A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

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Genesis 29

¹ Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. — the people of the East; and arrives at the well of Haran, which was about four degrees east of Beer-sheba, and the distance was about four hundred and fifty miles, and therefore it would take Jacob fifteen days to journey there.

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. — a well in the field; near Haran; having travelled that far, he might purposely look out for a well;

— as knowing these people frequently came for water for their families, or shepherds to water their flocks, of whom he might get intelligence concerning Laban’s family, and where they dwelt;

³ And thither were all the flocks gathered; and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.

— and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep; that is, when they watered the sheep, they used to roll away the stone from the mouth of the well in order to do it; and put a stone back upon the well’s mouth in this place; 

⁴ And Jacob said unto them, “My brethren, from whence be ye?” And they said, “Of Haran are we.” — and they said, of Haran are we; the very place he was bound for, and was sent unto;

⁵ And he said unto them, “Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” — Laban the son of Nahor; Laban was really the son of Bethuel and grandson of Nahor; but Nahor was the founder of the family, as being the original immigrant from Ur, who came to supply Abraham’s place on his departure.

⁶ And he said unto them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well; and behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.” — and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep;

— at that very instant Rachel was coming out of the city with her father’s flock of sheep, to water them at the well; an instance of great humility, diligence, and simplicity; this was very providential to Jacob;

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 are gathered together, and until they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we water the sheep.”

— the Message Bible has this passage clearer as:

⁶ “Are things well with him?” Jacob continued.
“Very well,” they said. “And here is his daughter Rachel coming with the flock.”
⁷ Jacob said, “There’s a lot of daylight still left; it isn’t time to round up the sheep yet, is it? So why not water the flocks and go back to grazing?”
⁸ “We can’t,” they said. “Not until all the shepherds get here. It takes all of us to roll the stone from the well. Not until then can we water the flocks.” Genesis 29:6-8 MSG

⁹ And while he yet spoke with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them. — for she kept them; having, no doubt, servants under her who performed the meaner and more laborious offices, and whom it was her place to oversee;

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. — Laban his mother’s brother; the threefold repetition of these words signifies the importance of this relationship;

¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. — Jacob kissed Rachel and wept; Jacob first made himself, useful to Rachel, and then discloses to her who he is, claims her as a cousin, and kisses her;

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. — and she ran and told her father; leaving the care of her flock with Jacob; Rebekah, in a like case, ran and told her mother;

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. — and he told Laban all these things; how he was sent hither by his parents on account of the hatred of his brother Esau, because he had got the birthright and blessing from him;

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, “Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.” And he abode with him the space of a month. — and Laban said to him, surely thou art my bone and my flesh; closely allied in blood, being his sister’s son;

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?” — doubtless Laban had seen, during Jacob’s stay of a month, that his services would be very valuable; hence the offer;

¹⁶ And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. — and the name of the elder was Leah; which signifies labour or weariness: and the name of the younger was Rachel; before mentioned, whom Jacob met with at the well.

¹⁷ Leah was tendereyed, but Rachel was beautiful and wellfavored. — “Tender eyed” is the KJ translation; other translations are weak eyes, though other versions call her eyes blue (apparently a real turn-off), or dull, or soft, or lacking sparkle;

¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel, and said, “I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.” — Jacob, not having an abundance of gold and silver, offer to serve seven years for Rachel;

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.” — it is better that I should give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man; by which he not only intimates that he preferred him, a relation, to another man, a stranger;

²⁰ And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had for her. — they seemed unto him but a few days; Jacob was at least fifty-seven years of age, but the late marriages hitherto of the patriarchs show that they only slowly arrived at manhood;

²¹ And Jacob said unto Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.” — the seven years were up he agreed to serve him for his daughter; that I may go in unto her; as his lawful wife, and it was high time Jacob had her;

²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. — and made a feast; a marriage or marriage feast; normally lasting seven days;

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. — and he went in unto her; or lay with her as his wife; a modest expression of the use of the bed;

— 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.

²⁴ And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah, Zilpah his maid for a handmaid. — instead of Rachel, Laban took his elder daughter Leah into the bride-chamber, and Jacob went in unto her, without discovering in the dark;

— the Targum of Jonathan says, “and Laban gave her Zilpah his daughter, whom his concubine bore unto him:” hence some Jewish authorities say that the daughters of a man by his concubines are called maids.

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? Why then hast thou beguiled me?” — wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? by giving Leah instead of her: though Laban is not to be justified in this action;

— yet here appears in Providence a righteous retaliation of Jacob; he beguiled his own father, pretending he was his brother Esau; and now his father-in-law beguiles him, giving him blear eyed Leah instead of beautiful Rachel;

²⁶ And Laban said, “It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. — it is still the custom not to give the younger in marriage before the older, unless the latter be deformed or in some way defective.

²⁷ Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this other also, for which service thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.” — fulfil her week; not Rachel’s week, or a week of years of servitude for her, but Leah’s week, or the week of seven days of feasting for her marriage; for a marriage feast used to be kept seven days;

²⁸ And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week; and he gave him Rachel his daughter for a wife also. — and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also; not after seven years’ service, but after the seven days of feasting for Leah;

²⁹ And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. — also giving Bilhah her handmaid unto him; and this the Targum of Jonathan is said to be a daughter of Laban by a concubine also;

³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. — and served with him, yet seven other years; that is, Jacob served so many years with Laban after he had married his two daughters, and fulfilled the weeks of feasting for each of them;

³¹ And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. — Leah was hated; for plainly Leah was not the object of love at all; it was her fruitfulness which gave her value in her husband’s eyes, and when this ceased, Jacob utterly neglected her (Genesis 30:15).

³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben [that is, See a son]; for she said, “Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction. Now therefore my husband will love me.” — Reuben ~ France;

³³ And she conceived again and bore 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 [that is, Hearing]. — Germany?

³⁴ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore was his name called Levi [that is, Joined]. —  Judah and Levi ~ Israel;

³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son; and she said, “Now will I praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah [that is, Praise], and ceased bearing. — Judah; which signifies “praise” the Targum of Jonathan adds this as a reason, “because from this my son shall come forth kings, and from him shall come forth David the king, who shall praise the Lord,” and a son in whose line, and from whose tribe, the Messiah was to spring.

Genesis 30

¹ And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” — Give me children, or else I die’this is the stress proverb that a childless person is as good as dead;

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?” — Am I in God’s stead? that is, do you take me to be God, for it is God’s prerogative to give children;

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.” — behold my maid Bilhah; in desperation, she would rather have children by reputation than none at all; children that she can call her own, though they be not so;

⁴ And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid for a wife; and Jacob went in unto her. — and Jacob went in unto her; consenting to what Rachel his wife proposed to him:

— having concubines, as well as more wives than one, were not thought criminal in those times, and were suffered of God, and in this case for the multiplication of Jacob’s seed;

⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

⁶ And Rachel said, “God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice and hath given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan [that is, Judging]. — Dan means judging; signifies judgment; Dan ~ Ireland, Denmark;

⁷ And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and bore 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 [that is, My wrestling]. — Naphtali ~ Sweden;

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob for a wife;

¹⁰ and Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob a son.

¹¹ And Leah said, “A troop cometh.” And she called his name Gad [that is, A troop or company]. — Gad ~ Switzerland;

¹² And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob a second son.

¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed.” And she called his name Asher [that is, Happy]. — Asher ~ Belgium;

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.” — mandrakes; arose from the popular belief that it was a specific against barrenness;

— Rachel, therefore, who still hankered after children of her own, was anxious to obtain some of the fruit, and Leah consents only upon the proffered condition that Jacob shall spend the night in her tent.

¹⁵ But 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 tonight, for thy son’s mandrakes.”

— and Rachel said, therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son’s mandrakes; which showed no great affection to her husband, and a slight of his company, to be willing to part with it for such a trifle;

— and it seems by this as if they took their turns to lie with Jacob, and this night being Rachel’s turn, she agrees to give it to Leah for the sake of 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, 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 bore 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 [that is, A hire]. —  Issachar ~ Finland;

¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and bore 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 borne him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun [that is, Dwelling]. —  Zebulun ~ Holland;

²¹ And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah [that is, Judgment].

— and here from the Message Bible:

¹⁴ One day during the wheat harvest Reuben found some mandrakes in the field and brought them home to his mother Leah. Rachel asked Leah, “Could I please have some of your son’s mandrakes?”

¹⁵ Leah said, “Wasn’t it enough that you got my husband away from me? And now you also want my son’s mandrakes?”

Rachel said, “All right. I’ll let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

^16-21 When Jacob came home that evening from the fields, Leah was there to meet him: “Sleep with me tonight; I’ve bartered my son’s mandrakes for a night with you.” So he slept with her that night. God listened to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a fifth son. She said, “God rewarded me for giving my maid to my husband.” She named him Issachar (Bartered). Leah became pregnant yet again and gave Jacob a sixth son, saying, “God has given me a great gift. This time my husband will honor me with gifts—I’ve given him six sons!” She named him Zebulun (Honor). Last of all she had a daughter and named her Dinah. Genesis 30:14-16 MSG

²² And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb. — God remembered Rachel; her long barrenness had probably humbled and disciplined her; and cured of her former petulance, she trusts no longer to mandrakes or “love-apples” but looks to God for the great blessing of children;

²³ And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God hath taken away my reproach.” — and she conceived and bare a son; through the goodness of God unto her, and for which she was greatly thankful.

²⁴ And she called his name Joseph [that is, Adding], and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.” — the name appears to be, that they were influenced by the promises of God to Abraham; whose posterity were promised the richest blessings: Manasseh ~ UK; Ephraim ~ US;

²⁵ And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, “Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place and to my country. — that Jacob said unto Laban, send me away; give me leave to depart thy house: he had a right to demand his liberty, and to insist upon it, since the time of his servitude was up; but he chose to have leave;

— that I may go unto mine own place, to Beersheba, where his father and mother lived, and whom, no doubt, he longed to see; and to the land of Canaan, in which that place was, which was his native country and was given him by promise, and was to be the inheritance of his seed.

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.” — give me my wives; his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and the two maids, Bilhah and Zilpah, which he had given him for wives also; he desires leave not to have them, but to take them away with him;

²⁷ And Laban said unto him, “I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry; for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.”

— that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake: Laban had so much religion as to ascribe the blessings, the good things he had, to the Lord, as the author and giver of them; and so much honour, or however, thought it was more his interest to own it, that it was for Jacob’s sake that he was thus blessed;

²⁸ And he said, “Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.” — and he went on, “So name your wages. I’ll pay you.”

²⁹ And he said unto him, “Thou knowest how I have served thee and how thy flocks have been with me. — and Jacob said to Laban: thou knowest that I have served diligently and faithfully, without any salary, excepting for his wives; had no wages for his service all this time;

³⁰ For it was little which thou had 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?” — for it was little which thou hadst before I came; perhaps just a single flock, not a very large one, since Rachel, his youngest daughter, had the care of it;

— and it is now increased unto a multitude; or “broke forth,” spread itself over the fields and plains, hills and mountains adjacent, so that they were covered with his sheep, these bringing forth thousands and ten thousands;

³¹ And he said, “What shall I give thee?” And Jacob said, “Thou shalt not give me anything. If thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: — I will again feed and keep thy flock; it seems by this that Jacob had relinquished the care of the flock, upon the time of his servitude being out;

— but, upon the following condition, proposes to return to it, lead it out to the pastures, and feed it on them, and keep it night and day, as he had used to do.

³² I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted animals, and all the brown animals among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and of such shall be my hire. — sheep are generally white, the goats black, and spotted or speckled ones comparatively few and rare;

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.”

— 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;

³⁴ And Laban said, “Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.” — and everyone that is not speckled and spotted amongst the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be accounted stolen with me;

— if any such were found among those that Jacob should hereafter call his flock, as were without specks and spots, or were not brown, he was content they should be reckoned as stolen;

³⁵ And he removed that day the hegoats that were ringstreaked and spotted, and all the shegoats 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 all the she goats that were speckled and spotted; so that there might be neither male nor female of those mixed colours; this he did to prevent any generation of them:

— and everyone that had some white in it; any white spot in it, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, everyone of the brown or black colour, that had any white in it: and all the brown among the sheep: that were entirely so: and, gave them into the hands of his sons; the sons of Laban, who were now grown up and fit for such service.

³⁶ And he set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks. — he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob; this means that Laban required that there should be an interval of between thirty and forty miles between himself, that is, his flocks, and those of Jacob;

³⁷ And Jacob took rods of green poplar and of the hazel and chestnut tree, and peeled white strips in them and made the white appear which was in the rods. — and pilled white strakes in them; took off the bark of them in some places, and left it on in others, which made white strakes:

³⁸ And he set the rods which he had peeled 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.

— in the gutters in the watering troughs, when the flocks came to drink; that is, in places of water, where troughs or vessels were made, into which the water ran convenient for the cattle to drink out of; and here he placed his party coloured rods right over against the flocks;

³⁹ And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth animals ringstreaked, speckled and spotted. — brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; such as Jacob was to have for his hire;

⁴⁰ And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstreaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not with Laban’s flocks. — Jacob did separate the lambs, such as were ring-straked and brown from the white;

— and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle; partly that they might not be mixed together, but kept distinct; and so his flocks be lessened.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger animals conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the animals in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. — and it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive; whose limbs were well compact, and were strong and healthy: that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters;

⁴² But when the animals were feeble, he put them not in; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. — so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s; not only his flocks became more numerous than Laban’s, but were a better quality;

⁴³ And the man increased exceedingly and had large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses. — and the man increased exceedingly; Jacob grew very rich:

— and here from the Message Bible:

^37-42 But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them. He stuck the peeled branches in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the flocks were in heat, they came to drink and mated in front of the streaked branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or speckled. Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban. That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn’t mix with Laban’s flocks. And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front of the branches. But he wouldn’t set up the branches before the feebler animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to Jacob.

⁴³ The man got richer and richer, acquiring huge flocks, lots and lots of servants, not to mention camels and donkeys. Genesis 30:37-41 MSG

~ by Joel on August 13, 2024.

Posted in Books of Moses