Jacob Prepares To Leave Laban – Expired Term Of Servitude

JACOB PREPARES TO LEAVE LABAN

Jacob longs to leave Laban, and Jacob makes a shrewd bargain with him.

Genesis 30:25-43 KJV

[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.

Genesis 30:25 KJV

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.


  • Shortly after the birth of this son, Jacob‘s term of servitude expired, and feeling anxious to establish an independence for his family, he probably, from knowing that Esau was out of the way, announced his intention of returning to Canaan (Hebrews 13:14).
  • In this resolution the faith of Jacob was remarkable, for as yet he had nothing to rely on but the promise of God (compare Genesis 28:15).

Genesis 30:26 KJV

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.


  • Now listen to Uncle Laban—he’s not through yet, you may be sure of that!

Genesis 30:27 KJV

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.


  • His selfish uncle was averse to a separation, not from warmth of affection either for Jacob or his daughters, but from the damage his own interests would sustain.
  • He had found, from long observation, that the blessing of heaven rested on Jacob, and that his stock had wonderfully increased under Jacob‘s management.
  • This was a remarkable testimony that good men are blessings to the places where they reside.
  • Men of the world are often blessed with temporal benefits on account of their pious relatives, though they have not always, like Laban, the wisdom to discern, or the grace to acknowledge it.

Genesis 30:28 KJV

And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.


  • The Eastern shepherds receive for their hire not money, but a certain amount of the increase or produce of the flock; but Laban would at the time have done anything to secure the continued services of his nephew, and make a show of liberality, which Jacob well knew was constrained.

Genesis 30:29 KJV

And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.


  • Listen to Jacob complaining. He is singing the blues! He is saying, “All I’ve got out of all this service for you are two wives with their two maids and a house full of boys.”
  • In fact, he has eleven boys at this point.

Genesis 30:30 KJV

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?


  • What in the world is he going to do?
  • How is he going to feed them?
  • He says, “God has blessed you and He has prospered you, and I don’t have anything.”

Genesis 30:31 KJV

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:


  • A new agreement was made, the substance of which was, that he was to receive remuneration in the usual way, but on certain conditions which Jacob specified.

Genesis 30:32 KJV

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.


  • Eastern sheep being generally white, the goats black, and spotted or speckled ones comparatively few and rare, Jacob proposed to remove all existing ones of that description from the flock, and to be content with what might appear at the next lambing time.
  • The proposal seemed so much in favor of Laban, that he at once agreed to it.
  • But Jacob has been accused of taking advantage of his uncle, and though it is difficult to exculpate him from practicing some degree of dissimulation, he was only availing himself of the results of his great skill and experience in the breeding of cattle.
  • But it is evident from the next chapter (Genesis 31:5-13) that there was something miraculous and that the means he had employed had been suggested by a divine intimation.

Genesis 30:33 KJV

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.


  • My righteousness He apparently was counting on the blessing of God.

Genesis 30:34 KJV

And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.


  • Jacob is making a very interesting deal.

Genesis 30:35 KJV

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.


  • They would not be able to breed with the others.
  • Jacob would take the off-breeds so that only the full breeds would mate and bear offspring, and those would belong to Uncle Laban.
  • The others would be his.

Genesis 30:36 KJV

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


  • Three days’ journey To avoid breeding between the two flocks.

 

Genesis 30:37 KJV

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.


  • There are many varieties of the hazel, some of which are more erect than the common hazel, and it was probably one of these varieties Jacob employed.
  • The styles are of a bright red color, when peeled; and along with them he took wands of other shrubs, which, when stripped of the bark, had white streaks.
  • These, kept constantly before the eyes of the female at the time of gestation, his observation had taught him would have an influence, through the imagination, on the future offspring.

Genesis 30:38 KJV

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.


  • usually a long stone block hollowed out, from which several sheep could drink at once, but sometimes so small as to admit of only one drinking at a time.

Genesis 30:39 KJV

And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.


  • The point is that both Laban and Jacob believed that the white streaks in the rods caused the offspring to be ringstraked.
  • That is the important part of the story.
  • Regardless of whether or not there was value in it, Jacob is using trickery.
  • He had been quite a trickster, but he has met an uncle who is a better trickster than he is, and now Jacob is trying to make a comeback.

Genesis 30:40 KJV

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.


 

 

 

Genesis 30:41 KJV

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.


  • Stronger cattle, here the genetic process, unknown until recent times, was in his favor. God’s word is inspired and He blessed Jacob.

Genesis 30:42 KJV

But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.


 

 

 

Genesis 30:43 KJV

And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.


 

 

 

 

 

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