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Genesis 30
1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead (i.e. am I in GOD's position), who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
It was evident that Jacob wasn't the problem, as Leah had no issue having children, so for Rachel to make it seem as if it was Jacob's fault, you can understand why he wouldn't be happy with her. Basically he's letting her know to ask GOD if she wants children, not him, as all children come from GOD.
3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Here we basically see a repeat of what had happened during Sarah's (Sarai's) lifetime, back in Genesis 16; but this time occurring with Rebekah. Note that this was strictly in accordance with law 145 of the Code of Khammurabi. Unlike in Genesis 16 with Sarah (Sarai) and Hagar, there isn't any controversy with Rebekah and Bilhah. This quote "and she shall bear upon my knees" is a Hebrew idiom that simply means that Rebekah may adopt her children.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan (= a judge).
7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali (= wrestling).
9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad (= a troop).
12 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher (= happy).
14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar (= reward).
19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun (= a habitation).
21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah (= judged, acquitted).
22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
24 And she called his name Joseph (= increase); and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
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.
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.
I.e. Laban realized that with Jacob being around, that blessings were rubbing off on him too, especially with all the work Jacob had put in, serving him fourteen years, and as we can see, he didn't want him to leave.
28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
As we can see, Laban is trying to set Jacob up with another deal.
29 And he (Jacob) 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?
Remember back from the last chapter when Jacob first came to town, Laban only had three flocks of sheep which wasn't much. After Jacob had been around for over fourteen years, his flocks had grew into quite a large size.
31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: 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.
I.e. Jacob is going to receive all the speckled, spotted, and brown, while Laban will receive only the white, that way it will be easy to distinguish whose is whose.
34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
This was a deal that Laban really seemed to like.
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.
I.e. Jacob left it up to his sons to take care of his flocks, while Jacob would go on to take care of Laban's flocks.
36 And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them (i.e. peeled all the bark off), and made the white appear which was in the rods (i.e. Jacob is making a corral).
Here Jacob is going to outsmart Laban for all the times Laban has done him wrong. He's going to have it set up whereby when the flocks go to drink, they will have to pass by each other, whereby the males will meet the females and they can reproduce, and as result, all the livestock will be spotted whereby Jacob's flock will increase even more. This is one of the first examples of animal husbandry mentioned in GOD's WORD.
38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
I.e. the cattle would have to walk in-between these rods (posts) in order to drink and in doing so, they would meet the other which was tied to that post whereby they would conceive.
39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
40 And 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 Laban's cattle.
Jacob's flock is multiplying fast whereas Laban's flock isn't growing at all.
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.
I.e. Jacob had it setup whereby he picked only the strongest cattle to be placed at the end of the walk way, to the trough, that way when they drank and intermixed, the offspring would have a great chance of being strong and healthy.
42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
And so it is, Jacob became very rich after being treated very unfairly for several years by Laban.
2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead (i.e. am I in GOD's position), who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
It was evident that Jacob wasn't the problem, as Leah had no issue having children, so for Rachel to make it seem as if it was Jacob's fault, you can understand why he wouldn't be happy with her. Basically he's letting her know to ask GOD if she wants children, not him, as all children come from GOD.
3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Here we basically see a repeat of what had happened during Sarah's (Sarai's) lifetime, back in Genesis 16; but this time occurring with Rebekah. Note that this was strictly in accordance with law 145 of the Code of Khammurabi. Unlike in Genesis 16 with Sarah (Sarai) and Hagar, there isn't any controversy with Rebekah and Bilhah. This quote "and she shall bear upon my knees" is a Hebrew idiom that simply means that Rebekah may adopt her children.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan (= a judge).
7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali (= wrestling).
9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad (= a troop).
12 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher (= happy).
14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar (= reward).
19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun (= a habitation).
21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah (= judged, acquitted).
22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
24 And she called his name Joseph (= increase); and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
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.
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.
I.e. Laban realized that with Jacob being around, that blessings were rubbing off on him too, especially with all the work Jacob had put in, serving him fourteen years, and as we can see, he didn't want him to leave.
28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
As we can see, Laban is trying to set Jacob up with another deal.
29 And he (Jacob) 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?
Remember back from the last chapter when Jacob first came to town, Laban only had three flocks of sheep which wasn't much. After Jacob had been around for over fourteen years, his flocks had grew into quite a large size.
31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: 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.
I.e. Jacob is going to receive all the speckled, spotted, and brown, while Laban will receive only the white, that way it will be easy to distinguish whose is whose.
34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
This was a deal that Laban really seemed to like.
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.
I.e. Jacob left it up to his sons to take care of his flocks, while Jacob would go on to take care of Laban's flocks.
36 And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them (i.e. peeled all the bark off), and made the white appear which was in the rods (i.e. Jacob is making a corral).
Here Jacob is going to outsmart Laban for all the times Laban has done him wrong. He's going to have it set up whereby when the flocks go to drink, they will have to pass by each other, whereby the males will meet the females and they can reproduce, and as result, all the livestock will be spotted whereby Jacob's flock will increase even more. This is one of the first examples of animal husbandry mentioned in GOD's WORD.
38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
I.e. the cattle would have to walk in-between these rods (posts) in order to drink and in doing so, they would meet the other which was tied to that post whereby they would conceive.
39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
40 And 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 Laban's cattle.
Jacob's flock is multiplying fast whereas Laban's flock isn't growing at all.
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.
I.e. Jacob had it setup whereby he picked only the strongest cattle to be placed at the end of the walk way, to the trough, that way when they drank and intermixed, the offspring would have a great chance of being strong and healthy.
42 But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
And so it is, Jacob became very rich after being treated very unfairly for several years by Laban.