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;
Parallel Translations
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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;
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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.
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And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods;
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Explain this verse (8 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As they which took the ram about September and…
As they which took the ram about September and brought forth about March: so the feebler in March, and lamb in September.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 30:41 And it came to pass, whensoever the…
Gen 30:41 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.
Ver. 41. The stronger cattle.] Heb., Bound together, i.e., lusty and well set.
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 It is known that the cattle in those parts…
It is known that the cattle in those parts did conceive and bring forth twice in a year, at spring and in autumn; and it is supposed that the
stronger here mentioned, are such as joined in the spring, and the feeble they that joined in autumn.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 41. Whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive] The…
Verse 41. Whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive] The word מקשרות mekushsharoth, which we translate stronger, is understood by several of the ancient interpreters as signifying the early, first-born, or early spring cattle; and hence it is opposed to עטפים atuphim, which we translate feeble, and which Symmachus properly renders δευτερογονοι, cattle of the second birth, as he renders the word mekushsharoth by πρωτογονοι, cattle of the first or earliest birth. Now this does not apply merely to two births from the same female in one year, which actually did take place according to the rabbins, the first in Nisan, about our March, and the second in Tisri, about our September; but it more particularly refers to early and late lambs, c., in the same year as those that are born just at the termination of winter, and in the very commencement of spring, are every way more valuable than those which were born later in the same spring. Jacob therefore took good heed not to try his experiments with those late produced cattle, because he knew these would produce a degenerate breed, but with the early cattle, which were strong and vigorous, by which his breed must be improved. Hence the whole flock of Laban must be necessarily injured, while Jacob's flock was preserved in a state of increasing perfection. All this proves a consummate knowledge in Jacob of his pastoral office. If extensive breeders in this country were to attend to the same plan, our breed would be improved in a most eminent degree. What a fund of instruction upon almost every subject is to be found in the sacred writings!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 41. the stronger] A third device on Jacob’s part.…
41. 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.
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 (41, 42) The stronger cattle . . . when…
(41, 42) The stronger cattle . . . when the cattle were feeble.—The words for “strong” and “feeble” are literally bound and covered, so that evidently we have technical terms, which Onkelos and the Syriac explain of the females at the two breeding seasons. The ewes in the spring, after the cold season, are bound, firmly knit together, and the lambs strong and healthy. The other word, covered, seems to mean seeking concealment, hiding away (Job_23:9); and therefore faint, its meaning in Psa_61:2, Psalms 102, title (Authorised Version, overwhelmed), and Isa_57:16 (Authorised Version, fail). The autumn-born lambs are of no great value, and Jacob left them to the course of nature.
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 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle…
And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, literally, in every healing of the cattle, the bound ones, i.e. the firm, compact sheep, "the spring flock" (Luther), which, being conceived in spring and dropped in autumn, are supposed to be stronger than those conceived in autumn and dropped in spring; but this is doubtfulthat Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. Jacob s third artifice aimed at securing for himself a vigorous breed of sheep.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 before the eyes of the flock
before the eyes of the flock
Here the flock's "eyes" represent the sheep and emphasize what they see. AT: "so that the flock could see them" (See: Synecdoche)
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among the sticks
"in front of the sticks"
the feebler animals
"the weaker animals"
So the feebler animals were Laban's, and the stronger were Jacob's
"So the weaker offspring belonged to Laban, while the stronger offspring belonged to Jacob." You can make this even more explicit. AT: "So the weaker offspring did not have stripes or spots and so belonged to Laban, while the stronger offspring did have stripes or spots and so belonged to Jacob" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Jacob
conceive
Laban
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.