Repeated phrases:
(1) Laban acknowledged that "the LORD has blessed me on account of you" v.27
Jacob agreed, "The LORD has blessed you wherever I worked."v.30
(2) Jacob did not want to work as long term worker for Laban any more. He wanted to change to be more like a contractor. The same conversation about his wages appeared again as 14 years ago.
(14 years ago)29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative? Tell me what your wages should be.”
(Now) 30:31 So Laban asked, “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” Jacob replied, “but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:
It seems to be Jacob had learned his lesson and set up a very clear way to get pay. Did it help?
(3) The speckled, spotted sheep, dark-colored lamb, and spotted or speckled goats (non-white flocks)
Jacob thought he would do remove the non-white flocks and separated them. These animals and their babies in the future would belong to him.
30:32 Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.30:33 My integrity will testify for me later on. When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.”
However, Laban would not stop using his crafty business mind to Jacob. He first took all the non-white flock away and then there would be no non-white babies being born any more. Jacob would have $0 as his wage.
30:35 So that day Laban removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, while Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
(NET) “Laban is delighted with the terms, and promptly proceeds to violate the spirit of the bargain by removing to a safe distance all the grown animals that would be likely to produce the specified spots”... Laban apparently thought that by separating out the spotted, striped, and dark colored animals he could minimize the production of spotted, striped, or dark offspring that would then belong to Jacob.
By setting up the branches as visual stimulation for the flock when they mated Jacob got the non-white babies. And by picking the right timing for the flock to mate Jacob got the stronger ones.
v.43 In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
Reflection: On one hand, Laban acknowledged that God was powerful and He gave abundantly to Jacob. On the other hand, he cheated Jacob again and tried to minimize his wage. At the end, his plan failed when Jacob found a way to pull it over.
Laban did not care about how he could get more, whether he got it by God's blessing or by stealing from another one who was blessed by God. Do we like Laban that we just want to get more?
Laban had a blind spot. He thought God only gave Jacob abundantly and he never thought about what God likes. Will God still bless anyone when they cheat on other people? Do we ignore God and just interested in what He could bring us?
Audrey
2026
1. Repeated: pay for work
After Joseph was born, Jacob wanted to establish his own family v.25, 30, but Laban did not want him to go. He agreed to pay whatever Jacob wants to make him stay (and still can establish his own family). $$$ was the focus on both sides.
However, in this conversation of money/wages, both side agreed on one thing:
v.27 Laban said..." ...the LORD has blessed me on account of you.”
v.30 Jacob replied, "...The LORD has blessed you wherever I worked."
From the fact that Laban's possession had increased ($$$) many times they both saw clearly the blessing of the LORD.
Summary: Asking for a fair price of wages is legitimate, especially with the burden of raising one's family. From this conversation of the wages, the evidence of God's blessing to Jacob (ch 28) were confirmed by Laban and Jacob.
2. How did Laban and Jacob handled their lives even they saw clearly the blessings were from the LORD
A. Laban's promise
28 He added, “Just name your wages—I’ll pay whatever you want.”
32 Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.
34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.”
Laban's action
35 So that day Laban removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care of his sons. 36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey,
(NET) Laban is delighted with the terms, and promptly proceeds to violate the spirit of the bargain by removing to a safe distance all the grown animals that would be likely to produce the specified spots” (Genesis [AB], 238). Laban apparently thought that by separating out the spotted, striped, and dark colored animals he could minimize the production of spotted, striped, or dark offspring that would then belong to Jacob.
Summary: Jacob intended to separate the non-white that day as his wages, but Laban removed them on that day. Plus, he wanted to minimize the "lost" by separate his flocks and Jacob's by a 3-day journey. He cheated on Jacob, and wanted to out smart the LORD who blessed him. End up all those effort was in vain. He did not get more, but all the weak ones belonged to him.
B. Jacob's promise
v.31b Jacob replied, “but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them: 32 Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.
Jacob's action
38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 39 When the sheep mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
41 When the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban and the stronger animals to Jacob.
(NET) It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids—in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).
Summary: Jacob started with the impossible condition to prosper from the beginning. He had zero non-white sheep in his flocks. How could 2 white sheep produced the non-white? In 31:7-10 Jacob did not repeat his pale-branch method, but simply said, "God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me."
Even though Jacob used the pale-branch scheme and selected the strong ones he did not violate the agreement he had with Laban. The non-white belonged to him while the while the white belongs to Laban. He did not steal Laban's sheep in a sense.
3. Summary and Reflection: How do I respond to God's blessings? Laban and Jacob both focused on the blessings more than focusing on God. However, Laban cheated and did not care about what God thinks. Jacob continued to attribute his success to God and kept his promise to Laban.
A truly thankful person is one who abide to God's way. If I think I can on one hand receiving blessings from God and on the other hand sin against God then I am kidding myself. God knows that very well. He will snatch away the blessings.
4. Questions
1) Jacob: God has kept Rachel from having children v.2 and The LORD has blessed you wherever I worked v.30;
Rachel: He responded to prayer v.6;
Leah-She gave thanks to God and said, "God granted her a reward...God has given her a good gift" when she had her 5th and 6th sons;
Laban-the LORD has blessed me on account of you v.27
2) Leah and Rachel were in constant competition in having more children than the other.
3) Jacob did not really steal Laban's sheep as his promise in v.33. However, he made a trick during mating season and made the strong ones belong to him v.42.
4) I dont recall anyone has tricked me intentionally. To me, they just did not keep their words. However, those things are not important now. But there is someone whom I think get mad at me too easily and now I try to avoid them. Is this what God wants me to do?
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