Tyndale Open Study NotesGenesis 30

• These chapters describe how God fulfilled his promise by greatly blessing Jacob with a family and possessions. God also disciplined Jacob, leaving him to struggle with Laban for many years. Laban was Jacob’s match in deception, and thus a means of correction.

• The story of Jacob and Laban is similar to Israel's later stay in Egypt. Jacob struggled while serving his uncle but finally emerged with a large family (the founders of the 12 tribes) and great wealth. In Egypt, the Israelites suffered under their oppressors, but they also flourished, becoming a great nation of 12 large tribes and escaping with great riches.

• The rivalry between these sisters explains much of the later conflict among their sons, and then among the tribes. This is similar to how Jacob and Laban's rivalry predicted future conflicts between Israel and the Arameans of Damascus (2 Samuel 8:5–6; 10:8–19; 1 Kings 20:1–34; 2 Kings 5:1–8:29; 13:1–25; Isaiah 7:1–9).

• God fights for the cause of the poor and oppressed. He honored Leah, the despised first wife, by making her the first mother. Judah's royal tribe and Levi's priestly line came from her. This was despite Jacob's favoritism for Rachel and her children.

  Despite the tension and jealousy resulting from Laban’s deceit and Jacob’s favoritism, God still grew Jacob’s family and brought about the births of the tribal ancestors.

In that culture, for a woman not to have children could feel like a kind of death (compare 1 Samuel 1). Only God could enable Rachel to have children.

Rachel’s naming of sons through Bilhah does not reflect faith as Leah’s namings had. Rachel felt wronged over the marriage and her barrenness. The names of Bilhah’s sons reflect Rachel’s bitter struggle with her sister and her feeling of some victory.

Rachel decided to have children through her servant, and Jacob agreed. This is similar to Sarai using Hagar (16:1–4).

Dan means “he judged” or “he vindicated.” Rachel felt justified (Hebrew dananni) by Dan’s birth.

The name Naphtali is related to the phrase In my great struggles. In Hebrew, the phrase is naptule ’elohim niptalti, which means “I have struggled the struggles of God.”

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife, even though she already had four sons.

Gad (meaning "fortune") was the name of a god associated with fortune. Asher (meaning "happy") was the name of a god associated with luck. These names show Leah's pagan background, but there is no indication she believed in these gods.

People believed mandrakes could increase sexual desire and help women become pregnant (see Song 7:13). Rachel hoped they would help her become pregnant, so she made a deal with Leah. Rachel would let Leah spend one night with Jacob in exchange for mandrakes. Yet, Leah became pregnant, not Rachel.

The name Issachar reflects this idea of being hired or receiving payment. It reminds readers of the events surrounding his birth. Leah says that Jacob was "hired” for the night (Genesis 30:16). The Hebrew word sekari means “my hire.”

Zebulun means "honor" or "gift," like a dowry or tribute. Leah believed God gave her Zebulun so her husband would honor her. She always hoped this would happen.

Dinah was the only daughter of Jacob. See chapter 34.

• Rachel finally had her own son, Joseph, thanks to God's intervention. His birth was not due to superstitions (30:14–16) or the custom of giving servants as wives.

• The Hebrew word translated as "taken away" (’asap) sounds similar to the name Joseph (yosep), which means "may he add." Rachel was happy about Joseph's birth and prayed for another son.

After working for fourteen years, Jacob asked Laban if he could return home. The two nomadic leaders negotiated politely but stayed cautious. Laban wanted more from Jacob, while Jacob wanted to earn his wages through selective breeding.

blessed me: God made Laban successful because Jacob was with him (see 22:18). Laban may have looked for signs (omens) to understand what was happening, or he may simply have noticed the results. Dark-colored sheep were uncommon (30:32). So, people considered having many of this color as a sign of God's blessing.

Jacob agreed that God had blessed Laban through him, so he made a plan to gain something for himself. He proposed for his wages the rare black and multicolored goats and the speckled and spotted sheep that were born.

As Abraham had done with Lot (13:9), Jacob gave Laban what he valued most. White sheep were more common and more valuable than dark or multicolored sheep; as a man of faith, Jacob was willing to take the rejects (compare 1 Corinthians 1:26).

• Laban said he agreed with Jacob’s plan, but he tried to prevent Jacob from gaining wealth by removing animals from the flock that would fulfill the agreement.

• Laban's deception with the goats is similar to Jacob's deception with Esau (compare 27:9; see study note on 29:14–30).

God blessed Jacob even though Laban was deceitful. Jacob cleverly used selective breeding to grow his flock. He followed the traditional belief that peeled sticks could affect the type of animals born.

The peeled branches seemed to help his animals produce streaked and spotted offspring. Jacob later admitted that God had helped him succeed (31:7–12). Jacob ended up with stronger animals, while Laban got the weaker ones (30:41–42).

exposing the white inner wood: This clever wordplay explains the entire section. When Jacob exposed the white (Hebrew laban) streaks of wood underneath, he played the "white" game (the Laban game) and won. By outsmarting Laban ("Whitey"), Jacob's flocks increased and he became successful.

Laban now received what he deserved for how he treated Jacob. His attempt to cheat Jacob led to Jacob gaining more, because God was working in Jacob’s life.

Jacob became very wealthy, in fulfillment of God’s promises to him (27:28; 28:13–15).