Genesis 29:31 to Genesis 30:24. Birth of Jacob's Children 31 35 (J); Genesis 30:1-24 (J, E and P) In this section is narrated the account of the birth of eleven sons and one daughter. Six of the sons, viz. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, and the daughter Dinah, are the children... [ Continue Reading ]
_envied_ The desire for children and the dread of the reproach of childlessness are frequently referred to in Scripture, e.g. 1 Samuel 1. In this chapter the childlessness of Rachel should be compared with that of Sarah and Rebekah (Genesis 16:5; Genesis 25:21). It is part of the discipline of the c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Am I in God's stead_ See Genesis 50:19. For God as the author and giver of human life, cf. Genesis 16:2; Genesis 29:31; 1 Samuel 1:5. A similar exclamation occurs in 2 Kings 5:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
_bear upon my knees_ By this phrase Rachel means that she will recognize and adopt as her own the children by her handmaid, Bilhah. For the phrase, cf. Genesis 50:23; Job 3:12. The child being received on the knees of the parent was regarded as being accepted into the family. The words retain the tr... [ Continue Reading ]
_judged_ Heb. _dan_, "he judged." When Rachel says "he has judged me," she means "God has decided in my favour." For this use of "judge" in the sense of "vindicate," cf. Psalms 43:1, "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause"; Psalms 54:1, "Save me, O God, … and judge me." The name "Dan" is possibly an a... [ Continue Reading ]
_mighty wrestlings_ Heb. _wrestlings of God_. The "wrestlings of God" may mean either "mighty wrestlings," "of God" being added as an intensive or superlative (cf. Genesis 23:6, "a mighty prince"); or "wrestlings," i.e. "strugglings in prayer for God's blessing" of children. The original meaning has... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fortunate_ Heb. _with fortune_! Another reading is, _Fortune is come_. The versions (LXX ἐν τύχῃ = "with fortune," Lat. _feliciter_) follow the reading of the Hebrew text (_Ke'thîb_). The other reading, followed by the Massoretic tradition (_Ḳerî_), is found in the Targum of Onkelos. Gad seems to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_call me happy_ Heb. _asher_, to call happy. The "daughters" are probably the daughters of the land. Cf. Song of Solomon 6:9, "the daughters saw her and called her blessed"; cf. Luke 1:48. These two Hebrew traditional etymologies do not exclude the possibility that the names of Asher and Gad may hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_mandrakes_ R.V. marg. _love-apples_. The mandrake (_mandragora vernalis_) is a tuberous plant, with yellow plumlike fruit. It was supposed to act as a love-charm. It ripens in May, which suits the mention (Genesis 30:14) of wheat harvest. It has an odour of musk; cf. Song of Solomon 7:13, "the mand... [ Continue Reading ]
_hire_ Heb. _sâchâr_= "wages," "reward." _Issachar_ The name receives a twofold explanation, in its derivation from _sâchâr_: (1) as the passive of the verb, in the sense of "he shall be hired or rewarded"; (2) as the combination of _îsh_, "man," and _sâchâr_, "hire," i.e. "a man of hire." In Genes... [ Continue Reading ]
_dwell_ Heb. _zabal_, "he dwelt." In this verse we have two explanations of the name "Zebulun." In the first clause Leah says "God has endowed (_zabad_) me with a good dowry (_zebed_)"; cf. the names Zabdi (Joshua 7:1) and Zebedee (Mark 1:19). In the second clause the derivation is taken from the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Dinah_ This name must have been similar in meaning to that of Dan; cf. Genesis 30:6. This is the only daughter of Jacob whose name is mentioned. The "daughters" in Genesis 37:35; Genesis 46:7, may have been daughters-in-law. It is noticeable that no mention of Dinah is made in Genesis 32:22, where... [ Continue Reading ]
_God hath taken away_ The Hebrew for "hath taken away" (_âsaph_) is clearly regarded as one etymology of the name Joseph. _my reproach_ See note on Genesis 30:1. Cf. Isaiah 4:1, "Take thou away our reproach"; Luke 1:25, "to take away my reproach among men.... [ Continue Reading ]
_add_ Heb. _jôsêph_. This clause gives another etymology of the name Joseph from _yâsaph_, "he hath added." These two traditional interpretations of the name are taken, the one from E, the other from J narrative. According to E, the name means _âsaph Elohim_, "God hath taken away"; according to J, i... [ Continue Reading ]
(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... [ Continue Reading ]
_my wives and my children_ Jacob's request implies that Laban as the head of the family possessed control over his married daughters and their children, who were included in Jacob's wages.... [ Continue Reading ]
_If now I have found_, &c. Cf. Genesis 18:3; Genesis 33:10 (J). Laban's sentence is unfinished. The words "tarry: for" are inserted to complete the aposeiopesis. Laban wishes to retain Jacob, and to propitiate him with flattering words. The bargain so far has been all in his favour. _I have divined_... [ Continue Reading ]
_increased_ Heb. _broken forth_. See Genesis 28:14. _whithersoever I turned_ Heb. _at my foot_. For the same idiom, cf. Isaiah 41:2 (text and marg.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will pass_, &c. Jacob's proposal to Laban is that he should serve for a wage, to be given, not in money, but in animals. The sheep in Syria are nearly always white, and the goats black; cf. Song of Solomon 4:1. Jacob asks that his wage should consist of the sheep that were not white and the goats... [ Continue Reading ]
_my righteousness_ i.e. my uprightness, honesty, and straightness of dealing. _answer for me_ i.e. "testify with regard to me"; or, better, as in 1 Samuel 12:3; 2 Samuel 1:16, "witness against me." _every one that is not_ Jacob promises that, when Laban visits his flocks, if he shall find among th... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the hand of his sons_ Laban in accepting Jacob's offer determines to make the very best of the new arrangement. Any parti-coloured goats, and any black sheep in his flock, "he removed that day," and put into the keeping of his own sons, so that they might not afterwards be claimed by Jacob. Ja... [ Continue Reading ]
_three days" journey_ In order to prevent the least possibility of confusion or of intermingling, Laban separates his sons" flocks by a great distance from those which Jacob is to tend.... [ Continue Reading ]
_poplar_ R.V. marg. _storax tree_. The Hebrew name is _libneh_, and is probably connected with the word _laban_, meaning "white." By some it is identified with the _styrax officinalis_. _plane tree_ In the Hebrew _-armon_, i.e. "naked," a name derived from the annual scaling of the bark of the tree... [ Continue Reading ]
_over against_ Jacob places the white peeled rods in front of the flocks, when they come to drink at the breeding season. It was the popular belief that such objects, being presented to the eye at such a season, would be likely to affect the colouring of the progeny. _gutters_ This word is explaine... [ Continue Reading ]
_set the faces … Laban_ This is a very obscure sentence in the original. It probably describes a second device practised by Jacob. At the breeding time he caused the ewes which belonged to Laban to pasture within view of his own parti-coloured and black animals, in order to increase the tendency of... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the feebler … the stronger_ These words were a difficulty to the versions. LXX τὰ ἄσημα … τὰ ἐπίσημα, Lat. _quae erant serotina … quae primi temporis_. So Aq. Sym. πρώϊμα ὄψιμα, and Targum of Onkelos "early" and "late," referring to the time of breeding. The earlier breeding sheep were the stronger... [ Continue Reading ]
_increased exceedingly_ Cf. the description of the wealth of Abraham and Isaac, Genesis 13:2; Genesis 24:35; Genesis 26:13-14. Cf. Shakespeare, _Merchant of Venice_, Act i. Scene iii.: " _Shy_. mark what Jacob did. When Laban and himself were compromised That all the eanlings which were streak'd... [ Continue Reading ]