Genesis 30

1. I die. She who said this afterwards died in childbirth: see xxxv. 16-19; and cp. Job v. 2.

3 knees. That is, adopt as my own.

6 judged me. That is, “hath taken cognizance of my cause.” There is a contrast between the names given by Leah, and those by Rachel. The former express deep conjugal affection and thankfulness to God; the latter chiefly successful rivalry. Mark the importance of the laws afterwards given, Lev. xviii. 18; Deut. xxi. 15-17.

8 great wrestlings. Heb., “wrestlings of God”; perhaps she had prayed for children, and now regarded this as an answer.

11. A troop. Heb., “In luck.” God means luck or fortune.

14 mandrakes. This, though probable, is only a conjectural rendering. The fruit of the mandrake (atropa mandragora) is round and yellow, like a small orange, fragrant and luscious; still believed in the East to promote fecundity.

22. Remembered. Marking a turning-point (cp. viii. 1).

24. Joseph. “He gives increase.”

25. Send me away. His term of service for his wives being finished.

30 since my coming. Heb., “at my foot”; i.e., “whithersoever I turned” (R.V.). The French version has “dès mon arrivée.”

32 spotted. Parti-coloured sheep and goats are rare in the East, the sheep being generally white, and the goats dark.

my hire. Not those already speckled, but those which shall be born so, after these have been removed from the flock. Laban took all the speckled sheep and goats to a distance, and put them under the care of his own sons (ver. 35), probably thinking that the advantage was all on his side. Not finding it so, he repeatedly changed the terms of his agreement; sometimes allowing Jacob only the spotted, and sometimes only the streaked. See xxxi. 8.

33 righteousness. That is, “my honesty in not taking what is yours by agreement will be seen.”

37 hazel and chesnut. More likely, “almond” and “plane” (R.V.). “Pilled” is now spelt peeled, and “strakes,” streaks.

40 lambs. Jacob set aside those which by their colour fell to him.

42 he put them not in. This device was the crowning point in Jacob’s artifice. Had his plans been applied to all the sheep and goats, Laban would have detected a stratagem; xxxi. 7, 8, show that even as it was he suspected some unfairness.