Genesis 30:29 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me.

NIV: Jacob said to him, 'You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care.

NASB: But Jacob said to him, 'You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.

CSB: So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me.

NLT: Jacob replied, 'You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.

KJV: And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

NKJV: So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.

Jacob has demanded that Laban allow him to leave, to take his wives and children and return to his own people (Genesis 30:25). Instead, Laban has suggested that they strike a new deal. The implication is that Jacob will be without any property of his own if he were to leave at this point. As a servant in Laban's household, legal practice of the time would have suggested that everything in Jacob's family belonged to the master—including the wives and children. Without permission, more than likely, any attempt by Jacob to leave could have been seen as an act of theft.

Now Jacob begins to make a proposal of his own. He starts by asking Laban to admit that he knows both that Jacob has served faithfully and that Laban's livestock have thrived under his care. This seems to be the motivation for most of Laban's actions: personal prosperity.

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 4/27/2024 1:45:07 PM