And 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.
41. the stronger ] A third device on Jacob’s part. He is careful, at the breeding season, to pick out only the finer animals before which to place the peeled rods. Hence he obtained for his own share the young of the better animals.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 41. Whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive] The word mekushsharoth, which we translate stronger, is understood by several of the ancient interpreters as signifying the early, first-born, or early spring cattle; and hence it is opposed to atuphim, which we translate feeble, and which Symmachus properly renders , cattle of the second birth, as he renders the word mekushsharoth by , cattle of the first or earliest birth. Now this does not apply merely to two births from the same female in one year, which actually did take place according to the rabbins, the first in Nisan, about our March, and the second in Tisri, about our September; but it more particularly refers to early and late lambs, c., in the same year as those that are born just at the termination of winter, and in the very commencement of spring, are every way more valuable than those which were born later in the same spring. Jacob therefore took good heed not to try his experiments with those late produced cattle, because he knew these would produce a degenerate breed, but with the early cattle, which were strong and vigorous, by which his breed must be improved. Hence the whole flock of Laban must be necessarily injured, while Jacob’s flock was preserved in a state of increasing perfection. All this proves a consummate knowledge in Jacob of his pastoral office. If extensive breeders in this country were to attend to the same plan, our breed would be improved in a most eminent degree. What a fund of instruction upon almost every subject is to be found in the sacred writings!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It is known that the cattle in those parts did conceive and bring forth twice in a year, at spring and in autumn; and it is supposed that the
stronger here mentioned, are such as joined in the spring, and the feeble they that joined in autumn.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive,…. Whose limbs were well compact, and were strong and healthy:
that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters,
that they might conceive among the rods; and bring forth party coloured ones, and such as were robust and strong like themselves; and this was another device of Jacob’s to get the best of the flock. Aben Ezra thinks this refers to the two seasons of the year, when the flocks conceived; the one was in Nisan, in the spring, and such as were brought on that conception were strong, and therefore Jacob chose to lay the rods in the gutters at that time, that he might have the best cattle; and so the Targum of Jonathan calls these here the forward ones, as it does those in Ge 30:42 we render feeble, the latter ones; which, according to Aben Ezra, conceived in Tisri or September, and what they brought were weak and feeble.
(Based on the laws of genetics, Jacob’s breeding of the best of the flock would produce higher quality offspring. Ed.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He 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 ( the bound ones, i.e., firm and compact), – Luther, “the spring flock;” inf. Pi. “to conceive it (the young);” – 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 only adopted this plan 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 (cf. Bochart l.c. p. 582). Jacob did this, possibly, less to spare Laban, than to avoid exciting suspicion, and so leading to the discovery of his trick. – In Gen 30:43 the account closes with the remark, that the man increased exceedingly, and became rich in cattle ( many head of sheep and goats) and slaves, without expressing approbation of Jacob’s conduct, or describing his increasing wealth as a blessing from God. The verdict is contained in what follows.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(41, 42) The stronger cattle . . . when the cattle were feeble.The words for strong and feeble are literally bound and covered, so that evidently we have technical terms, which Onkelos and the Syriac explain of the females at the two breeding seasons. The ewes in the spring, after the cold season, are bound, firmly knit together, and the lambs strong and healthy. The other word, covered, seems to mean seeking concealment, hiding away (Job. 23:9); and therefore faint, its meaning in Psa. 61:2, Psalms 102, title (Authorised Version, overwhelmed), and Isa. 57:16 (Authorised Version, fail). The autumn-born lambs are of no great value, and Jacob left them to the course of nature.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 30:41 And 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.
Ver. 41. The stronger cattle. ] Heb., Bound together, i.e., lusty and well set.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive: As the means which Jacob used would not in general produce similar effects, nay, probably the experiment was never in any other instance tried with effect, it is more in harmony with Divine truth to suppose that he was directed by some Divine intimation; and rendered successful, if not by a direct miracle, yet at least by the Lord’s giving a new and uncommon bias to the tendency of natural causes. Gen 30:41
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
30:41 And it came to pass, whensoever the {m} 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.
(m) As they which took the ram about September and brought forth about March: so the feebler in March and lamb in September.