Genesis 29

29 : 1 THEN Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. And 2 he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, three flocks of sheep lying there by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks : and the stone upon the well’s mouth was great. 3 And thither were all the flocks gathered : and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, 4 and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in its place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. 5 And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him, 6 And he said unto them, Is it well with him? And they said, It is well : and, behold, 7 Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together : water ye the sheep, and go and feed 8 them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and they roll 9 the stone from the well’s mouth ; then we water the sheep. While he yet spake with 10 them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep ; for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s 11 mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, 12 and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, 13 and that he was Rebekah’s son : and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and em- braced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these 14 things. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode 15 with him the space of a month. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, 16 shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought ? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters : the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger 17 was Rachel. And Leah’s eyes were tender ; but Rachel was beautiful and well favored. 18 And Jacob loved Rachel ; and he said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger 19 daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her 20 to another man : abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel ; and they 21 seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. And Jacob said unto Laban, 22 Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And Laban gath- 23 ered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the even- ing, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him ; and he went in unto her. 24 And Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid unto his daughter Leah for an handmaid. And it 25 came to pass in the morning that, behold, it was Leah : and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me ? did not I serve with thee for Rachel ? wherefore then hast 26 thou beguiled me? And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to give the younger 27 before the firstborn. Fulfil the week of this one, and we will give thee the other also for 28 the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and 29 fulfilled her week : and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife. And Laban gave to 30 Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her handmaid. And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. 31 And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb : but Rachel was bar- 32 ren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben : for she said, 33 Because the LORD hath looked upon my affliction ; for now my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bare a son ; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I am 34 hated, he hath therefore given me this son also : and she called his name Simeon. And she conceived again, and bare a son ; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined

35 unto me, because I have borne him three sons : therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived again, and bare a son : and she said, This time will I praise the LORD : therefore she called his name Judah ; and she left bearing.

30 : 1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister ; and 2 she said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel : and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit 3 of the womb ? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her ; that she may bear 4 upon my knees, and I also may obtain children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her 5 handmaid to wife : and Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a 6 son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath 7 given me a son : therefore called she his name Dan. And Bilhah Rachel’s handmaid con- 8 ceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings have 9 I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed : and she called his name Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob 10 to wife. And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, Fortunate ! and 11 she called his name Gad. And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bare Jacob a second son. And 12 Leah said, Happy am I ! for the daughters will call me happy : and she called his name 13 Asher. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the 14 field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I 15 pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband ? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also ? 16 And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to-night for thy son’s mandrakes. And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me ; for I have surely hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he 17 lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare 18 Jacob a fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I gave my hand- 19 maid to my husband : and she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and 20 bare a sixth son to Jacob. And Leah said, God hath endowed me with a good dowry ; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons : and she called 21 his name Zebulun. And afterward she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. 22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And 23 she conceived, and bare a son : and said, God hath taken away my reproach : and she 24 called his name Joseph, saying, The LORD add to me another son. 25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send 26 me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee, and let me go : for thou knowest my service 27 wherewith I have served thee. And Laban said unto him, If now I have found favor in 28 thine eyes, turey : for I have divined that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. And he 29 said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. And he said unto him, Thou knowest 30 how I have served thee, and how thy cattle hath fared with me. For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it hath increased unto a multitude ; and the LORD hath blessed thee whithersoever I turned : and now when shall I provide for mine own house 31 also ? And he said, What shall I give thee ? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me 32 aught : if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it. I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats : 33 and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when thou shalt come concerning my hire that is before thee : every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that if found with me shall be 34 counted stolen. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35 And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-traked and spotted, and all the she- goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones 36 among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons ; and he set three days’ journey 37 betwixt himself and Jacob : and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane tree ; and peeled white strakes in 38 them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs where the flocks

39 came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived 40 before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and put them not unto 41 Laban’s flock. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might con- 42 ceive among the rods; but when the flock were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler 43 were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. And the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.

2-10. Wells are still the spots where the youth and girls of Bedouin life congregate, and at the wells alone is Oriental courtship carried on to this day. The Syrian girl, especially if a Druse or a Christian, unlike the secluded daughter of the towns, is frequently intrusted with the care of her father’s flock. The well, the most precious of possessions, is carefully closed with a heavy slab until all those whose flocks are entitled to share its water have gathered. The time is noon. The first comers gather and report the gossip of the tribe. The story of Jacob and Rachel is, in its most minute details, a transcript of the Arab life of to-day. H. B. T.

There is a remarkable analogy in the two arrivals of Jacob and Abraham’s servant at Haran—for not only did they come to the same city, but probably to the same well, where the same scene of pastoral and ancient simplicity is acted over again. The interview with Rachel is quite a counterpart to that with Rebekah; and the emotions of the two strangers are the same and alike natural—those of the elder, Abraham’s servant, being of a graver and more solemn character than those of Jacob, whose sensibilities were more vivid and tender. There was a providence in both; and we recognize in them the similar dealings of God with the patriarchs of two generations. T. C.

Robinson informs us, “Over most of the cisterns is laid a broad and thick flat stone, with a round hole cut in the middle, forming the mouth of the cistern. This hole we found in many cases covered with a heavy stone, which it would require two or three men to roll away.” The established regulation of the well demanded that the stone should not be rolled away until all the flocks had been brought together. But when Jacob learned that the approaching shepherdess was Laban’s daughter, he oversteps this arrangement, and, in the overflowing joy of his heart, he offers his services, and rolls away the stone. K.

11. The unmarried daughters of the nomad Arabs to this day keep the flocks. The meeting is in the highest degree touching and natural.

The forlorn man driven from his father’s house by peril of his life, was at once met, not only with his own flesh and blood, but with her who in a moment becomes to him the centre of his new and recovered life. The history is drawn from the very deepest wells of human emotion. His service done, and his impassioned manner, justify his taking the privilege of a near relative, and all doubt on this is removed by his own avowal. Observe the continual and studied repetition, “the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother,"—“the flock of Laban his mother’s brother,"—“her father’s brother,"—“Rebekah’s son,"—“Jacob his sister’s son.” The joy of meeting is imparted to her whom he met: she runs and tells her father. And he again, in his turn, welcomes the wayfarer with the same affectionate ardor. Alf.

There was much to awaken strong emotion—the damsel was the daughter of “his mother’s brother;” the sheep were “the sheep of his mother’s brother.” It is not without purpose that his mother is thus presented to us. It appraises us that his mother was present to Jacob’s mind. He pictured to himself, that just as that maiden appeared there before him, so, in that very place, had his mother appeared before Abraham’s servant many years before—and that now he was among the scenes of her youth, of which she had often spoke to him. We can therefore well understand how, when he kissed his fair cousin and told her who he was, “he lifted up his voice and wept.” This is a fine touch of nature. We begin to feel that there is truth in this man, of whom we have not yet seen much that is good. Our hearts begin to go with him. His future career begins to interest us. Kit.

19. Had Laban really possessed the generosity which his words seem to express, he would have given Jacob the object of his choice without compelling him to wait seven years for her. Though it was proper for Jacob to make the offer he did, it was mean and sordid for Laban to accept it. But it is evident that his own private interest was all that he studied. In his sister Rebekah’s marriage there were presents of gold and silver, and costly raiment—things which wrought much on his mind. But here were none of these moving inducements. Here was a poor man who could only talk of promised blessings; but upon these he set no value. He was governed by sight, and not by faith; and seeing that Abraham’s descendants were partial to his family, he resolved to make his market of it. “Indeed he sold her to him for some years’ service. This was Laban or Nabal, choose you which. Their names were not more like than their natures.” (Trapp.)—God makes use elsewhere of the circumstance of this servitude of Jacob to keep up a spirit of humility, as well as a memory of their ancestry, among the children of Israel. It was a part of the confession required to be made by every Israelite when he presented his basket of first ripe fruits before the Lord, “A Syrian ready to perish was my father,” alluding to Jacob’s poverty and distress when he first came, at this time, into Syria. Again, when the prophet Hosea (12:12) reproves the people for their luxury and pride and haughtiness, he reminds them that “Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.” It would, no doubt, tend to abate the loftiness of spirit of many of the wealthy and the great of this world, if they would look back upon the humble and perhaps servile condition of the founders of their families. Bush.

20. And Jacob served—hard service in keeping sheep. Seven years for Rachel. The purity and intensity of Jacob’s affection was declared not alone by the proposal of a seven years’ term of servitude,—a long period of waiting for a man of fifty-seven, if not seventy-seven, years of age,—but also by the spirit in which he served his avaricious relative. Many as the days were that required to intervene before he obtained possession of his bride, they were rendered happy by the sweet society of Rachel. And they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. “Words breathing the purest tenderness, and expressing more emphatically than the flowery hyperboles of romantic phraseology the deep attachment of an affectionate heart” (Kalisch); words too which show the lofty appreciation Jacob had of the personal worth of his future bride. T. W.—This is a step in Jacob’s training in the fulfilment of God’s promise at Bethel. It shows a new feature in his character. We see not the man of cunning devices, but one full of pure, self sacrificing love. Fourteen years of service willingly given to purchase, according to Eastern custom, his bride. Montgomery.

23-25. This imposition is the Nemesis that overtakes Jacob, and must have reminded him of the similar wrong of which himself had been guilty. As instead of the beloved son he had brought to Isaac him whom he had despised and neglected, so Laban now substitutes the despised Leah for his beloved Rachel. But as then Isaac had rightly blessed the son whom he had not loved, so also was Jacob’s wife, though not beloved, yet destined for him by God. For it was Leah and not Rachel who became the mother of that son who afterward inherited the most precious part in the promise. K.—The conduct of Laban is perfectly intelligible as the outcome of his sordid avarice; but it is difficult to understand how Leah could acquiesce in a proposal so base as to wrong her sister by marrying one who neither sought nor loved her. She must herself have been attached to Jacob; and it is probable that Laban had explained to her his plan for bringing about a double wedding. Whitelaw.

He who, by subtility and falsehood, stole away the blessing intended for his brother, is punished for his deceit, by finding a Leah where he expected a Rachel. He who employed undue advantage to arrive at the right of the firstborn, has undue advantage taken of him in having the firstborn put in the place of the younger. He who could practise upon a father’s blindness, though to obtain a laudable end, is, in his turn, practised upon by a father, employing the cover of the night to accomplish a very unwarrantable purpose. Hunter.—In such a way God often deals with men, causing them to reap the bitter fruits of sin, even when they have lamented and forsaken it. “When thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.” Bush.—Jacob was paid in his own coin. He had cheated his own father when he pretended to be Esau, and now his father-in-law cheated him. Herein, how unrighteous soever Laban was, the Lord was righteous. Even the righteous, if they take a false step, are sometimes thus recompensed in the earth. Many that are not, like Jacob, disappointed in the person, soon find themselves, as much to their grief, disappointed in the character. H.—He, the younger, had taken the place of the elder to gain the father’s blessing. In this case the imposture is reversed, and practised upon himself. He did not recognize Leah, as his father did not recognize him. Here it was devised by a father, there it was a mother’s work. Moreover it was part of the divine purpose that Leah should be his wife, and the intricacies of human cunning are made to subserve the plans of the Most High. Leah became the progenitor of Him, the promised, who was to prove the blessing of the nations. C. G. B.

26-30. Laban shielded himself behind the pretence of a national custom, not to give away a younger before a firstborn sister. But he readily proposed to give to Jacob Rachel also, in return for other seven years of service. Jacob consented, and the second union was celebrated immediately upon the close of Leah’s marriage festivities. It were an entire mistake to infer from the silence of Scripture that this double marriage of Jacob received Divine approbation. As always, Scripture states facts, but makes no comment. That sufficiently appears from the life-long sorrow, disgrace, and trials which, in the retributive providence of God, followed as the consequence of this double union. A. E.—Laban is at least not so unjust as to require Jacob to discharge his second servitude before the marriage with Rachel. Immediately after the marriage-week is past, he gives to Jacob Rachel as his wife. The ceremony lasted seven days, from the symbolical idea attaching to the number seven, as being that of the covenant. Thus, instead of one, Jacob had two wives, and these sisters. K.—Jacob did not design it, but to have kept as true to Rachel as his father had done to Rebekah; he that had lived without a wife to the 84th year of his age, could then have been very well content with one: but Laban, to dispose of his two daughters without portions, and to get seven years’ service more out of Jacob, thus imposes upon him, and draws him into such a strait by his fraud. H.

27. Fulfil her week.** The marriage feast lasted seven days; it would not, therefore, have been proper to break off the solemnities to which the men of the place had been invited (ver. 22), and probably Laban wished to keep his fraud from the public eye; therefore he informs Jacob, that if he will fulfil the marriage week for Leah, he will give him Rachel at the end of it, on condition of his serving seven other years. To this the necessity of the case caused Jacob to agree; and thus Laban had fourteen years’ service instead of seven; for it is not likely that Jacob would have served even seven days for Leah, as his affection was wholly set on Rachel, the wife of his own choice. By this stratagem Laban gained a settlement for both his daughters. Jacob had before practised deceit, and is now deceived; and Laban, the instrument of it, was afterward deceived himself. A. C.

31. Rachel, whom he loved, is barren: Leah, who was despised, is fruitful: how wisely God weighs out to us our favors and crosses in an equal balance; so tempering our sorrows that they may not oppress, and our joys that they may not transport us! each one hath some matter of envy to others, and of grief to himself. Leah envies Rachel’s beauty and love; Rachel envies Leah’s fruitfulness; yet Leah would not be barren, nor Rachel blear-eyed. Bp. II.—

32-35. Leah bore in succession four sons, whom she significantly named Reuben (“behold! a son”), saying, “Surely Jehovah hath looked upon my affliction;” Simeon (“hearing”), “Because Jehovah hath heard that I was hated;” Levi (“cleaving,” or “joined”), in the hope “Now this time will my husband cleave to me;” and Judah (“praised,” viz., be Jehovah), since she said: “Now will I praise Jehovah.” It deserves special notice, that in the birth of at least three of these sons, Leah not only recognized God, but specially acknowledged Him as Jehovah, the covenant-God. A. E.

The Lord, who had decreed temporary barrenness for Rachel the fair, opened the womb of Leah the despised; neither to compensate Leah for the loss of Jacob’s love, nor to punish Jacob for his sinful partiality; but to manifest his power, to show that children are the heritage of the Lord, to vindicate his sovereignty, to attest that God giveth families to whomsoever he will, and to suggest that the line of promise was designed to be not the fruit of nature, but the gift of grace. T. W.

Jacob served doubly for Rachel; but his service was amply paid afterward, although for a time the veil of disappointment hid the purpose of God. While Leah, as the mother of Judah, was the true ancestress of Messiah, still it was in Joseph, the son of Rachel, that Jacob’s heart was satisfied, and that the history of the kingdom of God was most manifestly carried on and its glory set forth. As in the case of Sarah and Rebekah, so in that of Rachel, the birth of the representative seed is connected with special bestowments of grace. Roberts.

30: 1. The eager desire for offspring among the Hebrew women is easily accounted for, if we bear in mind that the distinguishing blessing of Abraham was a numerous posterity, and in particular one illustrious person in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed. But Rachel’s language was that of a sinful impatience, for which it would seem, that in the righteous providence of God she afterward paid dear, as she died in giving birth to Benjamin (ch. 37: 16-19). Bush.—It is remarkable that as soon as Rachel had children (literally, sons) she did die. It is impossible to read this and not to form an unfavorable estimate of Rachel. There is at the same time an impetuosity and an ungodliness in her speech to her husband. Af.

2. It was a very grave and pious reply which Jacob gave to Rachel’s peevish demand: Am I in God’s stead? The Chaldee paraphrases it well, D est thou ask sons of me? Oughtest thou not to ask from before the Lord? The Arabic reads it, “Am I above God; can I give thee that which God denies thee?” This was said like a plain man. He acknowledges the hand of God in the affliction which he was a sharer with her in. He hath withheld the fruit of the womb. Note, Whatever we want, it is God that withholds it, a sovereign Lord, most wise, holy, and just, that may do what he will with his own, and is debtor to no man; that never did, nor ever can do, any wrong to any of his creatures. The keys of the clouds, of the heart, of the grave, and of the womb, are four keys which God has in his hand, and which (the Rabbins say) he in trusts neither with angel nor seraphim. H.

3-9. It is remarkable how much against his will, and against his eventual peace, Jacob, who would have been content and happy with Rachel only, was absolutely driven, by the force of circumstances, to take not only two wives, but four. Having got the wrong wife in the first instance, he could only obtain the right one, by taking her as an addition to the first. Then, as the beloved one proved childless, he could not refuse her importunities to take her handmaid Bilhah, as Abraham had taken Hagar, that she might, through her, obtain children, and be put on equality with her fruitful sister and rival, Leah. Having done this, and the plan having produced the desired results, he could not, in justice, refuse Leah the same advantage, and was obliged to take her handmaid, Zilpah, in like manner. Thus Jacob became encumbered with four wives at once, all through his first disappointment, by the culpable contrivance of Laban. With respect to these handmaids, it should be observed, that they were slaves, whom Laban had presented to his daughters, as their own peculiar property at the time of their marriage, and who were entirely at their disposal, and free from the control of the husband. Such handmaidens had before been given to Rebekah, and had accompanied her to the land of Canaan. We meet with these dotal servants frequently in the ancient and modern East, and even among the classical ancients. Their condition, indeed, among the Greeks and Romans, seems to have been in all rerespects similar to that in which it here appears. Kit.

10-24. In the rivalry here disclosed, both parties were competitors for Jacob’s good will; and both hoped for success, as the worldly often do in seeking their selfish ends, from the divine blessing on their own devices. God overrules all for ultimate good, and through such instruments as these works out his wise and beneficent ends; and herein are seen the wisdom and the mystery of his providence. In this disclosure of the interior life of Jacob’s household we have an instructive picture of the evils of polygamy, in its legitimate results as here described. The peace of the domestic fireside is destroyed by conflicting rival interests. The paternal home, the sanctuary where God intended that all divine influences should centre and harmonize, in the development and growth of the human spirit into the likeness of God, is made the scene of discord and strife. It is no wonder, that from such a nursery proceeded such characters as are some of those described in the subsequent family history of Jacob. T. J. C.

14-24. On the part both of Rachel and Leah it was a miserable compact; and a pitiable spectacle it surely was, that of two rival wives contracting with one another about their husband’s society. Rachel disposes of Jacob for a night in consideration of a handful of mandrakes, and Leah counts herself entitled to Jacob’s favors as a boon which she had purchased with Reuben’s yellow apples. Not to speak of the humiliation in all this to Jacob, and the continual misery to which he must have been subjected between his ardent sister-wives, think of the wretchedness it must have entailed upon the women themselves, and the disgrace it must have brought into the rival homes. A more powerful condemnation of polygamy it will be difficult to find, or a more signal illustration of the retribution which sooner or later follows on the heels of transgression. T. W.

There was much amiss in the contest and competition between these two sisters, yet God brought good out of this evil; for the time being now at hand when the seed of Abraham must begin to increase and multiply, thus Jacob’s family was replenished with twelve sons, heads of the thousands of Israel, from whom the celebrated twelve tribes descended, and were named. H.—The narrative is meant to show that the mercy of God, and not natural means, bestows children upon these women. Leah does not refuse to her sister the mandragora of her son. Yet Leah conceives, and Rachel remains barren, and this because the former had called upon the Lord, and He had heard her (verse 17). Again, it is when God remembers Rachel (verse 22), that she conceives. To enforce this truth, the Holy Ghost here brings before us a picture of human life, without keeping anything back. Bauum.

That her family might yet further be built up, is the blessing Leah desires and devoutly prays for, as is intimated, where God hearkened unto Leah. Bishop Patrick well suggests here, that the true reason of this contest between Jacob’s wives and their giving their maids to be his wives, was the earnest desire they had to fulfil the promise made to Abraham (and now lately renewed to Jacob), that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and that in one Seed of his, the Messiah, all the nations of the earth should be blessed. And he thinks it had been below the dignity of this sacred history, to take such particular notice of these things, if there had not been some such great consideration in them. H.—This view is strongly confirmed by the almost uniform reference of the sisters to God’s dealing with them in connection with the successive births. B.

21. It is not usual to enumerate female descendants. Dinah’s name is mentioned for the sake of the history in ch. 34. Jacob had more daughters: compare ch. 37:35 with 46:7. Alf.

22. And God hearkened to her.** It appears that Rachel sought God by prayer, and that he heard her, so that her prayer and faith obtained what her impatience and unbelief had prevented. A. C.—23, 24. The whole narrative is full of God’s justice and of man’s weakness and unworthiness. The plain and hated wife-sister is blessed with children; the husband’s heart is won toward her; the beautiful and beloved one is led, through crosses and failings, and her husband’s anger, to a humbler mind, God in time compensating her for her affliction. Alf.

The whole account with all its lights and shades is another proof of the impartiality of the divine historian, and a strong evidence of the authenticity of the Pentateuch. Neither the spirit of deceit nor the partiality of friendship could ever pen such an account. A. C.

25,26. Jacob was desirous to go to Canaan, though he had a great family to take with him, and no provision yet made for them. He had got wives and children with Laban, but nothing else; yet he does not solicit Laban to give him either a portion with his wives, or the maintenance of some of his children. No, all his request is, Give me my wives and my children, and send me away. H.—27. But when he intiintimated this wish to his father-in-law, Laban was unwilling to part with one by whom he had so largely profited. With a characteristic confusion of heathen ideas with a dim knowledge of the being of Jehovah, Laban said to Jacob (we here translate literally): “If I have found grace in thy sight (i.e. tarry), for I have divined (ascertained by magic), and Jehovah hath blessed me for thy sake.” The same attempt to place Jehovah as the God of Abraham by the side of the god of Nahor—not denying, indeed, the existence of Jehovah, but that he was the only true and living God—occurs again later when Laban made a covenant with Jacob. It also frequently recurs in the later history of Israel. Both strange nations and Israel itself, when in a state of apostasy, did not deny that Jehovah was God, but they tried to place Him on a level with other and false deities. A. E.

JACOB’S SCHEME OF INCREASE (verses 25-43).

Laban, who had experienced how remarkably the blessing of God had rested upon all that his son-in-law had done, endeavors by all means in his power to retain his services. With selfish readiness he agrees to the demand made by Jacob, that all the young of the flock which shall be speckled or spotted were to become his hire. But here also the cunning and calculation, which formed an element in Jacob’s natural character, appear as strikingly as formerly in his relation to Esau. As then, so now, the purposes of God coincide with those of Jacob, notwithstanding the means by which he seeks to attain his ends. Jacob meets cunning with cunning, but Jehovah allows success to follow his cunning. K.

Jacob’s stratagem against Laban. This was the employment of a triple artifice: (1) by means of piled rods to produce party-colored animals in Laban’s flock; (2) on securing these, so to use them as to increase their number; and (3) to direct the animals in such a fashion that the stronger and healthier portion of the flock should be his, and the feebler Laban’s. That Jacob’s stratagem did not fail is apparent; but how far it was due to the particular expedient employed cannot be so easily determined. The extraordinary rapidity with which brown and speckled animals were produced appears to point to the intervention of a special providence in Jacob’s behalf. That in what Jacob did there was nothing fraudulent may be inferred from the fact that he acted under the Divine approval (ch. 31:12), and made use of nothing but the superior knowledge of the habits of animals which he had acquired through his long experience in keeping sheep. T. W.—Thus it happened that however frequently Laban changed the conditions of agreement, eventually the advantage is always on the side of Jacob, and the flocks which by agreement became his increased very rapidly. K.

Rich in nothing but wives and children, he now desired to return to his father’s house, accounting his charge his wealth. But God meant him yet more good. Laban sees that both his family and his flocks were well increased by Jacob’s service. Not his love therefore but his gain makes him loath to part. Even Laban’s covetousness is made by God the means to enrich Jacob. Behold, his strait master entreats him to that recompense which made his nephew mighty and himself envious: God, considering his hard service, paid him wages out of Laban’s folds. In the very shapes and colors of brute creatures there is a divine hand, which disposeth them to his own ends. Small and unlikely means shall prevail, where God intends an effect. Little peeled sticks of hazel or poplar laid in the troughs shall enrich Jacob with an increase of his spotted flocks; Laban’s sons might have tried the same means and failed: God would have Laban know, that he put a difference betwixt Jacob and him; that as for fourteen years he had multiplied Jacob’s charge of cattle to Laban, so now for the last six years he would multiply Laban’s flock to Jacob: and if Laban had the more, yet the better were Jacob’s. Bp. II.

28-34. In our estimate of Jacob’s conduct, we must remember what passed in these verses. It was with the distinct view of “providing for his own house also” that Jacob made this compact. Laban might have known, and doubtless did know, that it would be hard driven; and a man with flocks and herds surely could not be ignorant of the stratagem which Jacob meant to, and did, employ. In fact, his very precaution in ver. 36 shows that he was aware of the influence of the spotted cattle. Aif.

31-33. Thou shalt not give me anything.** This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with, “I will pass through all thy flock to-day” with thee. “Remove thou thence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.” These were the rare colors, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. And such shall be my hire. Such as these uncommon party-colored cattle, when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them; and not those of this description that are now removed. For in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob was resolved to be entirely dependent on the divine providence for his hire. And my righteousness will answer for me. The color will determine at once whose the animal is. 31-36. Laban willingly consents to so favorable a proposal, removes the party-colored animals from the flock, gives them into the hands of his sons, and puts an interval of three days’ journey between them and the pure stock which remains in Jacob’s hands. Jacob is now to begin with nothing, and have for his hire any party-colored lambs or kids that appear in those flocks, from which every specimen of this rare class has been carefully removed. M.—From henceforth, only what out of the white flocks were born ring-straked should be Jacob’s property. Laban had acted here with the greatest severity and exactness, and he had no right to complain if he were dealt with according to the strict letter of the law. Geri.

The agreement between Jacob and Laban depends upon the fact that, in the East, the sheep are commonly white and the goats black, while speckled and spotted animals are rarely seen. All spotted and dark sheep, and all speckled goats, are removed from the flock intrusted to Jacob, and led over to the flocks intrusted to the sons of Laban, so that only sheep of pure white color and goats of pure black color remain. All in that flock which should bear different colors were to become the hire of Jacob; and as in the ordinary course of nature, anything of the kind expected by Jacob was scarcely to be anticipated, Laban agrees to his demand, selfishly rejoicing over what he supposes the folly of his nephew. And yet Laban comes off worst in a compact which apparently seemed so very advantageous to him. K.

The whole proceeding is that of one cunning man against another. Laban does not leave the matter in Jacob’s hands, as proposed (ver. 32), but takes it into his own, and intrusts that part of the flock which is Jacob’s hire to his (Laban’s) sons, putting them at a distance from his own flock, which remains with Jacob, and keeping them studiously separate, to prevent the result which nevertheless Jacob’s superior cunning brought about in the end. Aif.—In effecting his purpose at least, he did not use any unlawful means. We are to judge this history as many others in the Old Testament, in which, though God does not counsel or sanction the acts, He still allows them to be successful, for the sake of carrying out His designs in relation to His kingdom. Geri.

37-43. Darwin himself could scarcely have devised a more scientifically complete experiment on the “variation of animals under domestication” than that which Jacob conducted among the flocks of Laban. The setting of the “pillar rods” in the “watering troughs,” and that by selection before the stronger cattle and at “breeding time,” shows, if anything could show, an acquaintance with the modifiability of life-processes through the intelligent use of exterior agencies. Thomas.—37-40. His first device is to place party-colored rods before the eyes of the cattle at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the piled rods. Put his own folds by themselves. These are the party-colored cattle that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. 41, 42. In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn. It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. 43. The result is here stated. The man brake forth exceedingly, became rapidly rich. M.—Jacob’s ultimate advancement over Laban comes out with greater prominence in the ensuing chapter; the present notices his amazing prosperity. “The man increased exceedingly;” and, in spite of Laban’s craft and avarice combined, eventually eclipsed him in the possession of flocks and herds. Whitelaw.