the Second Week after Easter
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
Brenton's Septuagint
Genesis 30:29
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
Then he said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.
Jacob answered, "You know that I have worked hard for you, and your flocks have grown while I cared for them.
"You know how I have worked for you," Jacob replied, "and how well your livestock have fared under my care.
Jacob answered him, "You know how I have served you and how your possessions, your cattle and sheep and goats, have fared with me.
But Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.
But he sayd vnto him, Thou knowest, what seruice I haue done thee, and in what taking thy cattell hath bene vnder me.
But he said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.
Jacob answered: You've seen how hard I've worked for you, and you know how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.
Ya‘akov replied, "You know how faithfully I have served you and how your livestock have prospered under my care.
And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and what thy cattle has become with me.
Jacob answered, "You know that I have worked hard for you. Your flocks have grown and been well while I cared for them.
Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me.
And Jacob said to him, You yourself know the service which I have given you, and how your cattle have prospered with me.
Jacob answered, "You know how I have worked for you and how your flocks have prospered under my care.
So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me.
And he said to him, You know how I have served you and what your livestock has become with me.
But he saide vnto him: Thou knowest how I haue serued the, and what maner of catell thou hast vnder me.
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle have fared with me.
Then Jacob said, You have seen what I have done for you, and how your cattle have done well under my care.
But he saide vnto him: Thou knowest what seruice I haue done thee, and in what takyng thy cattell haue ben vnder me:
And he said unto him: 'Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle have fared with me.
And hee said vnto him, Thou knowest how I haue serued thee, and how thy cattell was with me.
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle hath fared with me.
Then Jacob answered, "You know how I have served you and how your livestock has thrived under my care.
And he answeride, Thou woost hou Y seruede thee, and hou greet thi possessioun was in myn hondis;
And he saith unto him, `Thou -- thou hast known that which I have served thee [in], and that which thy substance was with me;
And he said to him, You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle were with me.
He said to him, "You know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.
Jacob replied, "You know how hard I've worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.
Jacob said to him, "You know how much I have served you and how I have cared for your cattle.
Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
And he said unto him, Thou, knowest how I have served thee, - and how thy cattle have fared, with me.
But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands.
Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
Jacob replied, "You know well what my work has meant to you and how your livestock has flourished under my care. The little you had when I arrived has increased greatly; everything I did resulted in blessings for you. Isn't it about time that I do something for my own family?"
But he said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Genesis 30:5, Genesis 31:6, Genesis 31:38-40, Matthew 24:45, Ephesians 6:5-8, Colossians 3:22-25, Titus 2:9, Titus 2:10, 1 Peter 2:15, 1 Peter 2:18
Reciprocal: Genesis 4:2 - And Abel Genesis 30:26 - for thou Psalms 144:13 - our sheep
Cross-References
And Balla, Rachel’s maid, conceived, and bore Jacob a son.
And Rachel said, God has helped me, and I contended with my sister and prevailed; and she called his name, Nephthalim.
And Lea saw that she ceased from bearing, and she took Zelpha her maid, and gave her to Jacob for a wife; and he went in to her.
And Zelpha the maid of Lea conceived, and bore Jacob a son.
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and he opened her womb.
And it came to pass when Rachel had born Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my land.
And he laid the rods which he had peeled, in the hollows of the watering-troughs, that whensoever the cattle should come to drink, as they should have come to drink before the rods, the cattle might conceive at the rods.
And Jacob separated the lambs, and set before the sheep a speckled ram, and every variegated one among the lambs, and he separated flocks for himself alone, and did not mingle them with the sheep of Laban.
And ye too know that with all my might I have served your father.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And he said unto him,.... Jacob to Laban,
thou knowest that I have served thee; not only diligently and faithfully, without any salary, excepting for his wives; otherwise he had no wages for his service all this time, which therefore should be considered for the future:
and how thy cattle was with me: always under his care, and he ever watchful of them; spent all his time and labour with them, and had no opportunity of getting anything for himself.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Jacobâs Family and Wealth
6. ×× daÌn, Dan, âjudge, lord.â
8. × ×¤×ª×× naptaÌlıÌy, Naphtali, âwrestling.â
11. ×× gaÌd, Gad, âovercoming, victory.â ××× baÌgaÌd, âin victory orâ =×× ×× baÌ' gaÌd, âvictory cometh.â ××Ö¼× guÌd, âpress down.â ×××Ö¼× geduÌd, âtroop.â
13. ×ש×ר 'aÌasheÌr, Asher, âprosperity, happiness.â
18. ×ש×ש×ר yıÌsÌaÌskaÌr, Jissakar, âreward.â The second Hebrew letter (ש s) seems to have been merely a full mode of writing the word, instead of the abbreviated form ×ש××ר yıÌsÌaÌkaÌr.
20. ××××Ö¼× zebuluÌn, Zebulun, âdwelling.â There is here a play upon the two words ××× zaÌbad, âto endowâ and ××× zaÌbal, âto dwell,â the latter of which, however, prevails in the name. They occur only here as verbs.
21. ××× × dıÌynaÌh, Dinah, âjudgment.â
24. ×סף yoÌseÌph, Joseph, âhe shall add.â There is, however, an obvious allusion to the thought. âGod hath taken away (×סף 'aÌsap) my reproach.â Double references, we find, are usual in the giving of names (see Genesis 25:30).
This chapter is the continuation of the former, and completes the history of Jacob in Haran. The event immediately following probably took place after Leah had borne two of her sons, though not admitted into the narrative until she had paused for a short time.
Genesis 30:1-8
Bilhah, Rachelâs maid, bears two sons. Rachel becomes impatient of her barrenness and jealous of her sister, and unjustly reproaches her husband, who indignantly rebukes her. God, not he, has withheld children from her. She does what Sarah had done before her Genesis 16:2-3, gives her handmaid to her husband. No express law yet forbade this course, though nature and Scripture by implication did Genesis 2:23-25. âDan.â âGod hath judged me.â In this passage Jacob and Rachel use the common noun, God, the Everlasting, and therefore Almighty, who rules in the physical relations of things - a name suitable to the occasion. He had judged her, dealt with her according to his sovereign justice in withholding the fruit of the womb, when she was self-complacent and forgetful of her dependence on a higher power; and also in hearing her voice when she approached him in humble supplication. âNaphtali.â âWrestlings of God,â with God, in prayer, on the part of both sisters, so that they wrestled with one another in the self-same act. Rachel, though looking first to Jacob and then to her maid, had at length learned to look to her God, and then had prevailed.
Genesis 30:9-13
Leah having stayed from bearing, resorts to the same expedient. Her fourth son was seemingly born in the fourth year of Jacobâs marriage. Bearing her first four sons so rapidly, she would the sooner observe the temporary cessation. After the interval of a year she may have given Zilpah to Jacob. âGad.â âVictory cometh.â She too claims a victory. âAsher.â Daughters will pronounce her happy who is so rich in sons. Leah is seemingly conscious that she is here pursuing a device of her own heart; and hence there is no explicit reference to the divine name or influence in the naming of the two sons of her maid.
Genesis 30:14-21
âReubenâ was at this time four or five years of age, as it is probable that Leah began to bear again before Zilpah had her second son. âMandrakesâ - the fruit of the âmandragora vernaIis,â which is to this day supposed to promote fruitfulness of the womb. Rachel therefore desires to partake of them, and obtains them by a compact with Leah. Leah betakes herself to prayer, and bears a fifth son. She calls him âIssakar,â with a double allusion. She had hired her husband with the mandrakes, and had received this son as her hire for giving her maid to her husband; which she regards as an act of generosity or self-denial. âZebulun.â Here Leah confesses, âGod hath endowed me with a good dowry.â She speaks now like Rachel of the God of nature. The cherished thought that her husband will dwell with her who is the mother of six sons takes form in the name. âDinahâ is the only daughter of Jacob mentioned Genesis 46:7, and that on account of her subsequent connection with the history of Jacob Genesis 34:0. Issakar appears to have been born in the sixth year after Jacobâs marriage, Zebulun in the seventh, and Dinah in the eighth.
Genesis 30:22-24
âGod remembered Rachel,â in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience. âJoseph.â There is a remote allusion to her gratitude for the reproach of barrenness taken away. But there is also hope in the name. The selfish feeling also has died away, and the thankful Rachel rises from Elohim, the invisible Eternal, to Yahweh, the manifest Self-existent. The birth of Joseph was after the fourteen years of service were completed. He and Dinah appear to have been born in the same year.
Genesis 30:25-36
Jacob enters into a new contract of service with Laban. âWhen Rachel had borne Joseph.â Jacob cannot ask his dismissal until the twice seven years of service were completed. Hence, the birth of Joseph, which is the date of his request, took place at the earliest in the fifteenth year of his sojourn with Laban. Jacob now wishes to return home, from which he had been detained so long by serving for Rachel. He no doubt expects of Laban the means at least of accomplishing his journey. Laban is loath to part with him. âI have divinedâ - I have been an attentive observer. The result of his observation is expressed in the following words. âAppoint.â Laban offers to leave the fixing of the hire to Jacob. âThy hire upon me,â which I will take upon me as binding. Jacob touches upon the value of his services, perhaps with the tacit feeling that Laban in equity owed him at least the means of returning to his home. âBrake forthâ - increased. âAt my footâ - under my guidance and tending of thy flocks.
âDoâ - provide. âThou shalt not give me anything.â This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with. âI will pass through all thy flock todayâ with thee. âRemove thou thence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.â These were the rare colors, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. âAnd such shall be my hire.â Such as these uncommon party-colored cattle, when they shall appear among the flock already cleared of them; and not those of this description that are now removed. For in this case Laban would have given Jacob something; whereas Jacob was resolved to be entirely dependent on the divine providence for his hire. âAnd my righteousness will answer for me.â The color will determine at once whose the animal is. Laban willingly consents to so favorable a proposal, removes the party-colored animals from the flock, gives them into the hands of his sons, and puts an interval of three daysâ journey between them and the pure stock which remains in Jacobâs hands. Jacob is now to begin with nothing, and have for his hire any party-colored lambs or kids that appear in those flocks, from which every specimen of this rare class has been carefully removed.
Genesis 30:37-43
Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. His first device is to place party-colored rods before the eyes of the cattle at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the pilled rods. âPut his own folds by themselves.â These are the party-colored cattle that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn. It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. The result is here stated. âThe man brake forth exceedinglyâ - became rapidly rich in hands and cattle.
It is obvious that the preceding and present chapters form one continuous piece of composition; as otherwise we have no account of the whole family of Jacob from one author. But the names ××××× 'eÌlohıÌym and ×××× yehovaÌh are both employed in the piece, and, hence, their presence and interchange cannot indicate diversity of authorship.
