Chapter Thirty
Sons of Jacob Continued
30:1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.
The first time we encountered the Hebrew word ‘qānā’, we learned that it could refer to jealousy, envy or zealousness.[1] While we know that there is indeed a righteous form of jealousy (for example God is a jealous God, concerned over those being unfaithful to Him, see Ezekiel 39:25; Joel 2:18; Zechariah 1:14; 8:2), there is nothing righteous about envy. Here Rachel sees that her sister is being blessed with children and she is not. As we discovered in Genesis chapter 16, it was often considered a disgrace to not bear children. Rachel’s envy fuels an outburst of anger aimed at her husband. Even though she knows that Jacob is not the problem, she either wants him to know how she truly feels or she is envious of the amount of time he is spending with Leah. Regardless of why she erupted, Jacob lashes back with an angry, “Am I in the place of God?,” collaborating the understanding that God is the one withholding His blessing. So, in a moment of what might be best described as a desperate act, Rachel follows the same route as her great-grandmother Sarah did many years earlier, she chose to allow her servant Bilhah to give birth to her child, so she gave her to Jacob as a wife. It is interesting to note that instead of having faith in God’s timing, she insists on a quick fix that, in a sense, circumvents God’s involvement. This is another example regarding the potential friction that can develop in polygamous relationships.
Bilhah was successful and conceived a son, in this situation he would be legally Rachel’s child. She named her son, Dan, (in Hebrew the name Dan sounds similar to ‘diyn’,[2] meaning “to act as judge,” “to bring justice,” or “provides justice”), saying that God has judged her and heard her request for a son (although in reality she probably did not act in faith). Seeing that Bilhah had success with one child, Rachel allowed her to be with Jacob again and she gave birth to a second son. Rachel named him, Naphtali (which sounds similar to the words meaning “my struggle” or “my wrestling”), saying “with mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed,” a reference to her ongoing rivalry with her sister.
30:9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad. 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.
In this “stranger-than-fiction” story about two wives of a man using blessings from God as some form of competition, the challenge continues. Leah, noticing that she was no longer able to bear children, uses the same tactic her sister used, by giving Jacob her servant as a wife. Leah named Zilpah’s first son, Gad (meaning “good fortune”) and her second son, Asher (meaning happy or blessed), as she proclaims she is happy and other women call her happy.
30:14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went 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?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night.
The wheat harvest is typically late April or early May. By this time Reuben, Leah’s oldest son was old enough to venture out and play in the fields on his own, possibly between ten to fifteen years old. While out in the fields, he discovered a special plant, perhaps the fruit of which he had already seen and knew it was highly desired. So he took some off the plant and brought them to his mother.
Don’t feel bad if you never heard of a mandrake (Hebrew word ‘ḏû·ḏā·’îm’),[3] since the word is widely translated (violets, lilies, jasmines, truffles, mushrooms, flowers, apples, figs, etc.), the actual translation may be somewhat of a mystery. However, many scholars agree that it is a fragrant plant, believed to have small fruit, about the size of a small tomato with a color ranging from yellow to red, whose roots have the appearance of small human figures. So, why was this aromatic plant so valuable? It was believed to be an aphrodisiac and a strong narcotic, with fertility enhancing qualities. The fruit has been known as the “love apple,” King Solomon wrote, “The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.” (Song of Solomon 7:13)
We can see why Rachel would desire the mandrakes; she was hoping it would improve her ability to have a child. But, once again, she was looking to the world for answers and not God. Apparently during this time Jacob was more often sleeping with Rachel and if she wanted the mandrakes, Leah insisted that she would need to arrange to have Jacob sleep with Leah that night. Rachel agreed, but it was Leah that approached Jacob, saying that she had essentially purchased him for the night (Hebrew word ‘śeḵǎr·tî’, ’šāḵār is the root see below).[4]
30:17 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 gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
Apparently, Leah had been praying about this situation (perhaps due to lack of love or attention from Jacob), and God answered her prayers, and she gave birth to her fifth son. She named him Issachar (from two Hebrew words, ‘nāśā’[5] meaning to lift, and ‘śāḵār’ meaning payment, same as above) and later she gave Jacob a sixth son and named him Zebulun (sounds similar to the Hebrew word ‘zābal’,[6] meaning honor, to dwell in exaltation), perhaps hoping that Jacob would spend more time with her. Then later she gave birth to a daughter she named Dinah (from the Hebrew word ‘diyn’, a legal term meaning judgment, cause, plea, etc., see above) This is considered Jacob’s first daughter, later Jacob had other daughters (see Genesis 37:35; 46:7, 15), however, the only one that is named and whose mother’s name is given, is Dinah.
30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”
We do not know how long Rachel was praying to God before He answered her. Her womb was opened by God, not by using the mandrakes or any other form of fertility enhancing compound or process. Since sterility was considered a divine reproach, Rachel rightfully is excited and gives her son the name of Joseph (from the Hebrew word ‘yō·sēp’,[7] meaning to increase, to add, to do again, or continue), asking God to bless her with another son.
Jacob Prospers
30:25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wages, and I will give it.”
At this point Jacob had long fulfilled the contract he had with Laban. He agreed to serve Laban seven years for each wife and now having eleven sons and one daughter, he desired to return home. Laban had figured out that he was prospering because Jacob was being blessed by God. To let him go would undoubtedly mean that his income would begin to decline. Noting that even though Jacob had a large family, he did not have many possessions of his own, so Laban offered to pay him whatever he wanted.
It is interesting to note that Laban learned about God’s involvement in Jacob’s life through divination. The Hebrew word ‘ni·ḥǎš’·tî’,[8] refers to the pagan practice of obtaining knowledge through divination (the reading of omens), a practice that will later be forbidden by God’s written law (see Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10). This indicates that Laban may not have been a devoted worshiper of God.
30:29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.”
Apparently, Jacob never spoke to Laban about God’s covenant with him, he knew that Laban was being blessed because of him, but never mentioned it before. Now, after fulfilling his obligation to Laban, he wanted to provide for his own family, so he proposed a way that would allow God to bless both of them. He tells Laban that he does not want anything from him and would continue to pasture and keep Laban’s flock, with the exception that he would keep for himself any of the animals that would be considered unacceptable, and in the future, be able to keep any born that would normally be unwanted as well.
30:35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.
Not trusting Jacob to sort and separate as he discussed, Laban decided to remove the male goats that were streaked and spotted and the female goats that were speckled and spotted as well as every black lamb. Then he had his sons take them to a location away from the main flock.
30:37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
We know that Jacob had extensive knowledge about sheep, goats, and cattle. He cared for his father’s flocks for many years and now for nearly 20 years he has cared for Laban’s flocks. With that said, we come to a highly debated and controversial section in the Bible. Did Jacob know something that modern scholars and animal husbandry specialists still don’t know about today? Some believe Jacob understood something that is referred to as Mendelian Genetics (or Mendel’s principles of inheritance) regarding dominant and recessive traits.
Jacob took some fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane (sometimes translated as chestnut) trees and peeled back the bark exposing the white wood of the branches, creating light and dark streaks. He placed those modified sticks in front of the animals wherever they drank and since they bred when they came to drink, their young would be striped, speckled, and spotted. He would then take and keep those animals as his wages. So, whenever one of the stronger of the flock conceived, he would make sure that the animal had the striped sticks in front of them, however, for the weaker animals, Jacob would not put the sticks in front of them. After a while, Jacob’s striped, speckled, and spotted animals would increase in number and be stronger, while Laban’s non-blemished animals were still increasing in number, they were weaker.
Therefore, Jacob’s wealth increased rapidly, his flock became large, allowing him to afford servants and other service animals.
If Jacob trusted in God, why did he put his effort in these light and dark sticks? Today, the idea of prenatal influence to that degree is considered a myth and ineffective. Many believe it was a ploy to distract and confuse Laban, as he obviously did not trust Jacob. Others believe he was guilty of trying to help God. Perhaps the best clue for the answer to that question is to look forward a few verses. Jacob told Rachel and Leah, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.” (Genesis 31:5) He clearly acknowledges that God is the one who has blessed him.
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[1] See commentary under Genesis 26:14.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 1777.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 1736.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 7939.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 5375.
[6] Strong’s Hebrew 2082.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 3254.
[8] Strong’s Hebrew 5172.