GENESIS
CHAPTER 30
Jacob marries Bilhah and she bears Dan and Naphtali—He marries Zilpah and she bears Gad and Asher—Leah bears Issachar and Zebulun and a daughter, Dinah—Then Rachel conceives and bears Joseph—Jacob works for Laban for wages of cattle and sheep.
1 AND when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, [ This can be very frustrating experience for a couple. Both can tend to blame themselves however we can assume that Jacob is not the problem here. Rachel in her frustration would rather die than feel of no use. ] Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? [ or he said - Do you think that I am God and can just change this? Do you think that this is what I want? Do you think that I am the one trying to punish you here? ]
3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; [ Rachel give her handmaiden to Jacob. The custom of the time is that any children born to Jacob from Rachels handmaiden will become children of hers.These hand maiden according to custom are also married to Jacob see vs 4 & 9 ] and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, [ was done having children ] she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.
14 ¶ And Reuben [ The oldest son of Leah. ] went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, [ (7-18) Genesis 30:14–22. What Are Mandrakes and Why Did Rachel Want Them?
Although Bible scholars are not sure exactly what plant is meant by the word mandrake, the significance of this plant to Rachel and Leah is clear. “The Hebrew name denotes love fruit. The fruit had a pleasant taste and odor, and was supposed to ensure conception.” (Bible Dictionary, s.v. “mandrakes.”)
In other words, the mandrakes were thought to enhance a woman’s fertility and ability to have children. Knowledge of this belief helps explain the interchange between Rachel and Leah. Rachel desired the mandrakes so that she could at last bear children of her own. As has already been seen, there was a fierce competition between the sisters in this regard. Leah’s response was, therefore, equally natural. She indicated that Rachel had already taken her husband, which probably meant only that Rachel had the first place in his affections. (some scholars, however, believe that this passage means that Jacob actually lived in Rachel’s tent rather than in Leah’s tent.)
The one advantage Leah had was her ability to bear children, while Rachel could not. In essence she told Rachel that it would be foolish for her to give Rachel her mandrakes and help her have children, for this would only lessen Leah’s one advantage (v. 15). So Rachel made a counter offer. She promised that she would encourage Jacob to go to Leah that night if she, Rachel, could have the mandrakes (v. 15). Leah agreed and told Jacob. Out of the agreement Leah conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son (vv. 17–18). She later bore another son and Jacob’s daughter Dinah (vv. 19–21).
Although not stated specifically, the record implies that the mandrakes did nothing for Rachel. Finally, Rachel did conceive, but it was not because of mandrakes. Rather, “God hearkened to her, and opened her womb” (v. 22). ] and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.
15 And she [leah ] said unto her, [ Rachel] Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? [ or rather that the heart of Jacob really belongs to Rachel and not Leah. ] and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore [ or if you will let me have the mandrakes ] he shall lie with thee to night [ I will encourage Jacob to sleep with you tonight. ] for thy son’s mandrakes. [ in exchange for the mandrakes. ]
16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; [ JST "Thou must come in and lie with me"] for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. [ I exchanged the mandrakes that my son found in exchange for you spending the night with me. ] And he lay with her that night.
17 And God hearkened [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearkened which means "listened to" and "obeyed". ] unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. [ Leah's fifth son - thus we see again the lords hand at work. One more son for Jacob. ]
18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, [the Lord has rewarded me. ] because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.
20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
24 And she called his name Joseph; [ So Israel had ten sons before Rachel finally conceived and bore a son of her very own. She called his name Joseph. This name had a very special meaning. The word Joseph relates to the Hebrew word yasaph, meaning “to add.” Rachel wanted all to know that this son was added to sons that she already had through her maid Bilhah. Joseph also relates to the Hebrew word asaph, which means “to gather” (see Genesis 30:24, footnote 24a in the LDS edition of the King James Version). The name and lineage of Joseph were destined to play an important later role in the gathering of Israel. Joseph will become the birthright son because Reuben(the first born of the first wife), Leah's oldest son in whom the birthright would have normally run through lost his birthright by committing adultery with Bilhah (see Gen 35:22 for more explaination ). So Joseph becomes the heir in whom the Abrahamic covenant is perpetuated(Because he is the firstborn of the second wife Rachel. This is how the law works. Righteous firstborn of the first wife, then the firstborn of the second wife...). 17 years from now he will be sold into slavery. ] and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
25 ¶ And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. [ After keeping his part of the bargain - working for and additional 7 more years Jacob wants to return to his home land. Back to Canaan, in southern part of Israel to be with his mother and father. Laban is not to excited about this becuase he has seen his ranch prosper quite well with Jacob running things. ]
26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. [ my debt is served to you I have done as we agreed. ]
27 And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. [ because of you I can see that I have been blessed]
28 And he [ Laban ] said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
[ or tell me what I need to pay you in order to have you stay around and run things. ]
29 And he [ Jacob] said unto him, [Laban ] Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; [ you had but few flocks when I came but now you have large flocks] and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: [ you have been blessed by the Lord for allowing me to come and stay here ] and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? [ but now I need to go to my family and help them. I have children and a family that I need to provide for now. So now is a good time to go and start providing for them . After having served a second seven years for Rachel, Jacob has obtained a large family, but still lacks the personal means to provide for them independently of Laban. ]
31 And he [Laban ] said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, [ you do not need to pay me anything but you can do one thing for me] I will again feed and keep thy flock. [ and if you will do that one thing I will stay and continue to care for your flocks as well. ]
32 I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. [ So all of the speckled and spotted sheep and goats will belong to Jacob. At last, he sees an opportunity to enrich himself through making what seems to be a bargain for his father-in-law. In return for Jacob’s continued service Jacob would ask only for the relatively rare “speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.” ]
33 so shall my righteousness [ you need not worry about my integrity ] answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire [ before I take any of them ] before thy face: [ you can look them over with your own eyes ] every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. [ everyone that you believe that is not speckled or spotted will be given back to you.]
35 And he [ Laban ] removed [ seperated ] that day the he [ male ] goats that were ringstraked and spotted, [ were speckled or spotted with a different color. ] and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. [ and gave them to JAcob and his son's ]
36 And he [ Laban ] set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: [this is done so th eflocks do not intermingle with each other and each can tell who is who's ] and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 ¶ And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled [ peeled ] white strakes [ streaks] in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. [ Exposing the white wood under the bark. The theory here is that local superstition is that what color the mother sheep shes at the time on conception will influence the color of her offspring. Nothing is known by modern science to explain any relationship between what Jacob did and what happened in the hereditary patterns of the animals. Perhaps something is missing from the text. Perhaps the Lord was just taking advantage of the virility of crossbred animals. Divine intervention certainly played a part. In any event, Jacob’s herds grew and the Lord blessed him. Also, Jacob’s separation of the flocks (v. 40) follows principles of good animal husbandry and would
have increased the likelihood of having multi-colored animals. (Old Testament Student Manual) Two different accounts of Jacob’s actions, meant to assure the multiplication of his sheep and goats, are given in Genesis: one focuses on his implausible strategy of placing specially-prepared sticks in front of mating flocks; the other, relying on divinely suggested and directed propagation of the stronger animals. Sarna points out that these strategies need not be seen as contradictory is one assumes the first was simply an “elaborate display put on by Jacob in order to mask his secret technique.”. One theory put forth by some that “the three plants placed in the watering troughs, each known to contain toxic substances and used in the ancient world for medicinal purposes, could have had the effect of hastning the onset of the estrous cycle in the animals and so heightened their readiness to copulate” (N. M. Sarna, Genesis, Genesis 30:32-36). ]
38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink.
39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, [ while looking at the white wood ] and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
40 And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle. [ Kept his flock seperated from the flocks of Laban ]
41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. [ with the idea that these cattle who have speckled or spotted offspring and hence would according to his agreement with Laban become the property of Jacob. ]
42 But when the cattle were feeble, he [ Jacob ] put them not in: [ the sticks with the bark peeled in streaks] so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger [ the multicolored offspring] Jacob’s. [ Jacob is trying to breed a herd from the strongest of the cattle. Just good husbandry - breed from the best stock. ]