Genesis 30:39 - Printer Friendly

ESV: the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.

NIV: they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.

NASB: So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring.

CSB: The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young.

NLT: And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

KJV: And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

NKJV: So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.

Jacob's plan to build some wealth for himself and his family was complicated. He told his father-in-law Laban he would continue to work for him in exchange for all the striped, speckled, and spotted goats and off-color sheep to be born in the flocks he managed. Laban, ever greedy, said yes to this fantastic deal immediately. Laban, ever the cheat, also quickly moved all of the existing versions of those animals a three-day's journey away, thinking he was outwitting Jacob.

As we will learn later, though, Jacob had already been told by the Lord that the flocks were going to yield many of these off-color animals, anyway (Genesis 31:7–12). With that in mind, Jacob devised an unorthodox way of influencing the animals he wanted to bear such offspring. God worked within Jacob's device of placing sticks that had been stripped of bark near where the goats bred, causing all black goats to give birth to striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. Using another method described in the following verse, the white sheep also produced black lambs. In other words, it is God, not the sticks, which are producing these results.

Interestingly, Jacob's use of peeled sticks probably involves a play on words: peeling the sticks exposes the "white" underneath. The Hebrew word for white is laban.

Laban's scheming would not be able to overcome the Lord's blessing on Jacob.

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.