Genesis 30:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Name your wages, and I will give it."

NIV: He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."

NASB: He continued, 'Name me your wages, and I will give them.'

CSB: Then Laban said, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."

NLT: Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.'

KJV: And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

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

Jacob has fulfilled his contract with Laban. He has worked fourteen years in exchange for his two wives, Laban's daughters (Genesis 29:18–30), even though half of this time was agreed to in the aftermath of a terrible betrayal. Now Jacob has demanded that Laban send him away so he can return to his own people (Genesis 30:25).

Laban has not agreed. It may be that Laban still has some legal right to detain Jacob, but he does not present his refusal in that way. Instead, Laban has openly revealed that he knows he has prospered because of the Lord's blessing of Jacob. He doesn't want to lose that. In this verse, he presents his refusal to let Jacob go as an opportunity for Jacob: "Name your price." In other words, Laban is proposing that he and Jacob strike a new deal now that Jacob has fulfilled the terms of the old one.

This is dangerous territory for Jacob: so far, every time he has negotiated a price for service with Laban, those deals have either ended in treachery (Genesis 29:22–23), or a request for more service, as in this verse.

Genesis 30:25-43 describes Jacob's struggle to convince Laban to allow him to return to his own people with his wives and children, even though the 14 years of Jacob's contracted service have ended. Laban asks Jacob to name new wages to continue to work for him. Laban knows he has grown wealthy due to the Lord's blessing on Jacob. Jacob asks to own all the new off-color sheep and goats that will be born to Laban's flock. Laban agrees and quickly tries to cheat Jacob. Nevertheless, the Lord blesses Jacob's unusual breeding practices, causing so many off-color animals to be born in the flock that Jacob becomes a wealthy man in his own right. Soon he will leave Laban behind for good.

God alone gives children. He causes babies to be born. He even determines what color baby sheep and goats will be. Genesis 30 describes the urgent desire of Rachel and Leah to have sons for Jacob and how God hears and grants their prayers in His own time. In addition, God blesses Jacob's unusual breeding practices with Laban's flocks to finally allow Jacob to overcome his father-in-law's schemes to keep Jacob under his service.

In the previous chapter, Laban tricked Jacob both into marrying Leah along with Rachel and into working for him as a servant for a total of fourteen years. God blessed unloved Leah by allowing her to bear four sons to Jacob. As this chapter opens, Rachel remains barren while Leah and both of their servant women continue to bear sons. Finally God answers Rachel's prayer, allowing her to bear Joseph. His contract completed, Jacob demands Laban send him away to his own people. Laban refuses, asking Jacob to set new terms for his service. Jacob's deal, along with the Lord's blessing and his unusual breeding practices with the flocks, results in Jacob becoming a wealthy man in his own right. This wealth and power will enable him to finally break free and return home.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 11/23/2024 12:25:56 PM