Genesis 30
30
1And when Rahel saw that she bare Iaakob no children, Rahel enuied her sister, and said vnto Iaakob, Giue me children, or els I dye. 2Then Iaakobs anger was kindled against Rahel, and he sayde, Am I in Gods steade, which hath withholden from thee the fruite of the wombe? 3And she said, Behold my maide Bilhah, goe in to her, and she shall beare vpon my knees, and I shall haue children also by her. 4Then shee gaue him Bilhah her mayde to wife, and Iaakob went in to her. 5So Bilhah conceiued and bare Iaakob a sonne. 6Then said Rahel, God hath giuen sentence on my side, and hath also heard my voyce, and hath giuen mee a sonne: therefore called shee his name, Dan. 7And Bilhah Rahels maide coceiued againe, and bare Iaakob the second sonne. 8Then Rahel said, with excellent wrestlings haue I wrestled with my sister, and haue gotten the vpper hande: and shee called his name, Naphtali. 9And when Leah saw that she had left bearing, shee tooke Zilpah her mayde, and gaue her Iaakob to wife. 10And Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob a sonne. 11Then sayd Leah, A companie commeth: and she called his name, Gad. 12Againe Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob another sonne. 13Then sayde Leah, Ah, blessed am I, for the daughters will blesse me. and she called his name, Asher. 14Nowe Reuben went in the dayes of the wheateharuest, and founde mandrakes in the fielde and brought them vnto his mother Leah. Then sayde Rahel to Leah, Giue me, I pray thee, of thy sonnes mandrakes. 15But shee answered her, Is it a small matter for thee to take mine husband, except thou take my sonnes mandrakes also? Then sayde Rahel, Therefore he shall sleepe with thee this night for thy sonnes mandrakes. 16And Iaakob came from the fielde in the euening, and Leah went out to meete him, and sayde, Come in to mee, for I haue bought and payed for thee with my sonnes mandrakes: and he slept with her that night. 17And God heard Leah and shee conceiued, and bare vnto Iaakob the fift sonne. 18Then said Leah, God hath giuen me my reward, because I gaue my mayde to my husband, and she called his name Issachar. 19After, Leah conceiued againe, and bare Iaakob the sixt sonne. 20Then Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowrie: nowe will mine husband dwell with me, because I haue borne him sixe sonnes: and she called his name Zebulun. 21After that, shee bare a daughter, and shee called her name Dinah. 22And God remembred Rahel, and God heard her, and opened her wombe. 23So she conceiued and bare a sonne, and said, God hath taken away my rebuke. 24And shee called his name Ioseph, saying, The Lord wil giue me yet another sonne. 25And assoone as Rahel had borne Ioseph, Iaakob said to Laban, Sende me away that I may go vnto my place and to my countrey. 26Giue me my wiues and my children, for whom I haue serued thee, and let me go: for thou knowest what seruice I haue done thee. 27To whom Laban answered, If I haue nowe found fauour in thy sight tarie: I haue perceiued that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. 28Also he said, Appoynt vnto me thy wages, and I will giue it thee. 29But he sayd vnto him, Thou knowest, what seruice I haue done thee, and in what taking thy cattell hath bene vnder me. 30For the litle, that thou haddest before I came, is increased into a multitude: and the Lord hath blessed thee by my comming: but nowe when shall I trauell for mine owne house also? 31Then he saide, What shall I giue thee? And Iaakob answered, Thou shalt giue mee nothing at all: if thou wilt doe this thing for mee, I will returne, feede, and keepe thy sheepe. 32I wil passe through all thy flockes this day, and separate from them all the sheepe with litle spots and great spots, and al blacke lambes among the sheepe, and the great spotted, and litle spotted among the goates: and it shalbe my wages. 33So shall my righteousnesse answere for me hereafter, when it shall come for my rewarde before thy face, and euery one that hath not litle or great spots among the goates, and blacke among the sheepe, the same shalbe theft with me. 34Then Laban sayde, Goe to, woulde God it might be according to thy saying. 35Therefore he tooke out the same day the hee goates that were partie coloured and with great spots, and all the shee goates with litle and great spots, and all that had white in them, and all the blacke among the sheepe, and put them in the keeping of his sonnes. 36And hee set three dayes iourney betweene himselfe and Iaakob. And Iaakob kept the rest of Labans sheepe. 37Then Iaakob tooke rods of greene popular, and of hasell, and of the chesnut tree, and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appeare in the rods. 38Then he put the rods, which he had pilled, in the gutters and watering troughes, when the sheepe came to drink, before the sheepe. (for they were in heate, when they came to drinke) 39And the sheepe were in heate before the rods, and afterward brought forth yong of partie colour, and with small and great spots. 40And Iaakob parted these lambes, and turned the faces of the flocke towardes these lambes partie coloured and all maner of blacke, among the sheepe of Laban: so hee put his owne flockes by themselues, and put them not with Labans flocke. 41And in euery ramming time of the stronger sheepe, Iaakob layde the rods before the eyes of the sheepe in the gutters, that they might conceiue before the rods. 42But when the sheepe were feeble, hee put them not in: and so the feebler were Labans, and the stronger Iaakobs. 43So the man increased exceedingly, and had many flockes, and maide seruantes, and men seruants, and camels and asses.
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Genesis 30: GNV
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PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 30
30
Battle of the Brides
1When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, her jealousy toward her sister simmered. So, she said to Jacob, “Give me sons, or I’ll die!” # 30:1 Ironically, Rachel died while giving birth to her second son (see Gen. 35:16–19).
2Jacob became furious with Rachel and said, “Am I God? He’s the one keeping you from bearing children!” 3She replied, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her. She can be my surrogate; then I can have children through her # 30:3 Literally, “that she may bear upon my knees,” a Hebrew figurative expression that refers to the practice of obtaining children through the service of another woman and legally adopting the child as one’s own. See Gen. 50:23 and footnote; Job 3:12. and build a family.” # 30:3 Or “I will be built up through her.”
4So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob as another wife, and Jacob slept with her. 5And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son, 6and Rachel named him Dan, saying, “God has vindicated me. # 30:6 Or “judged me [decided in my favor].” The name Dan sounds like the Hebrew verb meaning “to judge.” The Hebrew contains a wordplay on his name—“God has vindicated [dananni] me.” He heard my voice and gave me a son.” 7Then her servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Rachel named him Naphtali, saying, “I have wrestled mightily # 30:8 The name Naphtali means “wrestle,” “contest,” “struggle,” or “fight.” The Hebrew reads “with wrestling of ’elohim,” posing an interpretive problem. There are three ways to understand this phrase: (1) Many scholars see ’elohim as a descriptive term of intensity meaning “great” or “might.” (2) Some interpret this statement as Rachel wrestling with God for his favor. (3) Some see it as describing a mysterious struggle or “fateful contest [of God]” or “playing a trick on her sister.” In any case, this was one troubled home. As Jacob had struggled with his older brother, Rachel now struggled with her older sister. with my sister, and I won!”
9Meanwhile, when Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as another wife. 10-11Zilpah bore Jacob a son, and Leah named him Gad, saying, “What good fortune!” # 30:10–11 The name Gad means “good fortune” or “good luck has come.” 12Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13and Leah named him Asher, saying, “Oh happy day! # 30:13 The name Asher means “happy.” All the women will say, ‘She’s happy now!’ ”
14One day, during wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrake plants # 30:14 Mandrakes, or “love apples,” had an erotic connotation and were considered in that culture to have aphrodisiac properties. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sex, was known as the “Lady of the Mandrake.” The Hebrew root for “mandrake” is similar to the word for “love.” in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15Leah replied, “You already took away the affection of my husband, so now you’re going to take my son’s mandrakes, too?”
Rachel said, “All right then, I’ll let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for some of your son’s mandrakes.”
16That evening, when Jacob was coming home from the field, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me tonight, for I’ve paid for your services with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with Leah that night. 17God listened compassionately to Leah’s cry, she became pregnant, and bore Jacob a fifth son, 18whom she named Issachar, saying, “God rewarded # 30:18 The name Issachar comes from the Hebrew word for “reward.” me for giving my maidservant to my husband.”
19Once again, Leah conceived and bore Jacob a sixth son, 20whom she named Zebulun, saying, “God has given me good gifts for my husband! Now he will accept # 30:20 The name Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew word for “honor,” “raise up,” or “accept.” me, for I’ve given him six sons.” 21Lastly, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. # 30:21 Dinah means “judgment” or “vindication.”
22God listened to Rachel’s heart-cry, and had compassion # 30:22 Or “God remembered.” on her, and made her fertile.
23-24She conceived, and bore a son, and named him Joseph, saying, “God has taken away my disgrace. May Yahweh add # 30:23–24 The name Joseph means “he adds [another].” to me another son.”
Jacob Makes a Deal with Laban
25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Release me to go back home to my homeland. 26You know how hard I’ve worked for you these many years to finish paying for my two wives. Give them to me along with my children, and I’ll be on my way.”
27Laban countered, “If you please, I have learned by divine inquiry # 30:27 Or “by divination [omens, astrology, fortune-tellers].” God forbid divination among his people (see Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:10, 14.) that I have become prosperous because of you and the blessing of Yahweh that’s on your life. 28Just name your price, and I’ll give it to you.”
29Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you and how your livestock has increased under my care. 30The little you had before I came has multiplied greatly, for Yahweh has blessed you wonderfully because I am here. # 30:30 Literally, “according to my foot,” a figure of speech for “because I am here [working for you].” But now, I need to provide for my own family, too.”
31So Laban asked, “What should I give you?”
“Nothing,” Jacob replied, “You don’t need to give me a thing. If you will do but one thing for me, I will continue to care for your flocks: 32Just let me pass through all your flocks today and take out every speckled and spotted sheep or goat, and every black lamb. That’s all the payment I ask. 33And in the future, when you review my wages, the integrity of my dealings with you will be obvious. If you find any animal among mine that is not speckled, spotted, or black, then you will know that I stole it.”
34“Agreed!” Laban said. “We’ll do what you’ve suggested.” 35But that same day, Laban secretly removed all the male and female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had white on them) and all the black lambs and left them under the care of his sons. 36He set a distance of a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37Jacob, however, cut green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled back part of their bark, to expose the white inner wood of the branches. 38Then he set the partially peeled branches inside the water troughs where the goats would see them when they came to drink. 39For they mated when they came to the water troughs, and as they lowered their heads to drink, they saw the stripped branches in front of their eyes. Miraculously # 30:39 These were not simply principles of animal husbandry, but a divine miracle revealed to Jacob through a dream (see Gen. 31:10–13). God always uses unique and puzzling methods to perform a miracle. He may require bathing seven times in the Jordan River (see 2 Kings 5:10), parting the Red Sea (see Ex. 14), or having the sun stand still (see Josh. 10:13–14). God displayed his creative power through the birth of these multicolored young goats. Perhaps the miracle teaches us that what we see or gaze upon can impregnate us with the object of our vision, for you can determine what you conceive by what you behold. What you set your gaze upon is what you will give birth to. they gave birth to streaked, speckled, and spotted young. 40But with the mating ewes, on the other hand, he made them face the streaked or completely black animals in Laban’s flock. By doing this, he produced his own special flocks, which he didn’t allow to mingle with Laban’s. 41Moreover, every time the stronger females were in heat, Jacob laid the partially peeled branches in the water troughs in front of the flock, so that they would mate among the branches. 42But he didn’t place the branches in front of the scrawny goats when they mated, leaving the feeble animals for Laban and the stronger for himself. 43In this way, Jacob quickly grew very wealthy and owned large flocks, a great number of camels and donkeys, and many male and female servants.
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