Leah has borne Jacob four sons and Rachel has no children. This is too much for Rachel.
Genesis 30: 1-8, Dan and Naphtali
When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"
When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"
Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"
Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family." So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, and she became pregnant and bore him a son.
Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son." Because of this she named him Dan.
Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali.
This passage is so strange to us. To Western minds, the dueling over maidservants ("Sleep with mine!") is bizarre. But in the ancient near east, a woman's role was to produce children and Rachel is threatened by her infertility. This is apparently a common issue in polygamous marriages -- the favorite wife is infertile while the second wife is not. (see I Samuel 1, with Hannah and Elkanah.)
According to the NIV footnotes; Dan means "he has vindicated"; Naphtali means "my struggle."
Genesis 30: 9-13, Zilpah bears Gad and Asher
Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, "How happy I am! The women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.
We don't know why Leah stopped having children. It is possible that she is just infertile for a time, or that Jacob stops sleeping with her.
According to the NIV footnotes, we are not sure if the Hebrew translated "What good fortune" could be translated "A troop is coming!" Gad can mean "good fortune" or "a troop". But Asher means "happy." Notice how important was the naming of a child, almost always done by the mother.
Genesis 30: 14-18, Issachar
During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?"
"Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."
Genesis 30: 14-18, Issachar
During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?"
"Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."
So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes."
So he slept with her that night. God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar.
So he slept with her that night. God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar.
The two wives continue to duel over Jacob's stud services. That Leah negotiates with Rachel for a night with Jacob suggests that maybe Jacob had quit sleeping with her.
Alter says that mandrakes were rumored to be an aphrodisiac.
NIV footnotes: Issachar sounds like the Hebrew "for reward".
Genesis 30: 19-21, Zebulun and Dinah
Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
Leah has now borne Jacob six healthy sons, an impressive feat in that culture. The story adds, briefly, a mention of a daughter. It is not clear if that is Jacob's only daughter -- Dinah plays a role in an upcoming tragedy.
No explanation for the name Dinah is given. The narrator probably sees this as unimportant as she will not be the father of a tribe.
NIV footnotes: Zebulun probably means "honor."
NIV footnotes: Zebulun probably means "honor."
Genesis 30: 22-24, Joseph
Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." She named him Joseph, and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."
Finally Rachel has the child she has been desiring. She now wants a "troop" like Leah has produced and so wants a second son. (NIV footnoes: Joseph means "may he add.") Sadly, delivering the second son will kill her.
Genesis 30: 25-30, Time to leave Laban
After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I've done for you."
But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you."
He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
Jacob said to him, "You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"
Jacob has a large family (eleven sons, one daughter) and has worked for Laban for twenty years.
The phrase "learned by divination" is unclear; NIV footnotes give an alternative: "possibly have become rich and..."
Jacob's request is reasonable. After this it gets weird...
Genesis 30: 31-36, Spotted and speckled goats
"Don't give me anything," Jacob replied. "But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen."
"Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said." That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons.
Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks.
The flock is divided by color. The dark, speckled goats are to be Jacob's. Laban, as sneaky as Jacob, immediately pulls aside the desired goats and separates them so that (in his mind) there is little chance of Jacob's flock having the desired traits.
Genesis 30: 37-43, Jacob has a plan for speckled sheep
Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
Genesis 30: 37-43, Jacob has a plan for speckled sheep
Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban's animals.
Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.
In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
I don't understand Jacob's plan. I don't think it makes sense genetically. But the writer describes a plan of Jacob's to make sure that the speckled goats (his) are healthy.
Regardless of the reason, Jacob's goats are healthy and this will cause resentment between the two families, both led by men who believe in deceit and trickery.
Some of this passage is a summary -- during Jacob's twenty years with Laban, he has become quite wealthy.
Regardless of the reason, Jacob's goats are healthy and this will cause resentment between the two families, both led by men who believe in deceit and trickery.
Some of this passage is a summary -- during Jacob's twenty years with Laban, he has become quite wealthy.
The tension is building between Laban and Jacob. Both are greedy and dishonest ... and fairly wealthy.
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