Genesis 30:37 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks.

NIV: Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.

NASB: Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was in the rods.

CSB: Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches.

NLT: Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them.

KJV: And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

NKJV: 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.

Earlier, Laban convinced Jacob to work for seven years for the right to marry his daughter, Rachel. However, Laban cheated Jacob by switching out his other daughter, Leah, on the wedding night. This led to Jacob being indebted to Laban for another seven years (Genesis 29:18–30). Now, with all of these deals completed and Jacob demanding to be released along with his family, Laban likely believes Jacob has made another bad deal. He has agreed to Jacob's offer that all the non-black goats and non-white sheep born from this point forward will belong to him. To keep those numbers even lower than they would naturally be, Laban has removed all the black sheep and speckled/spotted animals from the main herd. In fact, he has moved them three-day's journey away.

Jacob, though, is blessed by the Lord. As Genesis 31:7–12 will make clear, Jacob's plan to claim all the spotted/speckled sheep and goats came from God. How he executes this plan may sound like some kind of folk magic, but it is the process by which God supernaturally blesses Jacob's efforts to get more black sheep and mixed-color animals.

Jacob takes sticks fresh from three specific kinds of trees and strips the bark to reveal the white underneath. This is, in part, a play on words: the Hebrew term for "white" is laban. With God's supernatural blessing, Jacob will use these sticks to influence how many striped, spotted, and speckled animals are born.

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.