Genesis 30 - Printer Friendly

What does Genesis 30 mean?

Chapter Commentary:

Genesis 30 is characterized by sibling conflict between Jacob's wives, the birth of many more children under the blessing of God, and Jacob eventually achieving great wealth after striking an unusual bargain with his father-in-law.

Chapter 29 described the treacherous circumstances of Jacob's marriage to a pair of sisters: Leah and Rachel. Expecting to marry Rachel after seven years of free labor, Jacob was stunned to find that his father-in-law had switched sisters during the wedding night. The end result of this ploy was Jacob being married to two women, and with another seven years of labor ahead of him. In response to Jacob's understandable resentment of Leah, God allowed her to conceive sons, while Rachel remained barren.

This chapter begins with a despondent Rachel declaring to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!" Not only is she desperate to become a mother, she envies her sister Leah who has already born four sons to Jacob. Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah, but he rightly corrects her that God alone is the giver of children (Genesis 30:1–2). This will become a theme of the chapter, one explored both in human and animal examples.

In response to her infertility, Rachel follows the unfortunate example of Jacob's grandmother Sarah (Genesis 16:1–4). She gives her own servant woman to Jacob as a wife. By customs of the time, any children borne to that servant would have been considered those of the wife. Bilhah soon bears Jacob two sons, Rachel's sons by proxy. Rachel names the boys for her circumstances and feelings at the time they are born (Genesis 30:3–8).

At the same time, Leah has stopped becoming pregnant, perhaps because Rachel's influence is keeping Jacob from sleeping with her (Genesis 30:15). She now follows Rachel's example and gives her servant woman to Jacob as a wife. Zilpah, in her turn, gives birth to two sons. These belong to Leah by proxy, and she gives them happy names (Genesis 30:9–13).

None of these births, though, have ended the rivalry between Rachel and Leah. Both know that Rachel remains barren and that Leah remains unloved by Jacob. Their conflict flares to the surface when Leah's son Reuben brings home some rare mandrake plants he has found. Mandrakes were thought to help with arousal and infertility. When Rachel asks Leah for the plants, likely hoping they will help her to get pregnant, Leah lashes out that Rachel has taken her husband and now wants to take her mandrake plants. Rachel, apparently desperate, offers to give Leah one night sleeping with Jacob in exchange for the plants. Rachel, apparently, held great power over Jacob in the family dynamic (Genesis 30:14–16).

Leah begins to bear children again, having another two boys and a girl, naming them all for God's provision in her life. Rachel, too, finally bears her first son, Joseph. Her name for him amounts to a prayer for another son to follow (Genesis 30:17–24).

The narrative then shifts to inform us that Jacob's 14 years of service to Laban in exchange for his two wives has come to an end. He demands that his father-in-law send him away so he can return home to his own people. It's possible Laban retained some legal right to not release Jacob. In any case, Laban says plainly that he has become wealthy because of the Lord's blessing on Jacob. He asks Jacob to name new wages to continue to work for him (Genesis 30:25–28).

Jacob's terms seem unusual. Instead of asking for a flat wage or even a percentage of Laban's flocks, Jacob asks to keep any newly born goats or lambs that are off-color. Most of the sheep in Laban's flock are white, and most of the goats are black. A small percentage of the goats are speckled, striped, or spotted, and some sheep are black. After agreeing to Jacob's deal, Laban immediately removes all of the off-color animals from the flock three-day's journey away from the main group. It looks like Jacob's deal will go bust (Genesis 30:29–36).

Instead, the Lord supernaturally blesses Jacob's unconventional efforts to cause white sheep to produce black lambs and black goats to produce mixed-color offspring. While we aren't told, yet, Jacob has apparently been informed in another dream that God intended to correct Laban's cheating of Jacob (Genesis 31:7–12). So, while this chapter only mentions Jacob's use of striped poles, there is no confusion that God, and not the poles, causes the change in the animals' color. In addition, Jacob breeds the flock to produce strong, off-color animals for him and weak, solid-colored animals for Laban (Genesis 30:37–42).

Jacob grows enormously wealthy. With the Lord's blessing, he has overcome Laban's scheme to keep him poor and dependent on his father-in-law (Genesis 30:43).

Genesis 30:1–24 describes the birth of eight more sons to Jacob, as well as one daughter. While Rachel remains barren, her servant woman bears to Jacob two sons. Then Leah's servant woman does so, as well. Next, Leah herself has three more children. Then, finally, God remembers Rachel. She gives birth to Joseph, giving him a name that is essentially a prayer for another son to follow. As the section ends, Jacob now has 11 sons, at least one daughter, and a plan to return home to his own people.

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.

Chapter Summary:

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.

Chapter Context:

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 5/9/2024 7:30:55 AM