Genesis 30
30
1And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 2And 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? 3And 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. 4And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 5And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 6And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.#30.6 That is, Judging. 7And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. 8And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naph´tali.#30.8 That is, My wrestling.
9When Le´ah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. 10And Zilpah Le´ah's maid bare Jacob a son. 11And Le´ah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. 12And Zilpah Le´ah's maid bare Jacob a second son. 13And Le´ah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.#30.13 That is, Happy.
14And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Le´ah. Then Rachel said to Le´ah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. 15And 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 tonight for thy son's mandrakes. 16And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Le´ah 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. 17And God hearkened unto Le´ah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. 18And Le´ah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Is´sachar.#30.18 That is, An hire. 19And Le´ah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. 20And Le´ah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zeb´ulun.#30.20 That is, Dwelling. 21And afterward she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. 22And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. 23And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: 24and she called his name Joseph;#30.24 That is, Adding. and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.
The Trickery of Laban and Jacob
25And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 26Give 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. 27And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. 28And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. 29And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 30For 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? 31And 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. 32I will pass through all thy flock today, 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. 33So 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. 34And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35And he removed that day the he goats that were ring-streaked 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. 36And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 38And 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. 39And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-streaked, 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. 41And 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. 42But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.
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Genesis 30: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
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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