Genesis 30:25-43

4. Negotiations With Laban (Genesis 30:25-43).

Jacob proposes to provide for his own household, Genesis 30:25-31. From the reading of the text it seems that Joseph must have been born at the end of the fourteen years of Jacob's service. However, it must be understood that apparently there is no attempt made here to report the births of Jacob's sons in strict sequence chronologically. Apparently the children born of one mother are listed in a group in order to dispose of all of them at once, except in the case of Leah where approximately a year may have elapsed between the birth of her fourth and fifth sons. By this time Jacob's family was almost complete, and he might well be thinking of establishing his own household. When the birth of Joseph occurred, evidently at the earliest in the fifteenth year, Jacob enters into a preliminary parley with Laban for the purpose of taking his household back unto his own place and his own country, that is, to Canaan in general, and to that part of it where he had formerly resided (Genesis 28:10, Genesis 34:18, Genesis 35:6-7). Since Jacob had pledged himself to seven additional years of service for Rachel, he could hardly call his whole household his own until the second seven years were fulfilled. He now wants Laban to acknowledge the fulfilment of his contract by giving him his wives and children so that he may depart, pointing out the fact that his service throughout all these years had been marked by faithfulness (Genesis 30:26). There is no obsequiousness about Jacob's attitude, no difference. He knows his father-in-law must be dealt with firmly. On the other hand, he also knows how to treat him with becoming respect. Laban deferentially replies that he has divined that Jehovah was blessing Jacob's endeavors, and through His blessing of Jacob's service was indirectly blessing him, i.e., Laban himself, with material prosperity, What is the import of the word divined as used here (Genesis 30:27)? Does it mean simply close observation and minute inspection (Murphy)? Or is there a reference here to augury, divination, or something of the kind? Leupold gives it, he had consulted omens. What heathen device Laban had resorted to in consulting the omens cannot be determined. But the act as such does reveal a departure from the true service of God and practically stamps him as an idolator. His reference to God as Yahweh is merely a case of accommodating himself to Jacob's mode of speech. Laban did not know Him as such or believe in Him. Any man with even a measure of insight could have determined without augury what Laban claimed had been revealed to him by augury. Jacob's faithful service of Yahweh was not kept hidden from him (EG, 818). In a Mesopotamian context, such as the present, the term refers undoubtedly to inquiries by means of omens: cf. Ezekiel 21:26) (Speiser, ABG, 236). We know that Laban was addicted to heathen superstitions (cf. Genesis 31:22-32).

Laban, an eminently selfish man, was ready to go to almost any limit to retain a man whose service had been so advantageous to himself. He makes Jacob a proposition which at once substantially alter's Jacob's status. From the position of a bond servant he is raised to that of a partner who may freely dictate his own terms. Now, indeed such an offer is not to be despised, for it puts Jacob in a position where he can build up a small fortune of his own and removes him from the necessity of returning home practically a penniless adventurer, though a man with a good-sized family. (We present here the translation which is given us in the Jerusalem Bible, which, for simplicity and clarity is unexcelled, as follows: When Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, -Release me, and then I can go home to my own country. Give me my wives for whom I have worked for you, and my children, so that I can go. You know very well the work I have done for you.-' Laban said to him, -If I have won your friendship. I learned from the omens that Yahweh had blessed me on your account. So name your wages,-' he added, -and I will pay you.-' He answered him, -You know very well how hard I have worked for you, and how your stock has fared in my charge. The little you had before I came has increased enormously, and Yahweh has blessed you wherever I have been. But when amI to provide for my own House?-' Laban said, -How much am I to pay you?-' and Jacob replied, -You will not have to pay me anything; if you do for me as I propose, I will be your shepherd once more and look after your flock.-'

The new contract, Genesis 30:32-36. Continuing the JB rendering: Today I will go through all your flock. Take out of it every black animal among the sheep, and every speckled or spotted one among the goats. Such shall be my wages, and my honesty will answer for me later: when you come to check my wages, every goat I have that is not speckled or spotted, and every sheep that is not black shall rank as stolen property in my possession.-' Laban replied, -Good! Let it be as you say,-' That same day he took out the striped and speckled he-goats and all the spotted and speckled she-goats, every one that had white on it, and all the black sheep, He handed them over to his sons, and put three days-' journey between himself and Jacob, Jacob took care of the rest of Laban's flock.

Jacob's stratagem, Genesis 30:37-43. Jacob gathered branches in sap, from poplar, almond and plane trees, and peeled them in white strips, laying bare the white on the branches. He put the branches he had peeled in front of the animals, in the troughs in the channels where the animals came to drink; and the animals mated when they came to drink, They mated therefore in front of the branches and so produced striped, spotted and speckled young. As for the sheep, Jacob put them apart, and he turned the animals towards whatever was striped or black in Laban's flock, Thus he built up droves of his own which he did not put with Laban's flock. Moreover, whenever the sturdy animals mated, Jacob put the branches where the animals could see them, in the troughs, so that they would mate in front of the branches. But when the animals were feeble, he did not put them there; thus Laban got the feeble, and Jacob the sturdy, and he grew extremely rich, and became the owner of large flocks, with men and women slaves, camels and donkeys.

To understand Jacob's stratagem it must be understood that in the Orient sheep are normally white (Psalms 147:16; Song of Solomon 4:2; Song of Solomon 6:6;Daniel 7:9), and goats are normally black or brownish black (Song of Solomon 4:1). Exceptions to this differentiation, it is said, are not numerous, Jacob said at the beginning of the negotiations that Laban should not give him anything: in the proposition he is now making he is not changing his mind: he means simply that in subsequent breeding, separation of his animals from those of his father-in-law shall be determined by the principles of selective breeding which he now proposes. For his wages Jacob asks the abnormal animals (black sheep and white-spotted goats): Laban agrees, shrewdly, as he thinks. Jacob's plot is briefly this: 1. He sees to it that when the goats mate, Genesis 30:37-39, they are in sight of white-striped rods: this affects the formation of the embryo. 2. At the same time he makes sure that the sheep are looking at the black goats in the flock, v. 40. 3. For this operation he selects the robust strains, leaving the weaker animals and their offspring to Laban. In this way Jacob takes his -honorable revenge-' (JB, 51, n.).

Laban not only recognizes, almost fawningly, Jacob's worth to his house, but is even willing to yield unconditionally to his determinationa proof that he did not expect of Jacob too great a demand. But Jacob is not inclined to trust himself to his generosity, and hence his cunningly calculated though seemingly trifling demand. Laban's consent to his demand, however, breathes in the very expression the joy of selfishness; and it is scarcely sufficient to translate: Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. But Jacob's proposition seems to point to a very trifling reward, since the sheep in the East are nearly all white, while the goats are generally of a dark color or speckled. For he only demands of Laban's herds those sheep that have dark spots or specks, or that are entirely black, and those only of the goats that are white-spotted or striped. But he does not only demand the speckled lambs brought forth thereafter, after the present number of such are set aside for Laban (Tuch, Baumgartner, Kurtz), but the present inspection is to form the first stock of his herds (Knobel, Delitzsch). [The words, -thou shalt not give me anything,-' seem to indicate that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with, and did not intend to be dependent upon him for any part of his possessions. Those of this description which should appear among the flocks should be his hire, He would depend on divine providence and his own skill, He would be no more indebted to Laban than Abraham was to the king of SodomGosman]. Afterwards, also, the speckled ones brought forth among Laban's herds are to be added to his, as is evident from his following arts. For when he invites Laban to muster his herds in time to come, it surely does not mean literally the next day. but in time to come. As often as Laban came to Jacob's herds in the future he must regard all the increase in speckled and ringstreaked lambs as Jacob's property, but if he found a purely white sheep or an entirely black goat, then, and not only then, he might regard it as stolen.. Laban's language is submissive, while that of Jacob is very frank and bold, as became his invigorated courage and the sense of the injustice which he had suffered (Lange, CDHCG, 536-537).

Jacob's management of Laban's herds. Note the three days-' journey between them, Genesis 30:36. Certainly these days-' journeys were those of the herds and are not to be measured according to journeys of human beings. Thus it will be seen that although separated by three days-' journey of the animals, they were close enough that Laban could overtake Jacob at any time if he so desired. By means of this separation if would seem that Jacob not only gained Laban's confidence but his property as well. All in all, in this exchange of artifices it is difficult to determine which of the twoson-in-law or father-in-lawwas the trickier, and more hypocritical, of the two. The first artifice that Jacob employed was that of the peeled rods in the watering troughs. Jacob managed by skill to acquire the best portion of Laban's flock of sheep and goats. Black sheep, or goats other than black or brown, were rarities, and those Jacob was to have. According to the story he employed an ingenious breeding device to use maternal impression on the unborn of the flocks. He set peeled rods in the watering-troughs, where the flocks came to breed, to impress the mothers of -the stronger of the flocks.-' Thus he managed to breed an ample supply of the new varieties (Cornfeld, AtD, 86). Jacob, of course, must select rods from trees whose dark external bark produced the greatest contrast with the white one below it. The text suggests the fresh poplar (or styrax-tree), the almond-tree (or perhaps the hazelnut tree), and the plane tree (which resembled somewhat the maple tree). For the purpose Jacob had in mind, the gum-tree, we are told, might be betted adapted than white poplars, almond-tree or walnut better than hazelnut, and maple better than plane-tree). Jacob took fresh rods of storax, maple and walnut-trees, all of which have a dazzling white wood under their dark outside, and peeled stripes upon them, -peeling the white naked in the rods.-' These paritally peeled, and therefore mottled rods, he placed in the drinking-troughs. to which the flock came to drink, in front of the animals, in order that, if copulation took place at the drinking time, it might occur near the mottled sticks, and the young be speckled and spotted in consequence.. This artifice was founded upon a fact frequently noticed, particularly in the case of sheep, that whatever fixes their attention in copulation is marked upon the young (K-D, BCOTP, 293). Was this an old wives-' superstition? Or had it some validity? The physiological law involved is said to be well established (Driver), and was acted on by ancient cattle breeders (see the list of authorities in Bochart, Hierozoicon, etc. II, c. 49, also Jeremias, Das Alte Testamwnt im Lichte des alten Orients, 2nd ed. 1906). The full representation seems to be that the ewes saw the reflection of the rams in the water, blended with the image of the parti-colored rods, and were deceived into thinking they were coupled with parti-colored males (Jer., We [llhausen], Die Composition des Hexateuchs, 41) (Skinner, ICCG, 393). This artifice was founded upon a fact frequently noticed, particularly in the case of sheep, that whatever fixes their attention in copulation is marked upon the young (K-D, ibid., 293), This crafty trick was based upon the common experience of the so-called fright of animals, especially of sheep, namely, that the representations of the senses during coition are stamped upon the form of the foetus (see Boch, Hieroz, I, 618, and Friedreich on the Bible, I 37, etc.) (Lange ibid., 537). Jacob's second artifice was the removal of the speckled animals, from time to time, from Laban's herds and their incorporation into Jacob'S; in the exchange Jacob put the speckled animals in front of the others, so that Laban's herds had always these parti-colored before their eyes, and in this manner another impression was produced upon the she-goats and sheep. Obviously, this separation of the new-born lambs and goats from the old herds could only be gradual; indeed this whole transaction was gradual, extending over several years (cf. 38:41). Jacob's third artifice. He so arranged the thing that the stronger cattle fell to him, the feebler to Laban. His first artifice, therefore, produced fully the desired effect. It was owing partly, perhaps, to his sense of equity toward Laban, and partly to his prudence, that he set limits to his gain; but he still, however, takes the advantage, since he seeks to gain the stronger cattle for himself (Lange ibid., 537).

Genesis 30:40-42. A further refinement: Jacob employed his device only in the case of the sturdy animals, letting the weaker ones gender freely. The difference corresponds to a difference of breeding-time, The consequence is that Jacob's stock is hardy and Laban's delicate (ICCG, 393).

The following summarization is clear: V. 40Jacob separated the speckled animals from those of a normal color, and caused the latter to feed so that the others would be constantly in sight, in order that he might in this way obtain a constant accession of mottled sheep. As soon as these had multiplied sufficiently, he formed separate flocks (viz., of the speckled additions) and put them not unto Laban's cattle, i.e., he kept them apart in order that a still larger number of speckled ones might be produced, through Laban's one-colored flock having this mottled group constantly in view. Genesis 30:41-42He did not adopt the trick with the rods, however, on every occasion of copulation, for the sheep in those countries lamb twice a year, but only at the copulation of the strong sheep. but not -in the weakening of the sheep,-' i.e., when they were weak, and would produce weak lambs. The meaning is probably this: he adopted this plan only at the summer copulation, not the autumn, for, in the opinion of the ancients (Pliny, Columella), lambs that were conceived in the spring and born in the autumn were stronger than those born in the spring (Bichart, p. 582). Jacob did this, possibly, less to spare Laban, than to avoid exciting suspicion, and so leading to the discovery of his trick (BCOTP, 294).

Murphy explains as follows: Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. Genesis 30:37-40: His first device is to place partly-colored rods before the eyes of the animals at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the peeled rods. Put his own folds by themselves. These are the party-colored animals that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. Genesis 30:41-42: In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn, It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. Genesis 30:43the result is here stated. The man brake forth exceedinglybecame rapidly rich in lands and cattle (MG, 399-400). (The reader probably will need to go to the dictionary for the meaning of the word cattle, as this word is used in the foregoing paragraph).

The original proposal made by Jacob, and Laban's quick acceptance, must be recalled here. Thou shalt not give me anything, Genesis 30:31. This certainly shows that Jacob had no live stock from Laban at the outset. I will pass through all thy flock today (with thee, of course). Remove every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. And such shall be my hire. That is, not those of this description that are now removed, but the uncommon parti-colored animals when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them. These were the animals of the rare coloring. Not those of this description that are now removed, for in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob evidently was resolved to be entirely dependent on Divine providence for his hire. Note especially his statement: My righteousness shall answer for me, Genesis 30:33, that is, at the time of inspection and accounting to Laban, The color will determine at once to whom the animal belongs. (In view of the complex artifice that Jacob had in mind, was this really righteousness, or was it a kind of self-righteousness? Was Jacob thinking that the means would justify the end, in this instance? If so, was he assuming that Providence would support such a rule of action? At any rate, Laban consented willingly to this proposal. Why? Because, obviously, he thought his son-in-law's proposal was rather naive, to say the least: from his point of view, it was a course of action that would play right into his own hands, for the simple reason that parti-colored cattle were uncommon. Jacob is now to begin with nothing, and to have for his hire any parti-colored lambs or kids that would appear in the flocks from which every specimen of this rare class had been carefully removed. Laban simply could not lose in this kind of deal! So Laban thought. But Laban was not aware of Jacob's cleverness! In this contest of wits, it is difficult to determine which of the two was the greater con man!)

Dr. Cuthbert A. Simpson evaluates this Jacob-versus-Laban (or vice versa) series of transactions bluntly, yet withal so realistically, that his analysis is certainly in order here, as follows: When Jacob proposed to set up an establishment (household) for himself, Laban, unwilling to lose his services, offered to allow him to fix his own wages. Jacob replied that he wanted nothing at the moment, but proposed that Laban should remove from his flocks all the speckled and spotted animals. These were to be set apart by themselves (cf. Genesis 30:36). Jacob would then care for the rest of the flock and would receive as his wages any speckled and spotted that might be born to these normally colored animals in the future. To this Laban promptly agreed (Genesis 30:34-36)indeed, why should he not accept a proposal so favorable to himself? If Jacob was such a fool to suggest it, let him take the consequences! But Jacob, though he may have been a knave, was no fool. He placed rods upon which he had peeled white streaks before the eyes of the stronger animals in the flocks at rutting time, with the result that the young born to them were striped, speckled, and spotted, and so belonged to him (Genesis 30:37-39; Genesis 30:42 a). Thus his substance increased rapidly (Genesis 30:43), and Laban was left with the feebler animals (Genesis 30:42 b). This story of one knave out witting anotherdoubtless another piece of shepherd loreis of a piece with that in Genesis 25:27-34 (cf. also Genesis 26:1-11, Genesis 27:1-40), and it was told by J-1 with unfeigned delight; clever Jacob had outwitted the dull nomad Aramaean (IBG, 708). With this analysis in general we are inclined to agree. However, the fact must not be overlooked that these sections cited had very definite connection, both morally and spiritually, with the history of the Messianic Line, (Moreover, the deceptions practised on Jacob were moral and spiritualimpositions on his familial relationshipswhereas those perpetrated on Laban were of a material and hence secondary character.)

The conclusion of the whole matter is precisely as Jacob had planned: the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and asses (Genesis 30:43). This progress materially was evidently a matter of years, not just days: (cf. Genesis 31:41). The account simply closes with this remark, i.e., concerning Jacob's wealth, without intimating approbation of his conduct or describing his increasing wealth as a blessing from God. The verdict is contained in what follows.

Review Questions

See Genesis 31:1-16.