“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes.
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Genesis 31:38-40 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”
Parallel Translations
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“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks.
That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes.
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This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
Show all 3 translations
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These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flocks have I not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bore the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
Thus I was: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes.
Cross-references (19)
- Luke 2:8 (vv39–40) There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
- Exodus 22:10-13 (v39) “If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man…
- Exodus 22:31 (v39) “You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any meat that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.
- Leviticus 22:8 (v39) He shall not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am Yahweh.
- Genesis 30:27 (v38) Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.”
Show all 18 cross-references
- Genesis 30:30 (v38) For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will…
- Exodus 2:19-22 (v40) They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.” He said…
- Exodus 3:1 (v40) Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and…
- Exodus 23:26 (v38) No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
- Deuteronomy 28:4 (v38) You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and…
- 1 Samuel 17:34-35 (v39) David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock, I went…
- Psalms 78:70-71 (v40) He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the…
- Ezekiel 34:2-4 (v38) “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the…
- Hosea 12:12 (v40) Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
- John 10:12-13 (v39) He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches…
- John 21:15-17 (v40) So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him,…
- Hebrews 13:7 (v40) Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.
- 1 Peter 5:2-4 (v40) Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but…
18 distinct cross-references across this passage (19 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv38–40 Or, been barren.
Or, been barren.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv38–40 Gen 31:38 This twenty years [have] I [been] with…
Gen 31:38 This twenty years [have] I [been] with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
Ver. 38. The rams of thy flock have I not eaten.] A lively picture of a careful pastor. {2Co 11:9} He fats not himself, but feeds the flock; he seeks not theirs, neither fleece nor flesh, but them and their welfare. He takes not to him "the instruments of a foolish shepherd"; {Zec 11:15} that is, forcipes et mulctram, that he may carry away lac et lanam; but feeds the flock of God, and takes care of the cure, as Peter bids; "not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind," &c. {1Pe 5:2} About the year of Christ 1260, the people and clergy of England, the Pope’s ass, as it was called, opposed themselves to the legate’s exactions. And when Rustandus, the legate, alleged that all churches were the Pope’s, Leonard, a learned man of those times, answered, Tuitione, non fruitione; defensione, non dissipatione. {a}
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{a} Jac. Revius, De Vitis Pontif., p. 178.
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 vv38–40 Thy she-goats have not cast their young, which thou…
Thy she-goats have not cast their young, which thou owest in a great measure to my care and diligence in ordering them, and principally to God’s blessing given to thee for my sake, by thy own confession, Gen 30:27.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv38–40 Thus I was,.... In such a situation, as well…
Thus I was,.... In such a situation, as well as in the following uncomfortable plight and condition:
in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night: the violent heat in the daytime scorched him, and the severe frosts in the night pinched him: that is, in the different seasons of the year, the heat of the day in the summertime, and the cold of the night in the wintertime; for it cannot well be thought that there should be excessive heat in the day and sharp frosts in the night, in the same season of the year: it looks as if Laban did not allow Jacob the proper conveniencies of clothes, and of tents to secure him from the inclemency of the weather, which other shepherds usually had:
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and my sleep departed from mine eyes; through diligent care and watchfulness of the flocks in the night season, which on some occasions were necessary; see Luk 2:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv39–40 Verse 39. That which was torn - of my…
Verse 39. That which was torn - of my hand didst thou require it] This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Ex 22:10; Ex 22:13. And it is very likely that this law was in force from the earliest times.
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 v39 Gen 31:39-40. That which was torn I brought not…
Gen 31:39-40. That which was torn I brought not unto thee — What Jacob here affirms, and for the truth of which he appeals to Laban, shows him to have been of a very industrious and faithful disposition, and that Laban’s temper was exceedingly selfish and sordid: for though Jacob was his relation, and his substance had increased so greatly under his hand, yet he was very rigid toward him, and required him to make good all the cattle that were lost, by whatever accident it happened. In the day the drought consumed me — “In Europe,” says Sir John Chardin, quoted by Harmer, vol. 1. p. 74, “the days and nights resemble each other, with respect to the qualities of heat and cold; but it is quite otherwise in the East. In the lower Asia, in particular, the day is always hot, and, as soon as the sun is fifteen degrees above the horizon, no cold is felt in the depth of winter itself. On the contrary, in the height of summer, the nights are as cold as at Paris in the month of March. It is for this reason that in Persia and Turkey they always make use of furred habits in the country, such only being sufficient to resist the cold of the nights.”
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 v39 Exact it. Laban acted in opposition both to custom…
Exact it. Laban acted in opposition both to custom and to justice, (Calmet) while Jacob forebore to claim what he might have done, agreeably to both. (Haydock)
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 vv38–40 The rams of thy flock have I not eaten--Eastern…
The rams of thy flock have I not eaten--Eastern people seldom kill the females for food except they are barren.
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 v40 40. Drought… frost — Comp. Psa_121:6; Jer_36:30. The extremes…
40. Drought… frost — Comp. Psa_121:6; Jer_36:30. The extremes of heat and cold between day and night in the East are evidenced by all travellers.
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 vv38–40 38. This twenty years] Jacob’s indignant protest proclaims (1)…
38. This twenty years] Jacob’s indignant protest proclaims (1) his length of service, (2) his perfect honesty, (3) his uncomplaining endurance of hardship, in spite of capricious changes in his wage. And now that he has left Haran, it was only because of God’s mercy, and not through Laban’s kindness, that he did not go empty-handed.
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 v40 (40) The frost by night.—From September to May the…
(40) The frost by night.—From September to May the nights in the East are usually cold, and the change from great heat by day to a freezing temperature as soon as the sun sets is very trying to health.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v38 General Information:
General Information:
Jacob continues to speak to Laban.
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twenty years
"20 years" (See: Numbers)
ewes
female sheep
have not miscarried
This means they have not had a pregnancy end early and unexpectedly with the lamb or kid born dead.
What was torn by beasts I did not bring to you
This can be stated in active form. AT: "When a wild animal killed one of your animals I did not bring it to you" (See: Active or Passive)
Instead, I bore the loss of it
For Jacob to count Laban's dead animals as a loss from his own flock is spoken of as if it was a burden he would bear on his shoulders. AT: "Instead of counting it a loss from your flock, I counted it as a loss from my flock" (See: Metaphor)
There I was; in the day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night
Suffering in the hot and cold temperatures is spoken of as if the temperatures were animals that were eating Jacob. AT: "I stayed with your flocks even during hottest part of the day and the coldest part of the night" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
year
goat
ewe
flocks
consume
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 v40 31:40 Jacob, who preferred domestic life (25:27), had for…
31:40 Jacob, who preferred domestic life (25:27), had for twenty years endured the rigors of the outdoors that Esau had loved.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.