Genesis 31:1-16 comments: Jacob consults with Rachel and Leah about leaving

1 ¶  And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory. 2  And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. 3  And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. 4  And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, 5  And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. 6  And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. 7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. 8  If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked. 9  Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. 10  And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. 11  And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12  And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13  I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. 14  And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? 15  Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. 16  For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

Jacob’s cousins, Laban’s sons, are envious of Jacob’s success. Laban himself is showing signs of being hostile to Jacob from his own envy. Many commissioned salespersons can relate a story of a manager who resented their success even though the salesperson was making the manager money. It is one of those strange things about business where a boss can resent an employee’s success even when that success puts money in his own pocket. I’ve witnessed it myself.

God told Jacob to go home to where he was from and that God would be with him. Jacob called Rachel and Leah together and reminded them about how their father had changed his wages so many times and yet, God had made Jacob successful and blessed him with wealth. He told them how God had appeared to him and said that He had seen how Laban had treated him and told Jacob to go back from where he came. God reminded Jacob that He was the God of Bethel where Jacob had the dream of the ladder to heaven. Most importantly, Jacob understood that God was responsible for the condition of the sheep and was behind what happened.

The Bible teaches us that God often uses people and methods to express His will which go beyond natural explanations but involve natural means. It is an important aspect of God’s will, using human agency while being responsible for the effort Himself. For instance, in Exodus 17 Israel is victorious if Moses’ hands are held up and they begin to lose if his hands are lowered. So, his arms are held up by rocks to keep them up. But, we know that it was God who gave the victory. Why not just have them win without Moses’ even being there? Simply because the action invested authority in God’s man and God working with human efforts that would be impotent without Him God moves His will forward. Neither Jacob putting sticks in water troughs nor Moses holding up his hands have any power to accomplish anything without God’s direct will being involved. This teaches us not to wait for a miracle passively but to pray and get busy, praying that God will work through you, if what you want to do is His will. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wait for God’s direction, revealing His direct and perfect will, and inspiration, giving understanding, but it just shows that God may use your efforts, no matter how weak and irrelevant they may seem, to accomplish His purpose.

The treatment the doctor applies to your sickness heals you but the Bible teaches that it is God who does the healing, only often as not, through human agency and effort. A family hurt is soothed because you went and apologized to a family member and although God did the soothing He used your willingness to act favorably in the matter to accomplish the calming. Understand, though, that the doctor’s effort without God’s will or your words of regret would have no effect without God. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that it was all you or the doctor’s great skill alone. And although God can heal without a doctor and can level out family difficulties without your apology He more often than not will use them both to perform His will.

Rachel and Leah both agree that Laban, their father, had not been exactly upright in his dealings. He had taken their money by cheating their husband. The wealth that Jacob had gotten from Laban was theirs and their children’s. In the end they were willing for Jacob to do whatever God led him to do.

Proverbs 13:22 ¶  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Genesis 30:25-43 comments: God makes Jacob wealthy

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. 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. 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. 28  And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. 29  And he said unto him, 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; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? 31  And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: 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. 33  So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. 34  And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. 35  And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, 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. 36  And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: 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 white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 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, 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. 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. 42  But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43  And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

Jacob wants to take his family and leave Laban, returning to his own country. Laban acknowledges that Jacob has been a wise steward of Laban’s flocks and has made Laban prosperous. He says, tell me what you want and I’ll pay you. Jacob reinforces that under his direction and by his work God has blessed Laban through Jacob which is what Laban admitted. Now, it is time for Jacob to acquire wealth of his own.

It is interesting to note in history how the Jew, living in the countries of the Gentiles, has made Gentiles rich and prosperous by their skills at handling money and commerce. It is also interesting how, like Laban, the Gentiles have, more often than not, resented the Jews, rather than thanked them, as we shall soon see of Laban.

We don’t learn until the next chapter that God has arranged for this method of Jacob acquiring wealth and it is not some arcane and ancient form of sheepherding.

Genesis 30:14-24 comments: the issue with the mandrakes

14 ¶  And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, 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 said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s 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; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. 17  And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. 18  And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar. 19  And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. 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. 21  And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. 22  And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. 23  And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: 24  And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

In these passages we have been shown a great example of God’s permissive will. We have seen events occur that God did not specifically command or ordain but we see the actions and reactions of human beings and how God wove their free will into His will that a people should be formed whom He would enter in at a singular point in history as the Son of God, God in the flesh, who was and is Jesus Christ.

Mandrakes were, according to some authors, thought to be useful for stimulating fertility as well as for having an aphrodisiac quality. This was a purely humanistic and superstitious belief which, like others of man then and now, God simply ignores. Here, we are told of the argument between Rachel and Leah regarding mandrakes. Yet, it is only when God chooses to acknowledge or hearken unto Leah that she conceives. God cares not a whit for your rabbit’s foot, whether you think wearing your socks inside out is lucky, or for any other lucky charm you carry from your heathen ancestors. His will shall be done regardless of such accouterments. Do not mistake the mention of something in the Bible for God’s approval or for any power on its part. It merely reveals the incomplete and imperfect understanding of the Bible’s characters, similar to our own in many cases.

God heard Leah and gave her Issachar, meaning that God has paid Leah. He is sort of like her payment for giving up the mandrakes, in her thinking. She then gave birth to Zebulun, named so because God had lifted her up and given her a plentiful dowry with which to bless her husband.

Finally, she gave birth to a daughter named Dinah. Although it is not evident from the text Dinah’s name has a similar meaning to Dan’s in it being judgment.

Rachel is not forgotten. We’ve seen this use of the word remembered before, if you recall, in comments on 8:1.

And God remembered Rachel does not say, in this context, that God forgot about her but that God revisited her, brought her back into play, turned His attention to her. In pre-1611 dictionaries something remembered was something worthy to be mentioned, thought about, or spoken of, not as it is often today, something I had forgotten but has now come to mind.

Joseph’s name means that Jehovah, which is what LORD is with all capitals, has added, which is evident by the context.

Genesis 30:1-13 comments: ...she shall bear upon my knees.

1 ¶  And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, 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? 3  And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. 4  And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 5  And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 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. 7  And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. 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, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. 10  And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son. 11  And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. 12  And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son. 13  And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

Rachel envied her older sister’s success at giving their husband four sons. She holds Jacob responsible for her infertility. Jacob angrily states that it is God who has withheld a baby from her, which is true. God is in complete and immanent control of conception and birth, the entire process.

Here, she does something entirely alien to us, a repeat of Sarah’s behavior with Hagar. She offers her handmaid, who obviously has no rights to herself, as a surrogate to herself as a wife. This, what we would consider adultery, must not have been uncommon in the ancient world. Here, and elsewhere, we get a picture of the method of childbirth used in this part of the ancient world. …she shall bear upon my knees. Note the following;

Exodus 1:16  And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

The modern child-bearing position is on your back. The ancient was sitting on someone’s knees or a stool, a birthstool, pictures of which relics can be found on the internet if you are interested. I have read, though I cannot confirm, that birthstools were used in Europe during the Middle Ages. One Jewish source I read reported that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics show the development of a chair type device with a hole where the seat is normally, much like a toilet seat today.

Bilhah does conceive and bear a son whom Rachel called Dan. The power to name is the power of dominion over someone or something as we saw from Adam. Rachel owns Bilhah and counts her children as her own. Dan, from the context, means judge and Strong’s confirms this. The Hebrew word also comes from a primitive root meaning to plead a cause before a judge so that we can see from the context, if we do not go to Strong’s, what God wants the name to mean.

Again, Bilhah, on behalf of Rachel bears Naphtali, whose name means wrestling. Then, Leah, realizing that she was no longer having children, gave her maid, Zilpah, to her husband. She then conceived and bore Gad, whose name means a troop. Certainly, their family was becoming a troop. Zilpah then bears Asher for Leah and Jacob. The word blessed here is defined as being happy in something you have received at the hand of God.

Genesis 29:31-35 comments: Leah's first sons

31 ¶  And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. 32  And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. 33  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon. 34  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. 35  And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

See comments on chapter 25:29-34 for an explanation of how hate can be used as to hold in low esteem or to hold in contempt or just to love less. God gives His blessing on Leah by making it possible for her to conceive as she is held in lower esteem by Jacob than Rachel. But Rachel was barren in that she could not conceive. In gratitude Leah named her first born, Reuben, which means, “Behold, a son,” according to Strong, while the context would imply God seeing Leah’s misery, her affliction. In fact, there are those other than Strong’s who define this Hebrew name as, “who sees the son,” or, “the vision of the son.” Another Jewish source has it as, in opposition to Strong’s view, is, “He has seen my affliction (misery.)” Look at the context and think for yourself what Reuben’s name means. Strong’s, while depended upon by most Bibles today is not the absolute source of definition for Bible words and names. The Bible itself is. I would presume that the Holy Spirit knows what He wants a word to mean in context.

Leah and Jacob’s second son is named Simeon. In the context meaning, “he has heard,” also confirmed by Jewish sources. Levi, the third son, would then mean, “joined to,” and Judah, from whom the line of Christ comes, would mean, “praise.” We might think of these four births as saying, “God has seen my misery. He has heard me. Now, my husband and I will be united and I will praise God.”

Genesis 29:15-30 comments: tender eyed

15 ¶  And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? 16  And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17  Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. 18  And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. 19  And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. 20  And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 21  And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22  And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23  And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. 24  And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. 25  And it came to pass, that in the morning, 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 thou beguiled me? 26  And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27  Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. 28  And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. 29  And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. 30  And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

Laban calls Jacob his brother, which clearly in this context means a close relation, as Jacob is his nephew. Brother can easily be used to refer to someone who is a comrade or a fellow believer in Christ. It can also refer to the brotherhood of mankind as in Genesis 9:5.

Jacob, the trickster, is now going to be tricked. Laban is a very clever man. He allows Jacob to work seven years under the promise of Jacob receiving Rachel as his bride. Instead he gives Jacob Leah, her older sister. Notice that the wedding ceremony is a feast at the end of which the father just gives his daughter to the husband-to-be. Not very romantic from the point of view of today’s woman.

Laban’s excuse is that the custom of the country is for the older to be married before the younger but it seems more likely that Laban probably worried that his oldest, not so beautiful and well favoured, would not find a husband. As Leah is tender eyed, which carries with it the implication of weakness or deficiency in Early Modern English and in the Hebrew text, perhaps she was a bit cross-eyed, who can say. Jacob was drawn to the prettier daughter. This type of carnal attitude seems more worthy of Esau and marriages based on this do not have a good foundation. But, let’s give Laban the benefit of the doubt and agree it was the custom not to marry the younger before the elder. He still tricked Jacob, the clever deceiver. You have to wonder if he did not know whom he was consummating a marriage with that perhaps this feast included a liberal supply of wine as one could reasonably assume that her veil would be taken off when the marriage was completed.

It appears from a literal reading of the text that Jacob gave Leah a week of being the only wife and then received Rachel, for whom he worked an additional seven years to pay off her father. Notice the difference here between Jacob and Isaac. In the Ancient Near East a bride did not just marry a husband but joined another family, leaving the family of her birth. Rebekah was brought to Isaac. Here, Jacob is in bondage to his brides’ father. Also, while we might wonder about the dowry given by the bride’s family there was also the ancient “bridewealth” given by the groom’s family. Here, Jacob’s servitude for fourteen years serves that function and he will leave with wealth after another six years.

Jacob has worked for Laban up to this point and acquired two wives with their handmaids and his living in the process.

Genesis 29:1-14 comments: Jacob meets Rachel

1 ¶  Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. 2  And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. 3  And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they r14 olled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. 4  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 he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. 7  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 them. 8  And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.

    9 ¶  And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. 10  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 mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11  And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. 12  And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father. 13  And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. 14  And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

Jacob went back in the direction from whence Abraham had come. So, he finds a well with three flocks of sheep waiting to be watered by a well that had a great stone covering it. What tremendous preaching material you can get from passages like this. Think of the Resurrection of Christ leaving a tomb covered by a great stone, giving living water to those sheep thirsting for it. There are so many possibilities with this. Three flocks might represent Noah’s three sons whose descendants overspread the whole earth waiting for this life-giving water. Such good preaching material and I’m sure you can think of more.

Can you see Jacob in this scene as a type of the angel of the Lord rolling the stone away from Christ’s tomb? (Matthew 28:2)