Genesis 30:1-43
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, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
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.
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
7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With greatb wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
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.c
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.
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.d
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.e
21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.f
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;g 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.
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 increasedh 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 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 timei 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.
37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Genesis 30:2. Am I in God's stead. Rachel's impatience provoked Jacob's anger, because she asked of man whist was the prerogative of God to give. The rabbins remark here, that God keeps in his own hands the four grand keys of nature. First, the key of life or generation; secondly, the key of bread; thirdly, the key of rain, Deuteronomy 28:12; fourthly, the key of the grave, or resurrection from the dead. Ezekiel 37:12. Those favours of posterity are to be asked in prayer, and with all deference and submission to the Father of spirits.
Genesis 30:3. She shall bear upon my knees; that the child might be free born, and adopted from its birth. By these privileges it became heir of the wealth and hopes of the family; and with this view a dotal maid was usually given with a lady on her marriage, as a precaution against the want of issue.
Genesis 30:11. A troop cometh, and she called his name Gad. From this birth, Leah augured a numerous progeny to Jacob; yea, a troop or army of descendants. The apostate Israelites gave the name of Gad to the altars which they built to prosperity, as in the note on Isaiah 65:11. Gad is also used to designate happiness.
Genesis 30:13. She called his name Asher; that is, blessed.
Genesis 30:14. Mandrakes. We do not know what sort of fruit these were. Augustine says he once saw some. They were beautiful in appearance, fragrant in smell, but insipid in the taste. Song of Solomon 7:13. Some think they were apples of that name.
Genesis 30:18. She called his name Issachar; that is, hire.
Genesis 30:20. She called his name Zebulon; that is, a dwelling, or a little habitation.
Genesis 30:24. Joseph, that is, addition.
Genesis 30:37. Made the white appear. The human fœtus is often marked in the mother's womb with blood, or with the shape of red and purple fruits; but when do we see cattle devoid of reason, so marked? Though we presume not to deny the influence of those rods, yet it is safer to say that God gave Jacob the cattle.
Genesis 30:38. The rods which he had peeled. This was a mere prejudice of the ancient shepherds. The rods, however they were peeled, could not procure these effects on the cattle. It was God therefore who graciously blessed him with substance. But with regard to women, there have been many occurrences in natural history, which strongly corroborate what is here asserted of the effects of the imagination, &c. Vide Poli. syn. crit. in loc. An Ethiopian lady once had a white child, which made a great deal of talk; but as no one could impeach the lady's chastity, the physicians at length ascribed the cause to a portrait of Andromache, which hung in the lady's bedchamber.
REFLECTIONS.
From the painful feelings of Rachel at the happiness and prosperity of Leah, let us endeavour never to envy another in regard to the wealth, honour, talents, or advantages they may enjoy, of which we are for the present deprived. Having God, the alsufficient God for our portion, let us be content with our lot.
Was Rachel so afflicted for the want of children as to be on the point of dying with anguish and grief? How much more should ministers of the gospel travail, that children of the promise may be converted under their word. Oh, how afflictive to a faithful minister, to see his audience crowded from week to week, and yet to hear of no conversions! Let him weep, and grieve, and pray for success. Tears will soften his soul, devotion will raise him up to God, and heaven will descend with his ministry in more fruitful showers of grace. The God who pitied Rachel, will not forget the weeping pastor of his flock.
Was Laban poor when Jacob arrived; and did God in fourteen years bless him exceedingly by Jacob's industry and superior skill? How happy is a man, surrounded by religious and faithful servants; how happy is the house where the ark of God abides. But oh blessed man, be not content with the inferior gifts, look for the double portion promised in the covenant. God will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Did Jacob serve Laban faithfully in three successive engagements, though the terms were apparently hard? He is then a fine example to young men who enjoy the honourable liberty of serving their fathers. Let them be faithful in the discharge of every duty as unto God, and they shall reap the rewards here in peace of conscience, in temporal happiness, and the works of virtue shall not be forgotten in the life to come.
But did Laban deceive Jacob, and change his wages ten times? Let parents learn to keep faith with their children, and not to provoke them. To envy another in his prosperity is sinful, and much more unnatural to envy a son- in-law, in whose children the parents still survive. God requires fidelity in all men; and peculiarly so in persons so nearly connected. Blessed is the man that hath sworn to his hurt, and keepeth his word: he shall ascend into the holy hill of the Lord. Psalms 15:4. This is the high morality of our scriptures; and godliness with contentment is great gain.
In the extraordinary prosperity of Jacob we see farther, the faithfulness of God to his covenant and promises. And indeed, while a man continues to walk with God, it is a continued chain of blessedness here, and the fulness of felicity for ever.