Jacob and Laban

Genesis 30:26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”

Genesis 30:27 And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.”

Genesis 30:28 Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

 On the two occasions that Laban asked this of Jacob it was to urge him to stay. The first time (29:15) Laban had sought to reward a relative, but this time it was because he had been rewarded since “the Lord has blessed me on your account” (v. 27).

Jacob readily confirmed Laban’s evaluation in that “little” had indeed become “a multitude” (v. 30) since he had come on the scene. 

Laban’s superficial generosity should not be mistaken for genuine goodness (see 31:7). He was attempting to deceive Jacob into staying because it was potentially profitable for him.

Genesis 30:29 So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.

Genesis 30:30 For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”

Genesis 30:31 So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: :32 Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.

 He was willing to stay, but not be further indebted to the scheming and selfish Laban.

 He offered Laban a plan that could bless him while costing Laban nothing.

He would continue to care for Laban’s animals, as he had been doing. His pay would consist of animals not yet born, animals which would seem the less desirable to Laban because of their markings and color.

 None of the solid color animals would be taken by Jacob, and if any were born into Jacob’s flocks, Laban could take them (they were considered as stolen). Only those animals born speckled, spotted, striped, or abnormally colored would belong to Jacob.

 Evidently, most of the animals were white (sheep), black (goats), and brown (cattle). Few were in the category of Jacob’s request. Further, Jacob would not even use the living speckled or abnormally colored animals to breed more like them. He would separate them into a flock of their own kind, apart from the normally colored animals. Only the spotted and abnormally colored offspring born in the future to the normally colored would be his.

Since it seemed to Laban that the birth of such abnormally marked animals was unlikely to occur in any significant volume from the normally colored, he agreed. He believed this a small and favorable concession on his part to maintain the skills of Jacob to further enlarge his herds and flocks. Jacob, by this, put himself entirely in God’s hands.

Only the Lord could determine what animals would be Jacob’s.

To make sure Jacob didn’t cheat on his good deal, Laban separated the abnormally marked from the normal animals in Jacob’s care.

Genesis 30:33 So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.” Genesis 30:34 And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!”

Genesis 30:35 So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. :36 Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Genesis 30:37 Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. :38 And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. :39 So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. :40 Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock. :41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. :42 But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 

Jacob was knowledgeable about sheep, goats, and cattle, having kept his father’s animals for most of his 90 years, and Laban’s for the last 14 years.

 He knew that when one uncommonly marked animal was born (with a recessive gene), he could then begin to breed that gene selectively to produce flocks and herds of abnormally marked animals, which were in no way inferior physically to the normally marked.

Once he began this breeding process, he sought to stimulate it by some methods that may appear superstitious and foolish to us (as the mandrakes in v. 14). But it is most likely that he had learned that, when the bark was peeled, there was some stimulant released into the water that stimulated the animals to sexual activity. In v. 38, the word “mated” is literally, in Heb., “to be hot,” or as is said of animals “to be in heat.”

His plan was successful (v. 39) and kept his own flock separate from the abnormally colored ones of Laban. His system worked to his own advantage, not that of Laban (v. 42) who had for years taken advantage of him. Jacob gave God the credit for the success of his efforts (31:7, 9).44 Genesis 30:43 Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Runs from Laban

Genesis 31:1 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” :2 And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.

 Of materialistic bent and envious at Jacob’s success, Laban’s sons grumbled at what they saw as the depleting of their father’s assets, thus hurting their own inheritance.

If Jacob heard of this, so did Laban, and that knowledge rankled him to the point of surliness toward his son-in-law (cf. 31:20). Profiting from God’s blessings through Jacob (30:27, 30) was one thing, but seeing only Jacob blessed was quite another matter and elicited no praise or gratitude to God from Laban.

Genesis 31:3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”

 When Jacob sought to leave at the end of his contract (30:25), God’s timing was not right. Now it was, so God directed Jacob’s departure, and in confirmation assured him of His presence. So, after another 6 years, it was time to go (vv. 38–41).

Genesis 31:4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 1 In the privacy of the open field, Jacob’s plans could be confidentially shared with his wives.