Genesis 30

           This chapter opens with Rachel’s unhappiness and jealousy of Leah’s ability to bear children – especially sons – and she confronts Jacob about it. Jacob retorts, “Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?” (v.2) He recognizes that life itself is a gift from God alone, and that we, His children, have no control over God’s choices and providence regarding that gift. Rachel, instead of trusting in the Lord and His timing, commits the same error as Sarah. She tells Jacob to take her handmaid, Bilhah. And Jacob, like his grandfather, also displays a lack of trust in God’s guidance and timing, and he willingly complies with Rachel’s demand.
           That union produces two more sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah, at this point, has also become barren for a time, and so she, too, gives Jacob her handmaid, Zilpah, and Jacob thus has two more sons, Gad and Asher. You’re probably wondering, as I am, why in the world Jacob didn’t just put his foot down, assert his place as head of his household, and rebuke his wives for their lack of faith and trust in God, as well as their ridiculous and petty quarreling. It’s a good question, and frankly, I’m not sure. My best guess is that Jacob simply went along with the customs of the people of this time and place. Remember that Laban does not worship and honor God as Abraham did. The practice and custom of polygamy was instituted within just a few generations of Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden. (Genesis 4:19) So it’s very likely that Jacob, as so many of the Biblical patriarchs of this time, simply went along with the ways of his family and the other heathen people around him.
 
          Verses 14-21: One day, at the time of the wheat harvest, Rueben comes in from the field with an offering of mandrakes for his mother, Leah. According to the note in my study Bible, “This is an herb of the belladonna family, considered to be an aphrodisiac. It has a yellow fruit the size of a small apple. Peoples of the ancient Near East attributed sensual desire to this plant and thought it would aid conception.” When Rachel learns of Rueben’s gift she asks Leah for some of the herb. Leah’s response in verse 15 indicates her resentment and bitterness over the fact that Jacob still loves and favors Rachel more than her. “Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?” Leah is still hurting from the fact that her ability to bear Jacob four sons has not earned her his true love and affection, as she had so desperately hoped. (Genesis 29:32,34) Rachel then concedes to Leah her turn with Jacob that night in exchange for some of the mandrake fruit.
        The use of the herb indicates that, once again, these women are not relying on God but instead giving into superstition and folklore in an effort to conceive. And perhaps that’s the very reason that Leah bears Jacob two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah.
 
          Verse 22-24: Just as God remembered Noah and Abraham, He now blesses Rachel with her firstborn son, Joseph. But Rachel believed that he would not be her only son. Joseph’s name means “Jehovah has added”. And she was right. (Genesis 35:18-19)
 
Jacob’s sons (in order of their birth): Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Leah: Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun
Zilpah (Leah’s handmaid): Gad, Asher
Bilhah (Rachel’s handmaid): Dan, Naphtali
Rachel: Joseph, Benjamin

          Verses 25-34: It’s now been about twenty years since Jacob first arrived in Laban’s household. (Genesis 31:41) Jacob goes to his uncle and requests payment of his accumulated wages so that he might depart with his wives and children to return to the land of his birth. In verse 26, Jacob isn’t asking Laban to give him his wife and children, as if Laban still owns them. Rather, Jacob is simply asking permission to leave Laban’s employment and household, as well as for Laban to pay him all that he owes him for the other work that Jacob has done for him. But Laban asks Jacob to stay, acknowledging that God has blessed Jacob and, by extension, Laban himself.
           
          Verses 28 – 30 reveal just how much God had blessed Jacob. Jacob was in charge of Laban’s livestock. In the ancient Near East, wealth of a man’s household was measured more by the amount of livestock one owned, as well as the number of children in one’s household, than anything else. (Job 1:3) (This is one reason that polygamy was such a common practice in those days.) Because of Jacob’s studious tending and breeding of Laban’s cattle, the size of his herds had increased significantly in twenty years. But now Jacob desires to separate from his uncle and return to Canaan so that he may establish and provide for his own household. Until now, all his work has been for his uncle, with almost nothing set aside for himself and his family. (v.30)
         Laban asks Jacob what he wants as compensation for his labor. Instead of monetary wages, Jacob asks that he keep tending Laban’s flock. In exchange for his work, he will remove all the spotted, speckled and streaked sheep, cows and goats from Laban’s herds. These animals were considered less desirable because of their unusual coloring, and thus Laban readily agreed, thinking he was getting the better end of this deal.
 
          Verses 35-43: Jacob does exactly as he promises Laban. He separates from his uncle’s herds all the sheep and goats that are speckled, spotted or streaked, and he moves that small herd to a pasture more than three days journey from the fields where Laban’s herds are kept. (v.36) Jacob then embarks on a careful and elaborate process of breeding Laban’s livestock so that more speckled, spotted and streaked offspring are born to those herds. According to the note in my study Bible, “Evidently, Jacob relied on a superstition that the offspring would be influenced by the fears or expectations of the mother during pregnancy (v. 37-38). Tests have shown that spotting gives way to solid color in the breeding of goats. Modern genetic studies on dominance and latency have supported Jacob’s method, which at one time seemed to link the Bible with groundless supposition. Jacob’s success was also attributed to selective breeding (v.40-42) in addition to divine help (Genesis 31:10-12).”
          Verses 42-43 sum up the success of Jacob’s work: his own herds now have the stronger, healthier livestock, and Laban’s herds the weaker. Thus, Jacob’s household is now quite wealthy with much livestock, servants, wives and children. Jacob did employ some deception in his bargain with Laban, but only because Laban had not bothered to educate himself on the processes and skills of his own workers! Had he not been so lazy as to rely on others to increase his own wealth, he might have been aware of what Jacob was up to. But this time God is with Jacob, and He blesses Jacob’s efforts. (Genesis 31:3)