Genesis 30 Study – “Jacob’s Children Continued” – “The Agreement of Jacob and Laban” - (vv. 1-43)
Jacob’s Children
30 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”
2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
3 So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may [a]have children by her.” 4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name [b]Dan. 7 And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With [c]great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name [d]Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. 10 And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, [e]“A troop comes!” So she called his name [f]Gad. 12 And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name [g]Asher.
14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”
And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come into me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.
17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name [h]Issachar. 19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name [i]Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name [j]Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 So she called his name [k]Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
Jacob’s Agreement with Laban
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”
27 And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” 28 Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
29 So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. 30 For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you [l]since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”
31 So he said, “What shall I give you?”
And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: 32 Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. 33 So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”
34 And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” 35 So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
37 Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. 38 And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39 So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 Then Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. 42 But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so, the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Notes Genesis 30 Study – (vv. 1-43)
30:6: The names of the sons of Jacob reveal things concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God … Example: Rachel speaks of Dan’s birth in relation to God as Judge; Christ “shall come to judge the living and the dead” – (CREED) … Also, Reuben’s birth relates to humiliation – (Genesis 29:32); the Son humbled Himself to become Man for man’s salvation – (Philippians 2:7) … Simeon’s birth emphasizes hatred – (Genesis 29:33); Christ was hated without cause – (John 15:25), and sometimes, so is the Church – (John 15:18) … Levi’s birth speaks of union, for “on my side” speaks of union – (Genesis 29:34) … Christ unites His Church to Himself in baptism – (Romans 6:5) … Judah’s birth relates to thanksgiving – (Genesis 29:35); Christ established the Eucharist, which means Thanksgiving …
Dan: דָּן Dân, dawn; from H1777; judge; Dan, one of the sons of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory; likewise a place in Palestine colonized by them:—Daniel
Reuben: רְאוּבֵן Rᵉʼûwbên, reh-oo-bane'; from the imperative of H7200 and H1121; see ye a son; Reuben, a son of Jacob:—Reuben.
Simeon: שִׁמְעוֹן Shimʻôwn, shim-one'; from H8085; hearing; Shimon, one of Jacob's sons, also the tribe descended from him:—Simeon.
Levi: לֵוִי Lêvîy, lay-vee'; from H3867; attached – or joined to; Levi, a son of Jacob:—Levi. See also H3879, H3881.
Genesis 29:32: So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name [a]Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.”
Philippians 2:7
7 but [a]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Genesis 29:33
33 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am [a]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name [b]Simeon.
John 15:25:
25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’
John 15:18:
The World’s Hatred
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
Genesis 29:34
34 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called [a]Levi.
Romans 6:5:
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection
Genesis 29:35:
35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah.[a] Then she stopped bearing.
30:7: Naphtali’s birth emphasizes victor; Christ prevailed over death by triumphing over it through the cross – (Colossians 2:14-15) …
Colossians 2:14-15:
14 having wiped out the [a]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
30:11: Gad’s name speaks of good fortune, or prosperity … Christ’s Incarnation is man’s true prosperity and health – (3John Chapters 2 & 3) …
30:13: Asher relates to blessing … Christ’s Incarnation blesses His own with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places – (Ephesians 1:3) …
Ephesians 1:3:
Redemption in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
30:18: Issachar’s name speaks of wages or reward … Christ will bring His reward, to give each one according to his works – (Revelation 22:12) …
Revelation 22:12:
Jesus Testifies to the Churches
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.
30:20: Zebulun’s name emphasizes endowment … Zebulun is a haven for ships – (Genesis 49:13) … Christ is our endowment as a haven from the stormy sea of life …
Genesis 49:13:
“Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
30:23-24: Joseph’s name relates to the bearing of reproach, and he bore the reproach of his brothers when they sold him into Egypt … Christ bore our reproach – (Romans 15:3) …
Romans 15:3:
3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
30:33: Jacob was made righteous by faith, as were his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham … This righteousness is a gift from god’s grace, one of the four general virtues of wisdom – (see my notes on Proverbs 1:2b-5 – will be read from my Study Bible) … Jacob lived out this righteousness in his behavior toward his uncle Laban …
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