Genesis 30:34

Brenton's Septuagint

And Laban said to him, Let it be according to thy word.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Lavan said, "Behold, I desire it to be according to your word."

King James Version
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

Lexham English Bible
Then Laban said, "Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word."

New Century Version
Laban answered, "Agreed! We will do what you ask."

New English Translation
"Agreed!" said Laban, "It will be as you say."

Amplified Bible
And Laban said, "Good! Let it be done as you say."

New American Standard Bible
Laban said, "Good, let it be according to your word."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Laban sayde, Goe to, woulde God it might be according to thy saying.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Laban said, "Behold, let it be according to your word."

Contemporary English Version
"I agree to that," was Laban's response.

Complete Jewish Bible
Lavan replied, "As you have said, so be it."

Darby Translation
And Laban said, Well, let it be according to thy word.

Easy-to-Read Version
Laban answered, "I agree to that. We will do what you ask."

English Standard Version
Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."

George Lamsa Translation
Laban said to him, Yes, let it be according to your word.

Good News Translation
Laban answered, "Agreed. We will do as you suggest."

Christian Standard Bible®
“Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”

Literal Translation
And Laban said, Yes, if it be so let it be as you speak.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde Laban: Beholde, let it be so as thou hast sayde.

American Standard Version
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

Bible in Basic English
And Laban said, Let it be as you say.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Laban sayde: go to, would God it myght be accordyng to thy saying.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Laban said: 'Behold, would it might be according to thy word.'

King James Version (1611)
And Laban saide, Beholde, I would it might bee according to thy word.

English Revised Version
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

Berean Standard Bible
"Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Laban seide, Y haue acceptable that that thou axist.

Young's Literal Translation
And Laban saith, `Lo, O that it were according to thy word;'

Update Bible Version
And Laban said, Agreed, let it be according to your word.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

World English Bible
Laban said, "Behold, I desire it to be according to your word."

New King James Version
And Laban said, "Oh, that it were according to your word!"

New Living Translation
"All right," Laban replied. "It will be as you say."

New Life Bible
And Laban said, "Good! Let it be done as you say."

New Revised Standard
Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Laban, Lo! would it might he according to thy word!

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.

Revised Standard Version
Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."

THE MESSAGE
"Fair enough," said Laban. "It's a deal."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Laban said, "Good, let it be according to your word."

Contextual Overview

²⁵ 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. ²⁶ Restore my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart, for thou knowest the service wherewith I have served thee. ²⁷ And Laban said to him, If I have found grace in thy sight, I would augur well, for the Lord has blessed me at thy coming in. ²⁸ Appoint me thy wages, and I will give them. ²⁹ And Jacob said, Thou knowest in what things I have served thee, and how many cattle of thine are with me. ³⁰ For it was little thou hadst before my time, and it is increased to a multitude, and the Lord God has blessed thee since my coming; now then, when shall I set up also my own house? ³¹ And Laban said to him, What shall I give thee? and Jacob said to him, Thou shalt not give me anything; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again tend thy flocks and keep them. ³² Let all thy sheep pass by to-day, and separate thence every grey sheep among the rams, and every one that is speckled and spotted among the goats—this shall be my reward. ³³ And my righteousness shall answer for me on the morrow, for it is my reward before thee: whatever shall not be spotted and speckled among the goats, and grey among the rams, shall be stolen with me. ³⁴ And Laban said to him, Let it be according to thy word.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Numbers 22:29, 1 Corinthians 7:7, 1 Corinthians 14:5, Galatians 5:12

Cross-References

Numbers 22:29
And Balaam said to the ass, Because thou hast mocked me; and if I had had a sword in my hand, I would now have killed thee.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Laban said,.... Being well pleased with the proposal Jacob made, as knowing that, generally speaking, cattle of a colour produced those that were of the same; and whereas Jacob proposed to have a flock of sheep of only white in colour, committed to his care, and to have such for his own that should be produced of them, that were speckled, spotted, and brown, Laban concluded from the general nature of things that he could have but very few, if any, and therefore was for striking the bargain at once:

behold, I would it might be according to thy word; he agreed it should be as Jacob had settled it, and he hoped and wished he would abide by it; he was afraid he would not keep to it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob’s Family and Wealth

6. דן dān, Dan, “judge, lord.”

8. נפתלי naptālı̂y, Naphtali, “wrestling.”

11. גד gād, Gad, “overcoming, victory.” בגד bāgād, “in victory or” =גד בא bā' gād, “victory cometh.” גוּד gûd, “press down.” גדוּד g^edûd, “troop.”

13. אשׁר 'ǎashēr, Asher, “prosperity, happiness.”

18. ישׂשכר yı̂śāskār, Jissakar, “reward.” The second Hebrew letter (ש s) seems to have been merely a full mode of writing the word, instead of the abbreviated form ישׂכר yı̂śākār.

20. זבלוּן z^ebulûn, Zebulun, “dwelling.” There is here a play upon the two words זבד zābad, “to endow” and זבל zābal, “to dwell,” the latter of which, however, prevails in the name. They occur only here as verbs.

21. דינה dı̂ynâh, Dinah, “judgment.”

24. יסף yôsêph, Joseph, “he shall add.” There is, however, an obvious allusion to the thought. “God hath taken away (אסף 'āsap) my reproach.” 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, Rachel’s 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. “Dan.” “God hath judged me.” 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. “Naphtali.” “Wrestlings of God,” 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 Jacob’s 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. “Gad.” “Victory cometh.” She too claims a victory. “Asher.” 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

“Reuben” 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. “Mandrakes” - the fruit of the “mandragora vernaIis,” 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 “Issakar,” 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. “Zebulun.” Here Leah confesses, “God hath endowed me with a good dowry.” 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. “Dinah” 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 Jacob’s marriage, Zebulun in the seventh, and Dinah in the eighth.

Genesis 30:22-24

“God remembered Rachel,” in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience. “Joseph.” 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. “When Rachel had borne Joseph.” 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. “I have divined” - I have been an attentive observer. The result of his observation is expressed in the following words. “Appoint.” Laban offers to leave the fixing of the hire to Jacob. “Thy hire upon me,” 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. “Brake forth” - increased. “At my foot” - under my guidance and tending of thy flocks.

“Do” - provide. “Thou shalt not give me anything.” This shows that Jacob had no stock from Laban to begin with. “I will pass through all thy flock today” with thee. “Remove thou thence every speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.” These were the rare colors, as in the East the sheep are usually white, and the goats black or dark brown. “And such shall be my hire.” 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. “And my righteousness will answer for me.” 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 days’ journey between them and the pure stock which remains in Jacob’s 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. “Put his own folds by themselves.” 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. “The man brake forth exceedingly” - 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 אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym and יהוה y^ehovâh are both employed in the piece, and, hence, their presence and interchange cannot indicate diversity of authorship.