Genesis 30:36 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

NIV: Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks.

NASB: And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

CSB: He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban's flock.

NLT: who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.

KJV: And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.

NKJV: Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Laban has accepted Jacob's proposal that all of the mixed-colored sheep and goats and all of the black lambs born from this point forward would be his (Genesis 30:25–34). This would have been an extremely good deal for Laban: these "off-color" animals were relatively uncommon, and not as prized as the pure-colored animals. Not content with simply getting a great deal, though, Laban immediately cheated. He quickly removed all of the mixed-colored sheep and goats and black sheep from his flocks and gave them to his sons (Genesis 30:35). This, of course, is to ensure that there is almost no chance of Jacob getting any wages, at all.

Now, to further seal up his underhanded plan, Laban moves all those mixed-colored animals three day's journey away from the rest of the flock of solid white sheep and solid black goats. By this, Laban is ensuring that no wandering animals from the main flock will end up mating with a mix-colored animal or a black sheep. From his experience of owning large flocks of sheep and goats, Laban understand that he has now vastly reduced the odds of many mixed-color animals or black sheep being born out of the main flock. Those that will belong to Jacob should be very few in number.

Obviously, Laban is neither a gracious boss nor a caring father-in-law. In fact, he's a blatantly greedy fraud. Even his own daughters, who are bitter rivals (Genesis 30:1–24), will later unite in an opinion that their father is unworthy of further obedience (Genesis 31:14–16).

But Jacob has a plan of his own, one we will later learn is fueled by another dream from God (Genesis 31:10–13).

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.