Genesis 30:34 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."

NIV: "Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said."

NASB: Laban said, 'Good, let it be according to your word.'

CSB: "Good," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said."

NLT: All right,' Laban replied. 'It will be as you say.'

KJV: And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

NKJV: And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!”

Laban has asked Jacob to name his wages in order to continue working for his father-in-law (Genesis 30:25–33). Jacob's offer is that all future-born black lambs and speckled or spotted sheep or goats will belong to him, while all fully white sheep or fully black goats will belong to Laban. White sheep and black goats were apparently much more common than black sheep or mixed-color animals. In essence, Jacob is asking to only be allowed to keep the "defective" animals, as his own pay.

Now Laban pounces on the deal: "Good!" or "Fine!" His eagerness is understandable: on the surface, Jacob's plan sounds like it will result in a fairly small percentage of the overall flocks. Also, as the following verse will show, the ever-greedy and dishonest Laban has an idea to make sure Jacob's percentage of the flock stays even smaller.

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 11:41:46 AM