I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be considered stolen.”
Laban said, “Behold, let it be according to your word.”
That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. He set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, and plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink. The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in Laban’s flock. He put his own droves apart, and didn’t put them into Laban’s flock. Whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, Jacob laid the rods in front of the eyes of the flock in the watering troughs, that they might conceive among the rods; but when the flock were feeble, he didn’t put them in. So the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 37, 43 33. So shall my righteousness answer for me. Literally…
33. So shall my righteousness answer for me. Literally it is, “My righteousness shall answer in me.” But the particle בי (bi) signifies to me or for me The sense, however, is clear, that Jacob does not expect success, except through his faith and integrity. Respecting the next clause, interpreters differ. For some read, “When thou shalt come to my reward.” But others, translating in the third person, explain it of righteousness, which shall come to the reward, or to the remunerating of Jacob. Although either sense will suit the passage, I rather refer it to righteousness; because it is immediately added, “before thee.” For it would be an improper form of expression, “Thou wilt come before thine own eyes to my reward.” It now sufficiently appears what Jacob meant. For he declares that he hoped for a testimony of his faith and uprightness from the Lord, in the happy result of his labors, as if he had said, “The Lord who is the best judge and vindicator of my righteousness, will indeed show with what sincerity and faithfulness I have hitherto conducted myself.” And though the Lord often permits sinners to be enriched by wicked arts, and suffers them to acquire abundant gain by seizing the goods of others as their own: this proves no exception to the rule, that his blessing is the ordinary attendant on good faith and equity. Wherefore, Jacob justly gave this token of his fidelity, that he committed the success of his labors to the Lord, in order that his integrity might hence be made manifest. The sense of the words is now clear, “My righteousness shall openly testify for me, because it will voluntarily come to remunerate me; and that so obviously, that it shall not he hidden even from thee.” A tacit reproof is couched in this language, intimating that Laban should feel how unjustly he had withheld the wages of the holy man, and that God would shortly show, by the result, how wickedly he had dissembled respecting his own obligation to him. For there is an antithesis to be understood between the future and the past time, when he says, “Tomorrow (or in time to come) it will answer for me,” since indeed, yesterday and the day before, he could extort no justice from Laban.
Every one that is not speckled and spotted. Jacob binds himself to the crime and punishment of theft, if he should take away any unspotted sheep from the flock: as if he would say, “Shouldst thou find with me anything unspotted, I am willing to be charged as a thief; because I require nothing to be given to me but the spotted lambs.” Some expound the words otherwise, “Whatsoever thou shalt find deficient in thy flock, require of me, as if I had stolen it;” but this appears to me a forced interpretation.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41 Or, rid.
Or, rid.
Or, separate thou.
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That which shall hereafter be thus spotted.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 Gen 30:32 I will pass through all thy flock…
Gen 30:32 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.
Ver. 32. And of such shall be my hire.] As white and black sheep were most set by in Mesopotamia, so were the variously coloured in Palestine, Jacob’s country; whence the shepherds there are called Nochudim ,{ Amo 1:1} that is, keepers of spotted cattle. This might be a reason why Jacob desires to be paid in such; and, perhaps, had learned that skill there which he used in the following verses.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv32–41 Speckled and spotted cattle, which may seem to be…
Speckled and spotted cattle, which may seem to be thus distinguished; speckled with little spots, and spotted with greater spots or stains, both of diverse colours from the rest of the body. Or, the speckled may be the same with the ring-straked, by comparing this with Gen 30:35.
All the brown cattle; or black, or dark-coloured; for the Hebrew word signifies also great heat which produceth such a colour.
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Of such shall be my hire; or, then shall be my hire; and for then, as is frequent in Scripture. The sense is: Then, when the speckled, and spotted, and brown are separated, and none but white remaining, my hire shall be out of those white ones, and that in such manner as is expressed in Gen 30:33, all the white young ones shall be thine, and the speckled, and spotted, and brown which shall be brought forth by those white ones shall be mine.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v37 Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his bargain…
Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be. If he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been a bad bargain indeed, which he knew Laban would never consider, or rather would be well pleased to see him a loser by, so little did Laban consult any one's interest but his own. Now Jacob's contrivances were, 1. To set peeled sticks before the cattle where they were watered, that, looking much at those unusual party-coloured sticks, by the power of imagination they might bring forth young ones in like manner party-coloured, Gen 30:37-39. Probably this custom was commonly used by the shepherds of Canaan, who coveted to have their cattle of this motley colour. Note, It becomes a man to be master of his trade, whatever it is, and to be not only industrious, but ingenious in it, and to be versed in all its lawful arts and mysteries; for what is a man but his trade? There is a discretion which God teaches the husbandman (as plain a trade as that is), and which he ought to learn, Isa 28:26. 2. When he began to have a stock of ringstraked and brown, he contrived to set them first, and to put the faces of the rest towards them, with the same design as in the former contrivance; but would not let his own, that were of one colour, Gen 30:40. Strong impressions, it seems, are made by the eye, with which therefore we have need to make a covenant. 3. When he found that his project succeeded, through the special blessing of God upon it, he contrived, by using it only with the stronger cattle, to secure to himself those that were most valuable, leaving the feebler to Laban, Gen 30:41, Gen 30:42. Thus Jacob increased exceedingly (Gen 30:43), and grew very rich in a little time. This success of his policy, it is true, was not sufficient to justify it, if there had been any thing fraudulent or unjust in it, which we are sure there was not, for he did it by divine direction (Gen 31:12); nor was there any thing in the thing itself but the honest improvement of a fair bargain, which the divine providence wonderfully prospered, both in justice to Jacob whom Laban had wronged and dealt hardly with and in pursuance of the particular promises made to him of the tokens of the divine favour, Note, Those who, while their beginning is small, are humble and honest, contented and industrious, are in a likely way to see their latter end greatly increasing. He that is faithful in a little shall be entrusted with more. He that is faithful in that which is another man's shall be entrusted with something of his own. Jacob, who had been a just servant, became a rich master.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv32–39 And he set three days' journey between himself and…
And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob,.... Not three days' journey for a man, but for cattle; this distance there was between the place where Laban and his sons kept the spotted, speckled, and brown cattle, and that in which Jacob kept the flock only consisting of white sheep; and this was done, that the flocks might not be mixed, and that there might be no opportunity to take any of the spotted ones, and that they might not stray into Jacob's flock; or lest any of his seeing them might bring forth the like, such precaution was used:
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock; those that remained after the spotted, speckled, and brown were taken out; and Jacob having none but white sheep, there was no great likelihood, according to the course of nature, of his having much for his hire; since he was only to have the spotted, speckled, and brown ones that came from them, and generally like begets like; and, according to the Jewish writers (p), those that were committed to his care were old and barren, and sick, and infirm, that so he might have no profit from them.
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(p) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 73. fol. 64. 1. Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv34, 37 Laban was willing to consent to this bargain, because…
Laban was willing to consent to this bargain, because he thought if those few he had that were now speckled and spotted were separated from the rest, which was to be done immediately, the body of the flock which Jacob was to tend, being of one colour, either all black or all white, would produce few or none of mixt colours, and so he should have Jacob's service for nothing, or next to nothing. According to this bargain, those few that were party-coloured were separated, and put into the hands of Laban's sons, and sent three days journey off: so great was Laban's jealouly lest any of those should mix with the rest of the flock to the advantage of Jacob.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv32, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43 Verse 32. I will pass through all thy flock]…
Verse 32. I will pass through all thy flock] צאן tson, implying, as we have before seen, all smaller cattle, such as sheep, goats, c.
All the speckled and spotted cattle] שה seh, which we translate cattle, signifies the young either of sheep or goats, what we call a lamb or a kid. Speckled, נקד nakod, signifies interspersed with variously coloured spots.
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Spotted] טלוא talu, spotted with large spot either of the same or different colours, from טלא tala, to patch, to make party-coloured or patch-work see Eze 16:16. I have never seen such sheep as are here described but in the islands of Zetland. There I have seen the most beautiful brown, or fine chocolate colour among the sheep; and several of the ring-streaked, spotted, speckled, and piebald among the same; and some of the latter description I have brought over, and can exhibit a specimen of Jacob's flock brought from the North Seas, feeding in Middlesex.
And all the brown] חום chum. I should rather suppose this to signify a lively brown, as the root signifies to be warm or hot.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv32, 34, 35, 37, 40, 43 Gen 30:32. Removing all the speckled and spotted —…
Gen 30:32. Removing all the speckled and spotted — He does not mean, that those cattle which were already speckled and spotted, &c., should be given him; for that does not agree with what went before: Thou shalt not give me any thing, that is, I will take nothing that is now thine. Besides, it would have been no wonder if those that were spotted already should bring forth others like themselves. But the sense is, that he would separate all the spotted sheep and goats, and then, out of those which were of one colour, would have all that should fall hereafter of the before-mentioned variety. Jacob desired to make a clear bargain, about which they might have no disputes. Had they agreed for a particular number of cattle every year, there might have been room for cavil and suspicions; for if any of the flock had by accident been lost, they might have differed whether Jacob’s or Laban’s were the lost cattle. But, to prevent all possible disputes, “Let me,” says Jacob, “have all the speckled and spotted cattle, and then, whenever you have a mind to look into my stock, my integrity will come before your face,” or be conspicuous, which is the meaning of the next verse.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 35, 40, 42 Speckled; from those which are all of one colour.…
Speckled; from those which are all of one colour. Those which should be of the former description must belong to Jacob, while all the black and the white should be Laban’s. --- Brown, or of a dull mixture of white and black. --- Spotted, having large patches of either colour. --- Divers, little spots variegating the fleece. (Menochius) --- The original is extremely obscure. Jacob asks only for the worst; the speckled sheep and goats, also the black sheep and the white goats, ver. 35. (Bochart.) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv32, 37, 38 I will pass through all thy flock to-day--Eastern sheep…
I will pass through all thy flock to-day--Eastern sheep being generally white, the goats black, and spotted or speckled ones comparatively few and rare, Jacob proposed to remove all existing ones of that description from the flock, and to be content with what might appear at the next lambing time. The proposal seemed so much in favor of Laban, that he at once agreed to it. But Jacob has been accused of taking advantage of his uncle, and though it is difficult to exculpate him from practising some degree of dissimulation, he was only availing himself of the results of his great skill and experience in the breeding of cattle. But it is evident from the next chapter (Gen 31:5-13) that there was something miraculous and that the means he had employed had been suggested by a divine intimation.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 35, 37, 40, 42 32. Brown cattle among the sheep… spotted and speckled…
32. Brown cattle among the sheep… spotted and speckled among the goats — The Syrian sheep are said to be usually all white, and the goats black or brown. This seems to have been the case with Laban’s flocks, so that Jacob’s proposition would leave Laban with by far the larger proportion of the flocks and their probable increase.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43 32. I will pass, &c.] Jacob’s proposal to Laban…
32. 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. Son_4:1. Jacob asks that his wage should consist of the sheep that were not white and the goats that were not black. Laban’s flocks would be, according to this arrangement, the great mass of the animals. To Jacob’s share would fall the exceptions, the spotted and black among the sheep, the spotted and speckled among the goats.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43 (32) The speckled and spotted cattle (sheep).—In the East…
(32) The speckled and spotted cattle (sheep).—In the East sheep are generally white, and goats black or brown. Jacob, therefore, proposes that all such shall belong to Laban, but that the parti-coloured should be his hire. By “speckled” are meant those sheep and goats that had small spots upon their coats, and by “spotted,” those that had large patches of another colour. Besides these, Jacob is to have all “brown cattle,” that is, sheep, for the word “cattle” is usually now confined to kine, which was not the case 200 years ago. This translation is taken from Rashi, but the word usually signifies black. Philippsohn says that black sheep are seldom seen in the East, but that sheep of a blackish-red colour are common. In Gen_30:35 we have another word, “ring-straked,” that is, having the colours in stripes. This is never the case with sheep, but goats often have their coats thus definitely marked.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv32–43 I will pass through all thy flock today, wrongly…
I will pass through all thy flock today, wrongly rendered parelqetw panta tabata sou (LXX), gyra per omnes greges tuos (Vulgate) as if Jacob proposed that the separation of the flocks should be effected by Laban, and not by himselfremoving from thence not remove thou, as if the verb were imperative (Rosenm Murphy, Kalisch), but "to remove," the verb being in the inf. (Keil; cf. Ewald, "Hebrews Synt.," all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. Since in Oriental countries sheep are commonly white and goats black, the number of speckled and spotted animals (i.e. sheep with little spots and largo patches of black, and goats with little or large points of white, in their hair) would be unusually small. And of such shall be my hirei.e. the dark-spotted or entirely black sheep and white or white-speckled goats were to be Jacob"s reward (Knobel, Delitzsch, Keil, Lunge), which was to be subsequently increased by whatever speckled animals might appear among the one-colored flocks; but it seems more probable that Jacob only claimed the latter, and, both to make the bargain more attractive to Laban and to show that he wanted nothing from Laban but only what God might be pleased in accordance with this arrangement to bestow, he suggested that the flocks and herds should be purged of all such speckled and spotted animals to begin with (Tuch, Baumgarten, Kurtz, Rosenm Kalisch, Candlish; Murphy, "Speaker"s Commentary," Clarke, Bush).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v37 Jacob’s Great Wealth
Jacob’s Great Wealth
v. 37. And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel-and chestnut-tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. Since the bark of the Oriental gum, the almond or walnut, and the maple is dark, while all of them have a white, dazzling wood, they lent themselves very well for this purpose.
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v. 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. The impression which the animals at the time of conception were thus to receive was to be so sudden, deep, and lasting that it would affect the color of their offspring.
v. 39. And the flocks conceived before the rods, while they had their picture before them, and brought forth cattle ring-straked (banded), speckled, and spotted. Jacob’s scheme worked beautifully, causing his flocks to increase very rapidly.
v. 40. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-straked 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. By this second device the black goats and the white sheep were always kept by themselves, nothing in their own herd exciting their attention, whereas the herds of spotted and speckled animals in plain view were bound to make an impression upon the animals at the time of breeding.
v. 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, in the very midst of the pilled staves. This was in the spring, for the lambs and kids born in the fall were considered the stronger and better.
v. 42. But when the cattle were feeble, in the late fall, when the pasturage was no longer so good, he put them not in; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. Thus Jacob, with the blessing of God, Gen 31:12, succeeded in obtaining some of the wages which were so richly due him for his many years of faithful service. He used all his business sagacity in beating his covetous uncle at his own game, but incidentally kept his word not to appropriate so much as one animal that did not belong to him.
v. 43. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and camels, and asses. All this he acquired, with the blessing of God, in the next six years. Without the blessing of God all wealth is a curse.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 My integrity will testify for me later on
My integrity will testify for me later on
The word "integrity" means "honesty." This speaks about integrity as if it were a person who could testify for or against another person. AT: "And later you will know if I have been honest with you or not" (See: Personification)
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Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, if any are found with me, will be considered to be stolen
This can be stated in active form. AT: "If you find any goats without spots or any sheep that are not black, you can consider them stolen" (See: Active or Passive)
Let it be according to your word
"Let it be as you say" or "We will do what you have said"
translationWords
testimony
goat
ewe
word
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 34, 37, 42, 43 30:32 As Abraham had done with Lot (13:9), Jacob…
30:32 As Abraham had done with Lot (13:9), Jacob gave Laban what he valued most. White sheep were more common and more valuable than dark or multicolored sheep; as a man of faith, Jacob was willing to take the rejects (cp. 1 Cor 1:26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.