37-40 : His first device is to place partly-colored rods before the eyes of the animals at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the peeled rods. Put his own folds by themselves. These are the party-colored animals that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. Gen. 30:41-42 : In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn, It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. Gen. 30:43the result is here stated. The man brake forth exceedinglybecame rapidly rich in lands and cattle (MG, 399400). (The reader probably will need to go to the dictionary for the meaning of the word cattle, as this word is used in the foregoing paragraph).
The original proposal made by Jacob, and Labans quick acceptance, must be recalled here. Thou shalt not give me anything, Gen. 30:31. This certainly shows that Jacob had no live stock from Laban at the outset. I will pass through all thy flock today (with thee, of course). Remove every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. And such shall be my hire. That is, not those of this description that are now removed, but the uncommon parti-colored animals when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them. These were the animals of the rare coloring. Not those of this description that are now removed, for in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob evidently was resolved to be entirely dependent on Divine providence for his hire. Note especially his statement: My righteousness shall answer for me, Gen. 30:33, that is, at the time of inspection and accounting to Laban, The color will determine at once to whom the animal belongs. (In view of the complex artifice that Jacob had in mind, was this really righteousness, or was it a kind of self-righteousness? Was Jacob thinking that the means would justify the end, in this instance? If so, was he assuming that Providence would support such a rule of action? At any rate, Laban consented willingly to this proposal. Why? Because, obviously, he thought his son-in-laws proposal was rather naive, to say the least: from his point of view, it was a course of action that would play right into his own hands, for the simple reason that parti-colored cattle were uncommon. Jacob is now to begin with nothing, and to have for his hire any parti-colored lambs or kids that would appear in the flocks from which every specimen of this rare class had been carefully removed. Laban simply could not lose in this kind of deal! So Laban thought. But Laban was not aware of Jacobs cleverness! In this contest of wits, it is difficult to determine which of the two was the greater con man!)
Dr. Cuthbert A. Simpson evaluates this Jacob-versus-Laban (or vice versa) series of transactions bluntly, yet withal so realistically, that his analysis is certainly in order here, as follows: When Jacob proposed to set up an establishment (household) for himself, Laban, unwilling to lose his services, offered to allow him to fix his own wages. Jacob replied that he wanted nothing at the moment, but proposed that Laban should remove from his flocks all the speckled and spotted animals. These were to be set apart by themselves (cf. Gen. 30:36). Jacob would then care for the rest of the flock and would receive as his wages any speckled and spotted that might be born to these normally colored animals in the future. To this Laban promptly agreed (Gen. 30:34-36)indeed, why should he not accept a proposal so favorable to himself? If Jacob was such a fool to suggest it, let him take the consequences! But Jacob, though he may have been a knave, was no fool. He placed rods upon which he had peeled white streaks before the eyes of the stronger animals in the flocks at rutting time, with the result that the young born to them were striped, speckled, and spotted, and so belonged to him (Gen. 30:37-39; Gen. 30:42 a). Thus his substance increased rapidly (Gen. 30:43), and Laban was left with the feebler animals (Gen. 30:42 b). This story of one knave out witting anotherdoubtless another piece of shepherd loreis of a piece with that in Gen. 25:27-34 (cf. also Gen. 26:1-11, Gen. 27:1-40), and it was told by J-1 with unfeigned delight; clever Jacob had outwitted the dull nomad Aramaean (IBG, 708). With this analysis in general we are inclined to agree. However, the fact must not be overlooked that these sections cited had very definite connection, both morally and spiritually, with the history of the Messianic Line, (Moreover, the deceptions practised on Jacob were moral and spiritualimpositions on his familial relationshipswhereas those perpetrated on Laban were of a material and hence secondary character.)
The conclusion of the whole matter is precisely as Jacob had planned: the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and asses (Gen. 30:43). This progress materially was evidently a matter of years, not just days: (cf. Gen. 31:41). The account simply closes with this remark, i.e., concerning Jacobs wealth, without intimating approbation of his conduct or describing his increasing wealth as a blessing from God. The verdict is contained in what follows.
Review Questions
See Gen. 31:1-16.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
JACOB SERVES LABAN SIX YEARS FOR WAGES.
(25) Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away.After Jacob had served Laban fourteen years for his two daughters, he continued with him for twenty years without any settled hire, receiving merely maintenance for himself and family. During most of this time he would be too encumbered with pregnant wives and young children to wish to take so long a journey. (See Excursus on Chronology of Jacobs Life.) In these thirty-four years of service there would be time for the vast increase of Labans wealth referred to in Gen. 30:30. But at length Joseph is born, and as his other sons were most of them grown to mans estate, as soon as Rachel was fit for the journey Jacob desired to return to his father, if for no other reason, yet because now it was time to provide for his children, and at Isaacs death he was joint heir of his property.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
LABAN’S NEW BARGAIN WITH JACOB, Gen 30:25-36.
25. Send me away Jacob doubtless felt that Laban had been ungenerous and exacting, and, besides deceiving him in the case of Leah, had sought to make the most of all his other advantages to make out of him all he could .
Mine own place my country Jacob remembered the promises at Beth-el . Gen 28:13-15.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jacob Prospers and Decides to Return Home ( Gen 30:25 to Gen 32:2 ).
This passage is centred around two theophanies and two covenants. In the first theophany Yahweh appears to Jacob and tells him to return home (Gen 31:3). Then Jacob, describing the theophany to his wives, amplifies what God said as the God of Bethel, emphasising the command to return home (Gen 31:11-13). And the second is when he meets the angels of God at Mahanaim (Gen 32:1-2). The passage also contains details of the two covenants made between Jacob and Laban (Gen 30:31-33 and Gen 31:44-53). Originally separate covenant records may well have been involved.
Jacob Prospers ( Gen 30:25-43 ).
Gen 30:25-26
‘And it happened when Rachel had borne Joseph that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my own place and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you know my service with which I have served you.” ’
Jacob’s servitude has come to its end. Now he seeks to clarify his position with Laban and his tribal confederation. He has fulfilled his dues and should be free to return home with all he has earned. His case is a little different from the normal ‘Hebrew bondsman’ for the latter would, on completion of his servitude, be required to leave his wives behind. But in this case they are his wages, and he is a relative of equal standing.
Note how carefully Jacob words his request. He is making clear the terms of the covenant between them and his complete fulfilment of it. He recognises the rights of the tribe but stresses that he has fulfilled all their requirement and therefore has the right to leave along with his family even though they are part of the tribe.
Gen 30:27-28
‘And Laban said to him, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, stay with us. For I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.” And he said, “Fix what your wages will be and I will pay them.” ’
Laban does not directly dispute Jacob’s right to leave along with his family (but see Gen 31:43. The position was decidedly unusual). But it is to Jacob’s credit that Laban does not want him to leave. He recognises the prosperity that has come to the tribe through Jacob’s presence and activities. And he acknowledges that this is partly due to the God whom Jacob worships, even Yahweh.
“Stay with us.” Not actually in the text but to be read in by implication.
“I have divined.” By means of divination Laban has become aware of Yahweh’s influence in all this. He is not a worshipper of Yahweh but as with Balaam later (Numbers 22-24) Yahweh makes His way known through those who are not His.
“Fix what your wages will be.” Negotiations begin again. Jacob can name his own price for further service and participation in tribal activity and it will be considered.
Gen 30:29-31
‘And he said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. For it was little which you had before I came, and it has broken forth as a multitude. And Yahweh has blessed you wherever I have turned. And now when shall I provide for my own house as well?” ’
Jacob puts his case. His activity has turned their fortunes and their flocks and herds have multiplied. And he agrees with Laban that this is due to Yahweh his God. But now it is time for him to consider his own prosperity. He wants flocks and herds of his own for the benefit of his family.
“Yahweh has blessed you wherever I have turned.” There seems little doubt in view of this and Laban’s previous confession that we are to see Yahweh at work throughout the following narrative.
Gen 30:31 a
”
And he said, “What shall I give you?”
The bargaining begins. Laban wants to know Jacob”
Gen 30:31 b
“And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything.” ”
Jacob is equal to his subtlety. He does not want anything specific now, he is prepared to wait for the future to decide in the terms of the bargain he will now outline. He will accept what God gives him.
Gen 30:31-33 (31c-33)
“If you will do this thing for me I will again feed your flock and keep it. I will pass through all your flock today removing from it every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. Then my hire will be of such. So will my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when you shall come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep that is found with me shall be counted as stolen.”
Jacob is not here saying that the sheep and goats he separates out will be his. He expects nothing at this point in time (Gen 30:31 b). They can be removed from the flocks. They will go with Laban (Gen 30:35). But he is saying that he is prepared to accept any future speckled and spotted goats and black sheep once the flocks have been first purged of the ones that are alive at present.
“So shall my righteousness answer for me –”. The righteous position in the eyes of the tribe will be that in future any speckled goats and black sheep found in the part of the flocks over which he has care will be his and his righteousness before them will be demonstrated by his only retaining these separately as his own.
Considering the fact that most sheep were white, and most goats were dark brown or black, and that, separated from the speckled and black such were unlikely to bear black sheep or speckled offspring, the bargain must have seemed a good one to Laban and his sons. Jacob seemed to be deliberately making things difficult for himself. But what Jacob does not feel it necessary to explain is that he has probably made sure that the non-speckled and spotted goats and the non-black sheep have been carefully impregnated beforehand by the speckled and spotted goats and the black sheep, and that he has thus stacked the odds in his own favour. Two master tricksters are at work.
Throughout the narrative five different words are used to designate the features that distinguished what belonged to Jacob (speckled, spotted, striped, ringstraked, grisled and so on). These were no doubt technical terms clearly recognisable to shepherds in the area who would know exactly what was indicated.
Gen 30:34
‘And Laban said, “Behold, I would it might be according to your word.”
Thus Laban accepts the contract proposed by Jacob.
Gen 30:35-36
‘And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she-goats which were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. And he set three days journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.’
There is no suggestion in the narrative that Laban has played false with Jacob, although he does the separating himself to make sure that it is done properly. Indeed it assumes that Laban is simply following out the terms of the contract, which must thus be read in this light (any deficiency in our understanding of it tells us more of our lack of knowledge of ancient Hebrew than of the failure of Jacob to express himself properly). The ‘three-days journey’ means a comparatively short distance while ensuring adequate distance between the flocks.
Gen 30:37-39
‘And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane tree., and peeled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. And they conceived when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks produced ringstraked, speckled and spotted.’
How far he thought that this was a method of actually producing speckled offspring (it would not explain the black sheep), and how far it was a red herring to disguise the fact that he was achieving his results by inter-breeding, we do not know. We know of no method of achieving this today. But there remains the possibility that something from the trees used entered the water and assisted the required effect.
It is quite clear that Jacob had developed into an expert shepherd and it may be that had observed certain things which he knew he could utilise to produce the kind of animals he wanted. We need not doubt that breeding was one of them. He may never have known what actually achieved the results but he used a successful combination. His contemporaries noted the most striking method.
“Made the white (laban) appear.” There is probably a subtle play on the word for white and the name Laban. Laban had been out-Labaned.
Alternately this may all be a device for deceiving Laban. Having assiduously made sure that the sheep had been properly impregnated perhaps he wants to be able to provide some other explanation of what would follow than his own subtlety. However, what follows suggests that he did have some faith in his white straked rods.
Gen 30:40
‘And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked and all the black in the flock of Laban. And he put his own droves apart and did not put them into Laban’s flock.’
Once the lambs had been weaned Jacob ‘set the faces of the flocks’ toward the ringstraked goats and black rams. This is a clear suggestion of a deliberate breeding policy. He did not trust to his gimmicks only, if at all.
He then maintains two flocks side by side, that which was now his and that which was Laban’s. The sentence seems a little ambiguous. The idea would seem to be that the lambs which were designated as his were kept apart, although the ringstraked he-goats (Gen 30:35) and black rams were kept in Laban’s section to assist the work of breeding further gain to Jacob from Laban’s she-goats and sheep.
There is no real need to see this as a later addition. The writer is most taken up with Jacob’s more spectacular methods but here mentions in passing other tactics he has observed. Jacob was using every method at his command to produce speckled and black beasts.
Gen 30:41-42
‘And it happened whenever the stronger of the flock conceived Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters so that they might conceive among the rods. But when the flock was feeble he did not put them in. So the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.’
The description shows with what care Jacob bred the young. He took individual care to ensure that the right males studded the right females. He trusted inter-breeding and the white rods used in connection with the water troughs. And it worked. We may recognise the inter-breeding as the important factor, but there may well have been something in the trees used which got into the water supply and assisted the process. And there may even have been something in the psychological factor which is hidden from us today. Jacob trusted the whole. But there is the underlying assumption that his prosperity was due to Yahweh’s blessing (Gen 30:27 and Gen 30:30).
Gen 30:43
‘And the man increased exceedingly and had large flocks and maidservants and menservants and camels and asses.’
Jacob managed what is his efficiently. As his flocks grew he took on his own maidservants and menservants and purchased camels (a sign of prosperity) and asses, building up his own ‘household’ (family tribe). But the tribal confederation of which Laban was a part would now begin to see this as part of the confederation. Wives, sons and a few sheep and goats earned by a contract of service were one thing. But this was something else.
“The man.” This may be what he was now being called by his ‘brothers’. He was the outsider who was becoming too wealthy and was causing jealousy.
So on the one hand Jacob still saw all he now possessed as non-tribal and his own possession, while on the other others were seeing them as part of the tribal possessions. This would cause a problem when he wanted to leave, as he well knew.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Contract Between Laban and Jacob
v. 25. And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place and to my country. v. 26. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go; for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. v. 27. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry; for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. v. 28. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. v. 29. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
v. 30. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming, v. 31. And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock. v. 32. I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and of such shall be my hire. v. 33. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face; every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. v. 34. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. v. 35. And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-straked (banded) and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. v. 36. And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Gen 30:25
And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph,either at or about the expiry of the second term of seven years. Jacob’s family now consisted in all of eleven sons and one daughter, unless Dinah’s birth occurred later in the next term of service (Keil). Since these were all born within seven years, the chronological cannot be the order observed by the historian in recording the events of the preceding paragraphs. Rather the births of the children are arranged in connection with the mothers from whom they sprang. Hence the possibility of acquiring so large a family in so short a time. The six sons of Leah might be born in the seven years, allowing one year’s complete cessation from pregnancy, viz; the fifth; Bilhah’s in the third and fourth years; Zilpah’s in the beginning of the sixth and seventh; and Rachel’s toward the end of the seventh, leaving Dinah to be born later (cf. Keil in loco)that Jacob said unto Laban (if not immediately, certainly soon, after Joseph’s birth), Send me away (meaning that Laban should permit him to depart), that I may go (literally, and I will go) unto mine own place, and to my countryto Canaan in general, and to that part of it in particular where he had formerly resided (cf. Gen 18:33; Gen 31:55).
Gen 30:26
Give me (suffer me to take) my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go (literally, and I will go): for thou knowest my service which I have done theeimplying that he had faithfully implemented his engagement, and that Laban was aware of the justness of his demand to be released from further servitude.
Gen 30:27
And Laban said unto him (having learnt by fourteen years’ acquaintance with Jacob to know the value of a good shepherd), I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes (the clause is elliptical, the A. V. rightly supplying), tarry: for (this word also is not in the original), I have learned by experienceliterally, I have divined; not necessarily by means of serpents (Gesenius, Wordsworth, ‘Speaker’s Commentary’), or even by consulting his gods (Delitzsch, Kalisch), but perhaps by close observation and minute inspection (Murphy, Bush). The LXX. render ; the Vulgate by experimento didicithat the LordJehovah. Nominally a worshipper of the true God, Laban was in practice addicted to heathen superstitions (cf. Gen 31:19, Gen 31:32)hath blessed me (with material prosperity) for thy sake.
Gen 30:28
And he said, Appoint me thy wages. Literally, distinctly specify thy hire upon me, i.e. which I will take upon me as binding. Laban’s caution to be clear and specific in defining the terms of any engagement he might enter into was much needed, and would doubtless not be neglected by Jacob, whose past experience must have taught him he was dealing with one who, in respect of covenants and contracts, was eminently treacherous. And I will give it.
Gen 30:29
And he (Jacob) said unto him (Laban), Thou knowest how (literally, what) I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with meliterally, and what thy cattle has been (or become) with me, i.e. to what a number they have grown.
Gen 30:30
For it was little which thou hadst before I came,literally, for little (it was) was to thee before me; i.e. not in place, (LXX.), but in time, i.e. before my arrivaland it is now increasedliterally, broken forth (cf. Gen 30:43)unto a multitude; and the Lord (Jehovah) hath blessed thee since my coming (literally, at my foot, i.e. wherever I have gone among your flocks): and now when shall I provide (literally, do) for mine own house also?
Gen 30:31
And he (Laban, unwilling to part with so profitable an assistant) said, What shall I give thee? He was apparently prepared to detain Jacob at his own terms. And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. Jacob did not design to serve Laban gratuitously, but chose rather to trust God than Laban for recompense (Wordsworth, Gosman in Lange); or he may have meant that he would have no wages of Laban’s setting, but only of his own proposing (Hughes). If thou wilt do this thing for me (accede to this stipulation), I will again feed and keep thy flockliterally, I will turn, I will tend thy flock, I will keep (sc. 2).
Gen 30:32
I will pass through all thy flock today,wrongly rendered (LXX), gyra per omnes greges tuos, but “to remove,” the verb being in the inf.all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. Since in Oriental countries sheep are commonly white and goats black, the number of speckled and spotted animals (i.e. sheep with little spots and largo patches of black, and goats with little or large points of white, in their hair) would be unusually small. And of such shall be my hirei.e. the dark-spotted or entirely black sheep and white or white-speckled goats were to be Jacob’s reward (Knobel, Delitzsch, Keil, Lunge), which was to be subsequently increased by whatever speckled animals might appear among the one-colored flocks; but it seems more probable that Jacob only claimed the latter, and, both to make the bargain more attractive to Laban and to show that he wanted nothing from Laban but only what God might be pleased in accordance with this arrangement to bestow, he suggested that the flocks and herds should be purged of all such speckled and spotted animals to begin with (Tuch, Baumgarten, Kurtz, Rosenmller, Kalisch, Candlish; Murphy, ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ Clarke, Bush).
Gen 30:33
So shall my righteousness (literally, and my righteousness) answer for me (or bear testimony in my behalf) in time to come,literally, in the day, tomorrow; meaning in the future (Gesenius) rather than the day following (Delitzsch)when it shall come for my hire before thy face. Either,
(1) for it (my righteousness) shall come, concerning my wages, before thy face, sc. for consideration (Calvin); or,
(2) when thou shalt come to my reward, connecting “before thy face” with the previous clause (Chaldee, Rosenmller, Ainsworth, Lange); or,
(3) when thou shalt come to my wages before thee (Murphy), or to inspect it (Kalisch). Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with meand therefore to be delivered up to thee.
Gen 30:34
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. Jacob’s chances of obtaining speckled animals by this arrangement were so small that Laban, with his customary selfishness, had no difficulty in closing with the offered bargain. As originally proposed by Jacob it seems to have been an honest desire on his part to commit the question of wages to the decision rather of God’s providence than of his kiss-man’s greed. That at this time Jacob’s mind “had already formed the whole fraudulent procedure by which he acquired his wealth” (Kalisch) does not accord with the statement subsequently made.
Gen 30:35
And heLaban (Rosenmller, Keil, Delitzsch, Kalisch, Murphy, et alii); Jacob (Lange)removed that day (that the smallest possible chance of success might remain to his nephew) the he-goats that were ringstraked (striped or banded) and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep,four sorts of animals were to be removed:
(1) the dotted,
(2) the patched,
(3) the ring-marked or striped, and
(4) the black or brown
and gave them into the hand of his (Laban’s or Jacob’s, ut supra) sons.
Gen 30:36
And (as if to insure the impossibility of the two flocks mingling and breeding) he set three days journey betwixt himself (with his sons and the parti-colored animals) and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocksout of which he was to pay himself as best he could in accordance with the contract.
Gen 30:37
And Jacob took him rods of green poplarliterally, a rod (the singular being used collectively for rods) of , (from , to be white, meaning either the) poplar (LXX; in Hos 4:13; Vulgate, Kalisch) or the storax fresh greenand of the hazel, the hazel tree (Raschi, Kimchi, Arabic, Luther, Furst, Kalisch) or the almond tree (Vulgate, Saadias, Calvin, Gesenius, ‘Speaker’s Commentary’)and chestnut tree;, the plane tree (LXX; Vulgate, et alii), so called from its heightand pilled white strakes in them (literally, peeled off in them peeled places white), and made the white appear (literally, making naked the white) which was in the rods.
Gen 30:38
And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flecks in the gutters (; literally, the canals or channels through which the water ran, from a root signifying to run) in the watering troughs (, i.e. the troughs which contained the water, to which the animals approached) when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive (literally, and they became warm, in the sense expressed in the A.V.) when they cams to drinkthis was Jacob’s first artifice to overreach Laban.
Gen 30:39
And the flocks conceived (ut supra) before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. The fact is said to have been frequently observed that, particularly in the case of sheep, whatever fixes their attention in copulation is marked upon the young. That Jacob believed in the efficacy of the artifice he adopted is apparent; but the multiplication of Parti-colored animals it will be safer to ascribe to Divine blessing than to human craft.
Gen 30:40
And Jacob did separate the lambs (i.e. the speckled lambs procured by the foregoing artifice he removed from the main body of the flock), and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban (this was Jacob’s second artifice, to make the speckled lambs serve the same purpose as the pilled rods); and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattleso that they were not exposed to the risk of producing offspring of uniform color.
Gen 30:41
And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, literally, in every healing of the cattle, the bound ones, i.e. the firm, compact sheep, “the spring flock” (Luther), which, being conceived in spring and dropped in autumn, are supposed to be stronger than those conceived in autumn and dropped in spring; but this is doubtfulthat Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. Jacob’s third artifice aimed at securing for himself a vigorous breed of sheep.
Gen 30:42
But when the cattle were feeble,literally, in the covering (sc. with wool; hence weakening) of the flock, which took place in autumnhe put them not in (partly to prevent the introduction of feeble animals amongst his parti-colored flocks, but partly also, it is thought, to avoid prematurely exciting Laban’s suspicion): so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
Gen 30:43
Andas the apparent result of the triple stratagem, though vide supra, Gen 30:38, and cf. Gen 31:12the man increased exceedingly,literally, broke forth greatly (vide verse 80)and had much cattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asseslike Abraham (Gen 13:2) and Isaac (Gen 26:13, Gen 26:14). Thus far the historian simply narrates the fact of the patriarch’s priority, and the steps which to it, “without expressing approbation of his conduct or describing his increasing wealth as a blessing from God. The verdict is contained in what follows (Keil).
HOMILETICS
Gen 30:25-43
Jacob and Laban, or craft versus greed.
I. JACOB‘S RESPECTFUL REQUEST OF LABAN. At the close of fourteen years harsh and exacting service, Jacob desires permission to take his wives and children and return to Canaan. The motives which induced him were probably
1. The termination of his contract, which released him from a servitude both galling and oppressive.
2. The remembrance of God’s covenant, which had assigned him the land of promise as his true inheritance.
3. The joy occasioned by the birth of Rachel’s child, whom he seems to have regarded as the theocratic heir.
4. A desire to provide for his now rapidly-increasing household.
II. JACOB‘S SELFISH HINDRANCE BY LABAN. That Jacob’s uncle and father-in-law was unwilling to acquiesce in his departure and solicitous to retain him was due to
1. His appreciation of Jacob’s qualities as a flock-master. Jacob felt he could appeal to “the service he had done” for the past fourteen years.
2. His discovery of a latent connection between Jacob’s presence and his own augmenting prosperity. Laban, poor enough before his nephew’s arrival, had shrewdly noted that the day of Jacob’s coming had been the day of fortune’s turning in his favor, and that, wherever his clever “brother” went, flocks and herds broke out beside him.
3. His secret hope of effecting easy terms with Jacob. Though ostensibly willing to take him at his own price, he was clearly calculating that he would not have much difficulty in over-reaching the man whom already he had cheated in the matter of his daughters.
III. JACOB‘S REMARKABLE CONTRACT WITH LABAN. He agrees to serve a third time with Laban on condition of receiving all the speckled and spotted, ringstraked and brown, animals that Laban’s flocks might produce, after all- of those sorts had been previously removed.
1. The proposal of such a singular condition on the part of Jacob was an act not of folly, but of faith, being tantamount to a committal of his cause to God instead of Laban.
2. The acceptance of it on the part of Laban was a pitiful display of greed, and a proof that the bygone years of prosperity had both awakened in his soul the insatiable demon of avarice and extinguished any spark of kindly feeling towards Jacob that may have once existed in his breast.
IV. JACOB‘S CUNNING STRATAGEM AGAINST LABAN.
1. The nature of it. This was the employment of a triple artifice:
(1) by means of pilled rods to produce parti-colored animals in Laban’s flock;
(2) on securing these, so to use them as to increase their number; and
(3)to direct the animals in such a fashion that the stronger and healthier portion of the flock should be his, and the feebler Laban’s.
2. The success of it. That Jacob’s stratagem did not fail is apparent; but how far it was due to the particular expedient employed cannot be so easily determined. That impressions made upon the minds of sheep at rutting time affect the fetus seems a well-established fact; but the extraordinary rapidity with which brown and speckled animals were produced appears to point to the intervention of a special providence in Jacob’s behalf.
3. The rightness of it. That in what Jacob did there was nothing fraudulent may be inferred from the fact that he acted under the Divine approval (Gen 31:12), and made use of nothing but the superior knowledge of the habits of animals which he had acquired through his long experience in keeping sheep.
V. JACOB‘S ULTIMATE ADVANCEMENT OVER LABAN. This comes out with greater prominence in the ensuing chapter; the present notices his amazing prosperity. “The man increased exceedingly;” and, in spite of Laban’s craft and avarice come blued, eventually eclipsed him in the possession of flocks and herds.
Learn
1. The attractive influence of home, both temporal and spiritual.
2. The danger of material prosperityexemplified in Laban.
3. The wisdom of trusting God in all things, even in secular callings.
4. The value of all kinds of knowledge, but especially of the best.
5. The advantage of having God upon our side in all our bargainsnotably when dealing with the selfish and mean.
6. The right to use all lawful means to preserve our interestsparticularly against such as would invade them.
7. The possibility of the last outstripping the firstin the Church as well as in the world.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Gen 30:43
Jacob’s history an illustration of the blending together of the natural and the supernatural in God’s dealings.
“And the man increased exceedingly,” &c.
I. The PROMISE TO GUIDE, protect, and bless fulfilled in connection with the employment of ordinary faculties and instrumentalities. Jacob’s craft partly natural, but in this instance specially assisted that he might be helped in an emergency. The “supplanter” in this case represented the better cause.
II. HUMAN DEVICES only apparently, and not really, thwart the purposes of God. Jacob represents the people of God. The victory is appointed them. Their interests must be served by the kingdoms of this world, though for a season the advantage appears on the side of the mere calculating, selfish policy. The true wisdom is that which cometh from above.
III. INCREASE in the best sense is God’s promise. It will be sent as he wills and when he wills, but will be found the true answer to prayer and the true manifestation of love. On all that belongs to us the blessing rests. Spiritual prosperity carries with it all other. Though the individual may be called to suffer for the sake of the community, the promise to the Church must be fulfilled. “It is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.” “The meek shall inherit the earth.”R.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 30:25. It came to pass, &c. It is plain, by this verse, Bishop Patrick observes, that the last seven years service for Rachel was now finished, just when Joseph was born; and therefore Jacob desires to be dismissed, having served Laban fourteen years. Usher proves that Jacob was ninety-one years old when Joseph was born (and consequently seventy-seven when he first came to Laban): for in Exodus it appears that Jacob, when he came before Pharaoh, was one hundred and thirty; and Joseph, at that time, but thirty-nine.
Jacob now, after his long absence, began to think of home. The land of Canaan was not only the land of his nativity, but the land of promise; and the seed which should inherit it, began now to multiply. Though he has nothing of his own, he has a good father to go to, who will welcome him and his: or, if not, he can trust God. Note; 1. God will not give mouths without sending meat for them. 2. Every true Christian, however comfortably settled or increased in this world, hath his eye and his heart upon his own country, which is above.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
THIRD SECTION
Jacobs thought of returning home. New treaty with Laban. His closely calculated proposition (Prelude to the method of acquiring possession of the Egyptian vessels). Labans displeasure. Gods command to return
Gen 30:25 to Gen 31:3
25And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away [let me go], that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 26Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. 27And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry; for I have learned by experience3 that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. 28And he said, [farther], Appoint me thy 29wages, and I will give it. And [But] he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have 30served thee, and how thy cattle was with me [what thy herds have become under me]. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee, since my coming4 [after me]: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? 31And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything [anything peculiar], If thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock [small cattle]: 32I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted [dappled] cattle [lambs], and all the brown [dark-colored] cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. 33So shall my righteousness [rectitude] answer for me in time to come,5 when it shall come for my hire; before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. 34And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstreaked [striped] and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. 36And he set three days journey betwixt himself [the shepherds and flocks of Laban] and Jacob [the flocks of Jacob under his sons]: and Jacob fed the rest [the sifted] of Labans flocks.
37And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, [gum] and of the hazel [almond] and chestnut-tree [maple]6; and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which 38 was in the rods. And he laid the rods which he had [striped] pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs7 when the flocks came [to which the flocks must come] to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth [threw, cast] ringstreaked, speckled and spotted. 40And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Labans cattle. 41And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42But when the cattle were feeble, 43he put them not in: so the feebler were Labans, and the stronger Jacobs. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much [small] cattle, and maid-servants, and menservants, and camels and asses.
Gen 31:1 And he heard the words of Labans sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our fathers; and of that which was our fathers hath he gotten all this glory [riches]8. 2And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was 3not toward him as before9 [formerly]. And [Then] the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred [thy home]; and I will be with thee.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS
1. The term , Gen 30:27 (comp. Gen 12:13), shows that this section, according to Knobel, is Jehovistic.
2. In consequence of Labans deception, Jacob must serve fourteen years for his Rachel. According to Gen 31:41 he served him six years longer, agreeably to the terms of the contract that he had just now concluded with him.
3. The doubtful way in which he now secured his reward leads us to conjecture that he was conscious that he had been defrauded by Laban, and that he was dealing with a selfish man, whose selfishness and power, he thought, could only be countervailed by cunning. Nor is it to be denied that wisdoms weapon is given to the feeble to protect himself against the harsh and cruel power of the strong. Our narrative comes under the same category with the surreptitious obtaining of the blessing of the first-born by Jacob, and the acquisition of the gold and silver vessels of the Egyptians by the Israelites. The prudence manifested in these cases is the same; but still there was a real deception in the first case (one deception, however, against another); in the present case it was simply an overreaching, while in the third they were only availing themselves of the situation of the Egyptians, i. e., their disposition. In all three cases, however, the artful, or at least wisely-calculated, project, was provoked by a great and gross wrong. Esau proposes to take back the birthright which he had sold to Jacob. Laban caused him to perform a service of fourteen years, and intends to make him still further a prey to his avarice. The Egyptians have indeed consumed the very strength of Israel by their bondage. And if the scale here turns against Jacob because he thus cunningly overreached his father-in-law, it is balanced by Labans pressing him again into his service, that he might misuse him anew; nor is the marvellous charm to be left out of view, which lay in his ancient nomadic science and art. Superior minds were never inclined to let their arts and sciences lie dormant.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Gen 30:25-34. The new contract.When Rachel.At Josephs birth [which therefore could not have occurred until the fifteenth year of his residence with Laban.A. G.] a strong feeling comes over Jacob, which leads him to believe that he is to return home without having received a call from thence or a divine command here. It is apparent from what follows that he first of all wished to become independent of Laban, in order to provide for his own. He is, therefore, soon hampered again, since a fair prospect opened to him now and here. Labans character now comes into view in every utterance.May I still grace, etc., lit., If I have found favor, etc. If this expression may be called an aposiopesis, we must still bear in mind that this was a standing form of expression even in the oath. Keil supplies stay yet. The optative form already expresses all that is possible. If is, according to Delitzsch, a heathen expression, then the phraseology in Labans mouth appears more striking still, through the connection of this expression with Jehovahs name.Appoint me.He not only recognizes, almost fawningly, Jacobs worth to his house, but is even willing to yield unconditionally to his determinationa proof that he did not expect of Jacob too great a demand. But Jacob is not inclined to trust himself to his generosity, and hence his cunningly calculated though seemingly trifling demand. Labans consent to his demand, however, breathes in the very expression the joy of selfishness; and it is scarcely sufficient to translate: Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. But Jacobs proposition seems to point to a very trifling reward, since the sheep in the East are nearly all white, while the goats are generally of a dark color or speckled. For he only demands of Labans herds those sheep that have dark spots or specks, or that are entirely black, and those only of the goats that were white-spotted or striped. But he does not only demand the speckled lambs brought forth hereafter, after the present number of such are set aside for Laban (Tuch, Baumg., Kurtz), but the present inspection is to form the first stock of his herds (Knobel, Delitzsch). [The words, thou shalt not give me anything, seem to indicate that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with, and did not intend to be dependent upon him for any part of his possessions. Those of this description which should appear among the flocks should be his hire. He would depend upon the divine providence and his own skill. He would be no more indebted to Laban than Abraham to the king of Sodom.A. G.] Afterwards, also, the speckled ones brought forth among Labans herds are to be added to his, as is evident from his following arts. Michaelis and Bohlen miss the purport, but it lies in verse 33. For when he invites Laban to muster his herds in time to come, it surely does not mean literally the next day, as Delitzsch supposes, but in time to come (see Gesenius, ). As often as Laban came to Jacobs herds in the future he must regard all the increase in speckled and ringstreaked lambs as Jacobs property, but if he found a purely white sheep or an entirely black goat, then, and only then, he might regard it as stolen. (As to the sheep and goats of the East, see Bible Dictionaries, the Natural History of the Bible, and Knobel, p. 246.) Moreover, this transaction is not conducted wholly in the conventional forms of oriental politeness, as in Genesis 23, between Abraham and the Hittites (Del.). Labans language is submissive, while that of Jacob is very frank and bold, as became his invigorated courage and the sense of the injustice which he had suffered.
2. Gen 30:35-36. The separation of the herds.And he removed.It surely is not correct, as Rosenmller, Maurer, Del. and Keil suppose, that Laban is here referred to; that Laban, to be more certain, had removed the speckled ones himself and put them under the care of his own sons. In this view everything becomes confused, and Bohlen justly remarks: The reference here is to Jacob, because he intended to separate the animals (Gen 30:32), as certainly it was proper for the head servant to do, and because there is no mention of Labans sons until Gen 31:1, while Jacobs older children were certainly able to take care of the sheep. Reuben, at the close of this new term of six years, had probably reached his thirteenth year, Simeon his eleventh. But even if they had not reached these years, the expression he gave them, , could mean: he formed a new family state, or herds, as a possession of his sons, although they were assisted in the management by the mothers, maids, and servants, since he himself had anew become Labans servant. Hence it is also possible (Gen 30:36) for him to make a distinction between himself as Labans servant, and Jacob as an independent owner, now represented by his sons. It is altogether improbable that Jacob would entrust his herds to Labans sons. But it is entirely incomprehensible that Jacob, with his herds, could have taken flight without Labans knowledge, and gained three days the start, unless his herds were under the care of his own sons. [This is of course well put and unanswerable on the supposition that the sheep and goats which were removed from the flocks ere Jacobs stock to begin with, but it has no force if we regard these as Labans, and put therefore under the care of his own sons, while Jacob was left to manage the flocks from which the separated were taken.A. G.]Three days journey betwixt.Lit., a space of three days between. Certainly days journeys here are those of the herds and are not to be estimated according to the journeys of men. Again, Jacob is ahead of Laban three days, and yet Laban can overtake him. We may conceive, therefore, of a distance of about twelve hours, or perhaps eighteen miles. By means of this separation Jacob not only gained Labans confidence but also his property.
3. Gen 30:37-43. Jacobs management of Labans herds.Took him rods.De Wette: Storax, almond-tree, maple. Bunsen: Gum-tree. The Alexandrians here translate, styrax-tree, but Hos 4:13 poplars. If we look at the Arabic, in which our Hebrew word has been preserved, the explanation of styrax-tree is to be preferred. It is similar to the quince, grows in Syria, Arabia, and Asia Minor, reaches the height of about twelve feet, and furnishes, if incisions are made in the bark, a sweet, fragrant-smelling, and transparent gum, of a light-red color, called styrax. Almond-tree. This signification is uncertain, since the hazelnut-tree may also be referred to. Plane-tree. A splendid tree, frequent even in South Europe, having large boughs, extending to a great distance (hence the Greek name, Platane), and bearing some resemblance to the maple tree. Jacob of course must select rods from such trees, whose dark external bark produced the greatest contrast with the white one below it. In this respect gum-tree might be better adapted than white poplars, almond-tree or chestnut better than hazelnut, and maple better than plane-tree. Keil: Storax, chestnut, and maple trees, which all have below their, bark a white, dazzling wood. Thus he procured rods of different kinds and pilled white streaks in them.And he set the rods.Knobel thinks, he placed the staffs on the watering-troughs, but did not put them in the gutters. But this does not agree with the choice of the verb, nor the fact itself: the animals, by looking into the water for some time, were to receive, as it were, into themselves, the appearance of the rods lying near. They, in a technical sense, were frightened at them. The wells were surrounded with watering-troughs, used for the watering of the cattle.And they conceived.For the change of the forms here, see Keil, p. 210.And brought forth cattle.This crafty trick was based upon the common experience of the so-called fright of animals, especially of sheep, namely, that the representations of the senses during coition are stamped upon the form of the ftus (see Boch., Hieroz., i. 618, and Friedreich upon the Bible, i. 37, etc.). Keil. For details see Knobel, p. 247, and Delitzsch, p. 472And set the faces of the flock.Jacobs second artifice. The speckled animals, it is true, were removed, from time to time, from Labans herds, and added to Jacobs flock, but in the meantime Jacob put the speckled animals in front of the others, so that Labans herds had always these spotted or variegated animals before them, and in this manner another impression was produced upon the she-goats and sheep. Bohlen opposes this second artifice, against Rosenmller, Maurer, and others. The clause in question should be: he sent them to the speckled ones that already belonged to him ( in the sense of versus). But the general term is against this. The separation of the new-born lambs and goats from the old herds could only be gradual.The stronger cattle.The third artifice. He so arranged the thing that the stronger cattle fell to him, the feebler to Laban. His first artifice, therefore, produced fully the desired effect. It was owing partly, perhaps, to his sense of equity toward Laban, and partly to his prudence, that he set these limits to his gain; but he still, however, takes the advantage, since he seeks to gain the stronger cattle for himself. Bohlen: Literally, the bound ones, firmly set, i. e., the strong, just as the covered ones, i. e., the feeble, languid, faint; for the transition is easy from the idea of binding, firmness, to that of strength, and from that of covering, to languishing, or faintness. Some of the old translators refer them to vernal and autumnal lambs (comp. Plin. 8, 47, Columella, De re rust., 8, 3), because the sheep in Palestine and similar climates bear twice in a year (Aristot., Hist. Anim., 6, 18, 19; Problems, 10, 46; Bochart, Hieroz., i. p. 512), and because those conceived in the Spring or Summer and born in the Autumn are stronger than those conceived in Autumn and born in Spring. But the text does not draw this precise distinction. The Septuagint only distinguishes between and . Luther renders late and early born.And the man increased.With the rich increase in cattle, care was taken at the same time to secure an increase in men-servants and maid-servants, as well as camels and asses. Knobel finds a contradiction in the fact that this rich increase is here ascribed to Jacobs artifice, whilst it is attributed to the divine blessing in Gen 31:9. But so much only is evident, that Jacob did not act against his conscience, but thought that he might anticipate and assist by human means the fulfilment of those visions in which the rewards of this kind were promised to him.And he heard. The complete success that Jacob met with excited the envy and jealousy of Labans sons, whose existence is indicated first in the plural (Gen 29:27), but whose definite appearance here shows that the selfish disposition peculiar to this family was more fully developed in them than in Laban himself.The words of Labans sons.According to Delitzsch, they were quite small, not yet fourteen years of agean assertion, however, which has no sufficient ground.
4. Gen 31:1-3. Jacobs resolution to return home.All that was our fathers.They evidently exaggerate in their hatred, and even accus him of dishonesty by the use of the expression: of that which was our fathers. But Laban shares in the threatening disposition; his countenance had changed remarkably toward Jacob, a fact all the more striking, since he had formerly been extraordinarily friendly. Trouble and dangers similar to those at home now develop themselves here; then comes, at the critical juncture, Jehovahs command: Return.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Jacobs resolution to return home at his own risk, is to be explained from his excessive joy at Josephs birth, and from his longing for home and for deliverance from the oppression of Laban. Moreover, he seems to have considered Rachels son as the principal Messianic heir, and therefore must hasten to conduct him to the promised land, even at the peril of his life. Besides, he now feels that he must provide for his own house, and with Labans selfishness there is very little prospect of his attaining this in Labans house. These two circumstances show clearly why he allows himself to be retained by Laban (for he has no assurance of faith that he is now to return), and in the second place, the manner and means by which he turns the contract to his own advantage.
2. We here learn that Labans prosperity was not very great before Jacobs arrival. The blessing first returns to the house with Jacobs entrance. But this blessing seemed to become to Laban no blessing of faith. His conduct toward the son of his sister and his son-in-law, becomes more and more base. He seizes eagerly, therefore, the terms offered to him by Jacob, because they appear to him most favorable, since the sheep in the East are generally white, while the goats are black. His intention, therefore, is to defraud Jacob, while he is actually overreached by him. Besides, this avails only of the mere form; as to the thing itself, Jacob really had claims to a fair compensation.
3. Just as Jacobs conduct at the surreptitious obtaining the birthright was preceded by Isaacs intended cunning, and the injustice of Esau, so also, in many respects, here Labans injustice and artifice precedes Jacobs project (Genesis 31). In this light Jacobs conduct is to be judged. Hence he afterwards views his real gain as a divine blessing, although he had to atone again for his selfishness and cunning, in the form of the gain, at least, by fears and danger. Moreover, we must still bring into view, as to Jacobs and Labans bargain, the following points: 1. Jacob asks for his wages very modestly and frankly; he asks for his wives and children, as the fruit of his wives, and for his discharge. While Laban wishes to keep him for his own advantage. 2. Jacob speaks frankly, Laban flatters and fawns. 3. Jacob might now expect a paternal treatment and dowry on the part of Laban. Laban, on the contrary, prolongs his servile relation, and asks him to determine his reward, because he expected from Jacobs modesty the announcement of very small wages. 4. In the proposition made by Jacob, he thought he had caught him.
4. The establishment of his own household, after being married fourteen years, shows that Jacob, in this respect, as well as in the conclusion of his marriage, awaited his time.
5. The so-called impressions of she goats and sheep, a very old observation, which the coperation of subtle impressions, images, and even imaginations at the formation of the ftus, and, indeed, the ftus itself among animals confirms.The attainment of varieties and new species among animals and plants is very ancient, and stands closely connected with civilization and the kingdom of God.
6. Jacobs sagacity, his weapon against the strong. But as he stands over against God, he employed different means, especially prayer.
7. The want of candor in Labans household, corresponds with the selfishness of the household.
8. In the following chapter we find still further details respecting Jacobs bargain. In the first place, the selfish Laban broke, in different ways, the firm bargain made with Jacob, in order to change it to his advantage (Gen 31:7). Secondly, Jacobs morbid sense of justice had been so excited that he received explanation of the state of things in his herds even in his night-visions.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See the Doctrinal and Ethical paragraphs. The present section is, for the most part, fitted for religious, biographical, and psychological contemplations. It is to be treated carefully both with respect to Jacobs censure as well as his praise.Jacobs resolutions to return home: 1. The first: why so vividly formed, but not accomplished; 2. the second: the cause of his assurance (the divine command). Moreover, perils equal to those threatening at home, were now surrounding him.His longing for home during his service abroad.The hardships of a severe servitude in Jacobs life, as well as in the history of his descendants: when blessed?Labans selfishness and Jacobs sense of right at war with each other.Prudence as a weapon in lifes batttle: 1. The authority to use this weapon when opposed to a harsh superiority or subtlety; 2. the mighty efficacy of this weapon; 3. the danger of this weapon.Jacobs prudence in its right and wrong aspects in our history: 1. The right lies in his just claims; 2. the wrong, in his want of candor, his dissimulation and his self-help.His natural science, or knowledge of nature, combined with prudence, a great power in life.The difficulties in the establishment of an household: 1. Their general causes; 2. how they are to be overcome.Jacobs prosperity abroad.Jacob struggling with difficulties all his life long.
Section First, Gen 30:25-34. Starke: (As to the different meanings of , Gen 30:27. Some commentators hold that Laban had superstitiously consulted his teraphim, or idols.)Bibl. Wirt.: It is customary with covetous people to deal selfishly with their neighbors.
Gen 30:30. By means of my foot. Luther: i. e., I had to hunt and run through thick and thin in order that you might be rich.
Gen 30:34. If Laban had been honest, he could have represented to Jacob, that he would be a great loser by this bargain. God even blesses impious masters on account of their pious servants (1Ti 5:8).Calwer Handbuch: Jacob 91 years old.Thus Labans covetousness and avarice is punished by the very bargain which he purposed to make for his own advantage.We are not to apply the criterion of Christianity to Jacobs conduct.Schrder: Acts and course of life among strangers. As to Laban. Courtesy together with religion are made serviceable to the attainment of his ends.Thus, also, in the future, there is only a more definite agreement of master and servant between Jacob and his father-in-law.(The period of pregnancy with sheep lasts five months; they may therefore lamb twice during the year. Herds were the liveliest and strongest in autumn, after having enjoyed the good pasture during the summer, etc. On the contrary, herds are feeble after having just passed the winter.)
Section Second, Gen 30:35-36. Starke: A Christian is to look for pious men-servants and maid-servants.
Section Third, Gen 30:37-43. Starke: Christian, be warned not to misuse this example to encourage the practice of cunning and deceit with your neighbor.Cramer: Wages that are earned, but kept back, cry to heaven; hence nature here serves Jacob (Jam 5:4).Hall: Gods children, even in external things, have evident proofs that his grace over them is greater than over the godless.Schrder: Luther and Calvin are inclined to excuse Jacob (Gen 31:12).
Section Fourth. Gen 31:1-3. Starke: It is a very great reproach if acquaintances and relatives slander each other.Hall: As the godless enjoy no peace with God, so also the pious enjoy no peace with godless men.Cramer: Sin in man is so poisonous that it glitters in the eye, and is sweet to the taste, and pleasant to all the members.Schrder: Thus the Lord often serves his people more through the jealousy of the godless, than if he suffered them to grow feeble in prosperity.
Gen 30:3. Luther: It probably was an answer to Jacobs prayer.The divine command and promise compensates Jacob for the promised message of the mother. Thus his return receives the character of an act of faith (Baumgarten).
Footnotes:
[3]Gen 30:27.Lit., I have augured, ; Sept., ; not that Laban was a serpent-worshipper, but that he used divination as the heathen; and thus drew his inferences and auguries.A. G.
[4]Gen 30:30.Lit., at my footA. G.
[5]Gen 30:33.Lit., in day to-morrowthe futureat all times, when, etc. Lange renders when thou shalt come upon or to my wages; i.e., to examine.A. G.
[6]Gen 30:37.Heb.,, plane-tree; so Sept., Vulg. and SyriacA.G.
[7] , an unusual archaic form for . Keil.A G.
[8] Ch. 31. Ver Gen 31:2.Lit., weight.A G.
[9]Gen 30:2.Lit., as yesterday, the day before.A. G.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Gen 30:25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
Ver. 25. Unto mine own place. ] The Promised Land, which he reckoned his own. The promises are good surehold.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 30:25-36
25Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you.” 27But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account.” 28He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.” 29But he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me. 30For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: 32let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. 33So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” 34Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.” 35So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons. 36And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Gen 30:25-26 “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country” Apparently the cultural norm of the day involved Laban sending Jacob away instead of Jacob just leaving. He had apparently tried to leave several times with always the same negative result. Laban wanted Jacob to stay because it profited him (cf. Gen 30:27).
Gen 30:25-26 have some intense language.
1. “send me away,” Gen 30:25, BDB 1018, KB 1511, Piel IMPERATIVE
2. “that I may go to my own place,” Gen 30:25, BDB 229, KB 246, Qal COHORTATIVE
3. “give me my wives and my children,” Gen 30:26, BDB 678, KB 733, Qal IMPERATIVE
4. “let me depart,” BDB 229, KB 246, Qal COHORTATIVE
The VERB “served” (BDB 712, KB 773) is used twice (cf. Gen 30:29), showing Jacob’s attitude that he has fully paid Laban all he owes (and more, Gen 30:30)!
Gen 30:27 “I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account” The word “divined” is from the root “hiss” or “whisper” (BDB 638 II). It is an attempt to know and control the future through physical means apart from trusting YHWH. It is condemned in Lev 19:26; Num 23:23-24; and Deu 18:10.
It is hard to know why these early people in Genesis use things later condemned in the Mosaic legislation.
1. raised stones
2. divination, here and Gen 44:5; Gen 44:15 (Joseph)
3. imitation magic (i.e., striped branches produce striped animals)
4. use of mandrakes for fertility
5. household idols (teraphim)
6. circumcision of pagans (as a weapon)
These early YHWHists were influenced by their cultures. They are surely moving toward a purer, more complete monotheism, but it was a long road!
Gen 30:28 “Name me your wages, and I will give it” Laban fully recognizes that his prosperity is based on Jacob and he wants to retain him at any cost.
The VERB “name” (BDB 666, KB 718, Qal IMPERATIVE) has a varied semantical field. It normally means “to pierce” or “bore.” Here it denotes Jacob naming his compensation in order to remain with Laban. The second VERB “give” (BDB 678, KB 733, Qal COHORTATIVE) signals the reader that Laban recognizes his need of Jacob’s presence and help (cf. Gen 30:30). Laban must have been a demanding father-in-law (cf. Gen 31:11-12). The text even implies Jacob was seen and treated as a hired servant (cf. Gen 31:14-16).
Gen 30:30 “the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned” Jacob knew the source of Laban’s blessing was in him and his relationship to YHWH. But, as Gen 30:30 continues, it shows that Jacob also recognized the needs of his own household.
Gen 30:31 “So he said, ‘What shall I give you?’ And Jacob said, ‘You shall not give me anything'” Jacob knew that the source of blessing was not Laban but God.
Gen 30:32 Jacob is going to take the off-colored (BDB 378, KB 375, used five times in Gen 30:32-35) animals from the sheep and the goats. The off-colored animals from the sheep would be dark and the off-colored animals from the goats would be speckled or mottled. These unusually colored animals would normally be rare. This was for the obvious reason that Jacob by this time knew Laban and he did not want any questions about whose was whose in the future (cf. Gen 30:33).
Gen 30:35-36 “So he removed on that day the striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, every one with white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons” There are two very interesting things in this verse and in Gen 30:36. The word “he” at the beginning of Gen 30:35 obviously refers to Laban. This is the first mention of his own sons. Apparently, Laban divided the flock and gave Jacob’s animals into the care of his (Laban) sons. From Gen 30:36 we see that Laban sent Jacob’s animals a three days journey away so that they could not breed with his animals. This also forced Jacob to take care of Laban’s animals to assure their blessing. Although Laban had everything on his side, God was with Jacob. I personally do not believe that Jacob’s tricks mentioned in Gen 30:37 ff were the source of the spotted and speckled animals multiplying faster, but the supernatural presence of God.
The NIV Study Bible’s footnotes assert that Gen 30:35 was done secretly by Laban and his sons to reduce or eliminate all unusually colored animals. If so, then Jacob’s claim only referred to future births. When I read this I do not see Gen 30:35 as necessarily having this connotation, but it would not surprise me knowing the manipulative nature of Laban.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Jacobs Flocks Increase
Gen 30:25-43
There is little in this story to the credit of Jacob, and nothing to choose between him and Laban. They are well matched one against another; and if anything, Jacob excelled in cunning. The heir of the promises deals with the child of this world on the principles of which men of honor would refuse to make use. We feel inclined to pity Laban, who had never seen the angel-ladder, or shared the great promises which had surrounded the path of his relative. He trusted this man of the chosen tribe, but was to be woefully deceived. But are there not many professing Christians who are playing Jacobs part today? While holding high positions in the religious world, they stoop to practices to which men of the world would be no parties. We hear but little more of Laban, but Jacob is destined to pass through the fire of trouble, by which the dross will be consumed and his soul made white and purified.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Send me away: Gen 24:54, Gen 24:56
mine: Gen 18:33, Gen 31:55
and to: Gen 24:6, Gen 24:7, Gen 26:3, Gen 27:44, Gen 27:45, Gen 28:13, Gen 28:15, Gen 31:13, Act 7:4, Act 7:5, Heb 11:9, Heb 11:15, Heb 11:16
Reciprocal: Gen 29:30 – served Gen 31:3 – land Exo 18:23 – and all this
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
God Caused Jacob to Prosper After the seven years of service for Rachel were completed, Jacob told Laban he desired to return home. Laban did not want him to go because he knew God had made him wealthy through Jacob’s service. Jacob also acknowledged God had made Laban prosperous through him. For his wages, he asked to receive all the oddly colored animals from the flocks. Since speckled and spotted sheep and goats and black lambs are rare, Laban agreed to the arrangement. Laban then cut all the designated types of animals from the flock and sent them three days journey apart with his sons. He thus attempted to defraud Jacob. Through various superstitious tricks and selective breeding, Jacob sought to influence the types of young which would be brought forth from the flocks. Laban kept changing which animals Jacob was to receive. However, God is the one who blesses. So, Jacob’s flocks grew with the stronger types of animals ( Gen 30:25-43 ; Gen 31:7 ; Gen 31:9 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Gen 30:25-43. Jacob Grows Rich by Overreaching Laban.This is a difficult section. It is taken from JE. The analysis is uncertain. To J may be assigned Gen 30:25; Gen 30:27, Gen 30:29-31, Gen 30:35 f., to E Gen 30:26; Gen 30:28; Gen 30:33 f., while Gen 30:32 is to be divided between them. Genesis 30″3745 is in the main from J, but in its present form is barely intelligible. Two accounts of the bargain seem to be combined, though the fragmentary character and the state of Es text make reconstruction uncertain. According to E, Jacob takes out of Labans flock all the parti-coloured animals, and they are his pay. If at any time Laban finds animals of the normal colour in Jacobs flock, they may be taken as stolen. According to J, Jacob stipulates for no share in Labans present flock, but presumably for any abnormally coloured that may be born hereafter in the flock he tends for Laban. So Laban takes away all the abnormally coloured he has at present, and sends them right away three days journey from the flock Jacob has in charge, leaving him with the normally coloured animals only, thus, since they might be expected to have normally-coloured offspring, reducing Jacobs prospective share almost to vanishing point. In either case the proportion of abnormally coloured would be small, and Jacobs commission would appear to be paltry. Jacob then sets himself to defeat the ordinary course of nature on which Laban counted, and by placing the parti-coloured rods in the drinking-troughs before the females at coupling-time, secure parti-coloured offspring. The plan succeeded admirably; and as he employed it only in the case of the stronger animals, his flock grew sturdier and Labans more delicate.
Gen 30:27. divined: perhaps literally meant, perhaps simply discerned by observation.
Gen 30:32. The sheep in Syria are almost all white, the goats brown or black.
Gen 30:37 ff. The physiological principle is well established (Driver).
Gen 30:40. The Heb. is obscure and the text corrupt; and set . . . of Laban should probably be omitted as a gloss.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
9. Jacob’s new contract with Laban 30:25-43
Jacob and Laban ("White") made an agreement that each man felt he could manipulate to his own advantage. However, God sovereignly overruled to bless Jacob as He had promised in spite of Laban’s deceit and Jacob’s deviousness (cf. Job 5:13; Psa 7:15; 1Co 3:19).
As the previous pericope shows how Yahweh provided descendants for Jacob as He had promised (seed), this one demonstrates how He made Jacob wealthy (blessing). In both cases God acted in spite of and independent of the bickering, superstition, deceit, and disobedience of Jacob and his wives.
"By crossing the heterozygotes among themselves, Jacob would produce, according to the laws of heredity, twenty-five percent spotted sheep. Thus he multiplies his flock. Jacob has displayed ingenuity; he has not practiced deception.
"Jacob’s knowledge of zoology is far from primitive. But perhaps such knowledge has been given him by God, just as his son’s capacity to interpret dreams was a gift from God." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 284. Cf. Sarna, Understanding Genesis, p. 212; and Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 257.]
Jacob was evidently relying on a popular superstition, namely, that certain experiences of the mother during pregnancy influenced the condition of her offspring, to mislead Laban (Gen 30:37-39). At least one writer thought that Jacob was mistakenly counting on this custom to ensure fertility among his flocks.
"All marking of the offspring such as that which Jacob thought he was accomplishing in Laban’s flocks, is completely impossible. . . . In the placenta and umbilical cord, which constitutes the only connection between the mother and the fetus, there are no nerves. . . . Thus, absolutely no mechanism exists whereby the mother can mark her offspring in the way that Jacob thought he was accomplishing the marking." [Note: Frank L. Marsh, Studies in Creationism, pp. 368-69.]
Whether Jacob was very smart or very superstitious, the success of Jacob’s plan was due to the grace of God ultimately (cf. Gen 31:10-12).
"As with many of the tricks which Jacob attempts in these narratives, God blessed Jacob in spite of them, not because of or through them." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 196. Cf. Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 502.]
The herdsmen believed the stronger members of the flock mated in the summer and the weaker in the fall (Gen 30:41-42). [Note: See Martha A. Morrison, "The Jacob and Laban Narrative in Light of Near Eastern Sources," Biblical Archaeologist 46:3 (Summer 1983):155-64, which contains many helpful explanations of herding practices, contracts involving herding, marriage customs, and the significance of household gods.] Jacob’s ownership of camels (Gen 30:43) shows that he was very rich since these animals were rare and costly. [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 503.]
Jacob’s behavior was devious in that he sought to prosper at the expense of his employer. The text records that Jacob became very wealthy (Gen 30:43), but it does not say that his wealth was a blessing from God. Jacob made his own fortune, but the text says that God made Abraham rich. God allowed Jacob to become wealthy through his own toil and deception. God probably would have done more for Jacob than he could have done for himself if Jacob had placed himself under God’s authority. This is what God usually does.
The lesson of this section is that people who experience God’s material blessing need to acknowledge that it comes from Him rather than from their own abilities.