seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 30:25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
29 Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. 30 The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”
31 “What shall I give you?” he asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32 Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. 33 And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”
34 “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” 35 That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. 41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, 42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. 43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Here's the link to the commentary I read before posting this.Good morning... first of all, ... Please say a prayer for my son and his family. I received word last night that my son had a heart attack and somehow has a broken leg. He's in the hospital in ICU. He is alert and talking. My son has six children. Please pray for my son and his family.
Ok... now that I know that my son's prayers are set.... I can get on with today's verses.
Speaking of family.... has anyone noticed that Laban's wife is not mentioned in the Bible? Her name was Adinah. Maybe that's why they named the only daughter Dinah. Was Laban's wife already passed? Maybe she died in childbirth. That happened a lot back then. Anyway, we don't see the wife in this decision to keep the girls in the area or let them go back to Jacob's home. She doesn't seem to have made it into the Bible.
I googled it... [or used AI] but I couldn't find how the chemical makeup of poplar, almond, and chestnut would aid the selective breeding Jacob accomplished here. I found lots of articles about verse 37 but they all claim it's symbolism. Geeze.
At any rate... Jacob didn't keep the perfect white sheep. Jacob took the spotted, streaked, or striped sheep and goats... not the white sheep. According to "Got Questions" spotted or colored sheep are known as "Jacob's Sheep". The wool is prized because of the blemish.
Check this out though.... it was the sheep without blemish [no streaks or spots] that were later culled by the priests for sacrifice!!!!
The commentary says it's not likely Jacob was that skilled in husbandry. It seems we can't recreate his results. The commentary makes the leap and says it's probably God's doing.
I don't see where Jacob ever asked God about leaving. I don't see where Jacob ever asked God to make his flock healthy. I don't see where Jacob ever asked God for anything... yet. Jacob doesn't seem to have a relationship with God... yet.
Jacob got quite wealthy taking only the....
Spotted and Striped Sheep
