mh_parser/vol_split/1 - Genesis/Chapter 30.xml

<div2 id="Gen.xxxi" n="xxxi" next="Gen.xxxii" prev="Gen.xxx" progress="20.91%" title="Chapter XXX">
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<h2 id="Gen.xxxi-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
<h3 id="Gen.xxxi-p0.2">CHAP. XXX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.xxxi-p1">In this chapter we have an account of the
increase, I. Of Jacob's family. Eight children more we find
registered in this chapter; Dan and Naphtali by Bilhah, Rachel's
maid, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.1-Gen.30.8" parsed="|Gen|30|1|30|8" passage="Ge 30:1-8">ver. 1-8</scripRef>. Gad and
Asher by Zilpah, Leah's maid, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.9-Gen.30.13" parsed="|Gen|30|9|30|13" passage="Ge 30:9-13">ver.
9-13</scripRef>. Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, by Leah, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.14-Gen.30.21" parsed="|Gen|30|14|30|21" passage="Ge 30:14-21">ver. 14-21</scripRef>. And, last of all,
Joseph, by Rachel, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.22-Gen.30.24" parsed="|Gen|30|22|30|24" passage="Ge 30:22-24">ver.
22-24</scripRef>. II. Of Jacob's estate. He makes a new bargain
with Laban, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.25-Gen.30.34" parsed="|Gen|30|25|30|34" passage="Ge 30:25-34">ver. 25-34</scripRef>.
And in the six years' further service he did to Laban God
wonderfully blessed him, so that his stock of cattle became very
considerable, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.35-Gen.30.43" parsed="|Gen|30|35|30|43" passage="Ge 30:35-43">ver.
35-43</scripRef>. Herein was fulfilled the blessing with which
Isaac dismissed him (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.28.3" parsed="|Gen|28|3|0|0" passage="Ge 28:3"><i>ch.</i> xxviii.
3</scripRef>), "God make thee fruitful, and multiply thee." Even
these small matters concerning Jacob's house and field, though they
seem inconsiderable, are improvable for our learning. For the
scriptures were written, not for princes and statesmen, to instruct
them in politics; but for all people, even the meanest, to direct
them in their families and callings: yet some things are here
recorded concerning Jacob, not for imitation, but for
admonition.</p>
<scripCom id="Gen.xxxi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30" parsed="|Gen|30|0|0|0" passage="Ge 30" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gen.xxxi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.1-Gen.30.13" parsed="|Gen|30|1|30|13" passage="Ge 30:1-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.30.1-Gen.30.13">
<h4 id="Gen.xxxi-p1.10">Increase of Jacob's Family. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxi-p1.11">b. c.</span> 1745.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxi-p2">1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no
children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me
children, or else I die.   2 And Jacob's anger was kindled
against Rachel: and he said, <i>Am</i> I in God's stead, who hath
withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?   3 And she said,
Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my
knees, that I may also have children by her.   4 And she gave
him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.  
5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.   6 And Rachel
said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath
given me a son: therefore called she his name <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p2.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.7" parsed="|Dan|7|0|0|0" passage="Dan. 7">Dan.   7</scripRef> And
Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
  8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled
with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name
Naphtali.   9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she
took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.   10 And
Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.   11 And Leah said, A
troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.   12 And Zilpah
Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.   13 And Leah said, Happy
am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his
name Asher.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p3">We have here the bad consequences of that
strange marriage which Jacob made with the two sisters. Here
is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p4">I. An unhappy disagreement between him and
Rachel (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.1-Gen.30.2" parsed="|Gen|30|1|30|2" passage="Ge 30:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>),
occasioned, not so much by her own barrenness as by her sister's
fruitfulness. Rebekah, the only wife of Isaac, was long childless,
and yet we find no uneasiness between her and Isaac; but here,
because Leah bears children, Rachel cannot live peaceably with
Jacob.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p5">1. Rachel frets. She <i>envied her
sister,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.1" parsed="|Gen|30|1|0|0" passage="Ge 30:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>.
Envy is grieving at the good of another, than which no sin is more
offensive to God, nor more injurious to our neighbour and
ourselves. She considered not that it was God that made the
difference, and that though, in this single instance her sister was
preferred before her, yet in other things she had the advantage.
Let us carefully watch against all the risings and workings of this
passion in our minds. Let not our eye be evil

<pb id="Gen.xxxi-Page_179" n="179"/>

towards any of our fellow-servants because our
master's is good. But this was not all; she said to Jacob, <i>Give
me children, or else I die.</i> Note, We are very apt to err in our
desires of temporal mercies, as Rachel here. (1.) One child would
not content her; but, because Leah has more than one, she must have
more too: <i>Give me children.</i> (2.) Her heart is inordinately
set upon it, and, if she have not what she would have, she will
throw away her life, and all the comforts of it. "Give them to me,
or <i>else I die,</i>" that is, "I shall fret myself to death; the
want of this satisfaction will shorten my days." Some think she
threatens Jacob to lay violent hands upon herself, if she could not
obtain this mercy. (3.) She did not apply to God by prayer, but to
Jacob only, forgetting that <i>children are a heritage of the
Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.127.3" parsed="|Ps|127|3|0|0" passage="Ps 127:3">Ps. cxxvii. 3</scripRef>. We
wrong both God and ourselves when our eye is more to men, the
instruments of our crosses and comforts, than to God the author.
Observe a difference between Rachel's asking for this mercy and
Hannah's, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.1.10-1Sam.1.11" parsed="|1Sam|1|10|1|11" passage="1Sa 1:10,11">1 Sam. i. 10</scripRef>,
&amp;c. Rachel envied; Hannah wept. Rachel must have children, and
she died of the second; Hannah prayed for one child, and she had
four more. Rachel is importunate and peremptory; Hannah is
submissive and devout. <i>If thou wilt give me a child, I will give
him to the Lord.</i> Let Hannah be imitated, and not Rachel; and
let our desires be always under the direction and control of reason
and religion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p6">2. Jacob chides, and most justly. He loved
Rachel, and therefore reproved her for what she said amiss,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.2" parsed="|Gen|30|2|0|0" passage="Ge 30:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Note, Faithful
reproofs and products and instances of true affection, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.141.5 Bible:Prov.27.5-Prov.27.6" parsed="|Ps|141|5|0|0;|Prov|27|5|27|6" passage="Ps 141:5,Pr 27:5,6">Ps. cxli. 5; Prov. xxvii. 5,
6</scripRef>. Job reproved his wife when she spoke the language of
the foolish women, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.2.10" parsed="|Job|2|10|0|0" passage="Job 2:10">Job ii.
10</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.16" parsed="|1Cor|7|16|0|0" passage="1Co 7:16">1 Cor. vii.
16</scripRef>. He was angry, not at the person, but at the sin; he
expressed himself so as to show his displeasure. Note, sometimes it
is requisite that a reproof should be given warm, like a medical
potion; not too hot, lest it scald the patient; yet not cold, lest
it prove ineffectual. It was a very grave and pious reply which
Jacob gave to Rachel's peevish demand: <i>Am I in God's stead?</i>
The Chaldee paraphrases it well, <i>Dost thou ask sons of me?
Oughtest thou not to ask them from before the Lord?</i> The Arabic
reads it, "<i>Am I above God?</i> can I give thee that which God
denies thee?" This was said like a plain man. Observe, (1.) He
acknowledges the hand of God in the affliction which he was a
sharer with her in: He <i>hath withheld the fruit of the womb.</i>
Note, Whatever we want, it is God that withholds it, a sovereign
Lord, most wise, holy, and just, that may do what he will with his
own, and is debtor to no man, that never did, nor ever can do, any
wrong to any of his creatures. The keys of the clouds, of the
heart, of the grave, and of the womb, are four keys which God had
in his hand, and which (the rabbin say) he entrusts neither with
angels nor seraphim. See <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.3.7 Bible:Job.11.10 Bible:Job.12.14" parsed="|Rev|3|7|0|0;|Job|11|10|0|0;|Job|12|14|0|0" passage="Re 3:7,Job 11:10,12:14">Rev. iii. 7. Job xi. 10; xii.
14</scripRef>. (2.) He acknowledges his own inability to alter what
God had appointed: "<i>Am I in God's stead?</i> What! dost thou
make a god of me?" <i>Deos qui rogat ille facit—He to whom we
offer supplications is to us a god.</i> Note, [1.] There is no
creature that is, or can be, to us, in God's stead. God may be to
us instead of any creature, as the sun instead of the moon and
stars; but the moon and all the stars will not be to us instead of
the sun. No creature's wisdom, power, and love, will be to us
instead of God's. [2.] It is therefore our sin and folly to place
any creature in God's stead, and to place that confidence in any
creature which is to be placed in God only.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p7">II. An unhappy agreement between him and
the two handmaids.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p8">1. At the persuasion of Rachel, he took
Bilhah her handmaid to wife, that, according to the usage of those
times, his children by her might be adopted and owned as her
mistress's children, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.3-Gen.30.8" parsed="|Gen|30|3|30|8" passage="Ge 30:3-8"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>, &amp;c. She would rather have children by reputation
than none at all, children that she might fancy to be her own, and
call her own, though they were not so. One would think her own
sister's children were nearer akin to her than her maid's, and she
might with more satisfaction have made them her own if she had so
pleased; but (so natural is it for us all to be fond of power)
children that she had a right to rule were more desirable to her
than children that she had more reason to love; and, as an early
instance of her dominion over the children born in her apartment,
she takes a pleasure in giving them names that carry in them
nothing but marks of emulation with her sister, as if she had
overcome her, (1.) At law. She calls the first son of her handmaid
<i>Dan</i> (<i>judgement</i>), saying, "<i>God hath judged me</i>"
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.6" parsed="|Gen|30|6|0|0" passage="Ge 30:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), that is,
"given sentence in my favour." (2.) In battle. She calls the next
<i>Naphtali</i> (<i>wrestlings</i>), saying, <i>I have wrestled
with my sister, and have prevailed</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.8" parsed="|Gen|30|8|0|0" passage="Ge 30:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>); as if all Jacob's sons must be
born men of contention. See what roots of bitterness envy and
strife are, and what mischief they make among relations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p9">2. At the persuasion of Leah, he took
Zilpah her handmaid to wife also, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.9" parsed="|Gen|30|9|0|0" passage="Ge 30:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Rachel had done that absurd and
preposterous thing of giving her maid to her husband, in emulation
with Leah; and now Leah (because she missed one year in bearing
children) does the same, to be even with her, or rather to keep
before her. See the power of jealousy and rivalship, and admire the
wisdom of the divine appointment, which unites one man and one
woman only; for <i>God hath called us to peace</i> and purity,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.15" parsed="|1Cor|7|15|0|0" passage="1Co 7:15">1 Cor. vii. 15</scripRef>. Two sons
Zilpah bore to Jacob, whom Leah looked upon herself as entitled to,
in token of which she called one <i>Gad</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.11" parsed="|Gen|30|11|0|0" passage="Ge 30:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), promising herself a little
<i>troop</i> of children; and children are the militia of a family,
they fill the quiver, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.127.4-Ps.127.5" parsed="|Ps|127|4|127|5" passage="Ps 127:4,5">Ps. cxxvii. 4,
5</scripRef>. The other she called <i>Asher</i>
<pb id="Gen.xxxi-Page_180" n="180"/>

(<i>happy</i>), thinking herself happy in him, and
promising herself that her neighbours would think so too: <i>The
daughters will call me blessed,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.13" parsed="|Gen|30|13|0|0" passage="Ge 30:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. Note, It is an instance of the
vanity of the world, and the foolishness bound up in our hearts,
that most people value themselves and govern themselves more by
reputation than either by reason or religion; they think themselves
blessed if the daughters do but call them so. There was much amiss
in the contest and competition between these two sisters, yet God
brought good out of this evil; for, the time being now at hand when
the seed of Abraham must begin to increase and multiply, thus
Jacob's family was replenished with twelve sons, heads of the
thousands of Israel, from whom the celebrated twelve tribes
descended and were named.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxxi-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.14-Gen.30.24" parsed="|Gen|30|14|30|24" passage="Ge 30:14-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.30.14-Gen.30.24">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxi-p10">14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest,
and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother
Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's
mandrakes.   15 And she said unto her, <i>Is it</i> a small
matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away
my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie
with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.   16 And Jacob
came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet
him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired
thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
  17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare
Jacob the fifth son.   18 And Leah said, God hath given me my
hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called
his name Issachar.   19 And Leah conceived again, and bare
Jacob the sixth son.   20 And Leah said, God hath endued me
<i>with</i> a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me,
because I have borne him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
  21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name
Dinah.   22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to
her, and opened her womb.   23 And she conceived, and bare a
son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:   24 And she
called his name Joseph; and said, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxi-p10.1">Lord</span> shall add to me another son.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p11">Here is, I. Leah fruitful again, after she
had, for some time, left off bearing. Jacob, it should seem,
associated more with Rachel than with Leah. The law of Moses
supposes it a common case that, if a man had two wives, one would
be beloved and the other hated, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.21.15" parsed="|Deut|21|15|0|0" passage="De 21:15">Deut.
xxi. 15</scripRef>. But at length Rachel's strong passions betrayed
her into a bargain with Leah that Jacob should return to her
apartment. Reuben, a little lad, five or six years old, playing in
the field, found <i>mandrakes, dudaim.</i> It is uncertain what
they were, the critics are not agreed about them; we are sure they
were some rarities, either fruits or flowers that were very
pleasant to the smell, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.7.13" parsed="|Song|7|13|0|0" passage="So 7:13">Cant. vii.
13</scripRef>. Note, The God of nature has provided, not only for
our necessities, but for our delights; there are products of the
earth in the exposed fields, as well as in the planted protected
gardens, that are very valuable and useful. How plentifully is
nature's house furnished and her table spread! Her precious fruits
offer themselves to be gathered by the hands of little children. It
is a laudable custom of the devout Jews, when they find pleasure,
suppose in eating an apple, to lift up their hearts, and say,
"Blessed be he that made this fruit pleasant!" Or, in smelling a
flower, "Blessed be he that made this flower sweet." Some think
these mandrakes were jessamine flowers. Whatever they were, Rachel
could not see them in Leah's hands, where the child had placed
them, but she must covet them. She cannot bear the want of these
pretty flowers, but will purchase them at any rate. Note, There may
be great sin and folly in the inordinate desire of a small thing.
Leah takes this advantage (as Jacob had of Esau's coveting his red
pottage) to obtain that which was justly due to her, but to which
Rachel would not otherwise have consented. Note, Strong passions
often thwart one another, and those cannot but be continually
uneasy that are hurried on by them. Leah is overjoyed that she
shall have her husband's company again, that her family might yet
further be built up, which is the blessing she desires and devoutly
prays for, as is intimated, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.17" parsed="|Gen|30|17|0|0" passage="Ge 30:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>, where it is said, <i>God hearkened unto Leah.</i>
The learned bishop Patrick very well suggests here that the true
reason of this contest between Jacob's wives for his company, and
their giving him their maids to be his wives, was the earnest
desire they had to fulfil the promise made to Abraham (and now
lately renewed to Jacob), that his seed should be as the stars of
heaven for multitude, and that in one seed of his, the Messiah, all
the nations of the earth should be blessed. And he thinks it would
have been below the dignity of this sacred history to take such
particular notice of these things if there had not been some such
great consideration in them. Leah was now blessed with two sons;
the first she called <i>Issachar</i> (<i>a hire</i>), reckoning
herself well repaid for her mandrakes, nay (which is a strange
construction of the providence) rewarded for giving her maid to her
husband. Note, We

<pb id="Gen.xxxi-Page_181" n="181"/>

abuse God's mercy when we
reckon that his favours countenance and patronize our follies. The
other she called <i>Zebulun</i> (<i>dwelling</i>), owning God's
bounty to her: <i>God has endowed me with a good dowry,</i>
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.20" parsed="|Gen|30|20|0|0" passage="Ge 30:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. Jacob had not
endowed her when he married her, nor had he wherewithal in
possession; but she reckons a family of children not a bill of
charges, but a good dowry, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.113.9" parsed="|Ps|113|9|0|0" passage="Ps 113:9">Ps. cxiii.
9</scripRef>. She promises herself more of her husband's company
now that she had borne him six sons, and that, in love to his
children at least, he would often visit her lodgings. Mention is
made (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.21" parsed="|Gen|30|21|0|0" passage="Ge 30:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>) of the
birth of a daughter, <i>Dinah,</i> because of the following story
concerning her, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.34.1-Gen.34.31" parsed="|Gen|34|1|34|31" passage="Ge 34:1-31"><i>ch.</i>
xxxiv</scripRef>. Perhaps Jacob had other daughters, though their
names are not registered.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p12">II. Rachel fruitful at last (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.22" parsed="|Gen|30|22|0|0" passage="Ge 30:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <i>God remembered
Rachel,</i> whom he seemed to have forgotten, and <i>hearkened to
her</i> whose prayers had been long denied; and then she bore a
son. Note, As God justly denies the mercy we have been inordinately
desirous of, so sometimes he graciously grants, at length, that
which we have long waited for. He corrects our folly, and yet
considers our frame, and does not contend for ever. Rachel called
her son <i>Joseph,</i> which in Hebrew is akin to two words of a
contrary signification, <i>Asaph</i> (<i>abstulit</i>), <i>He has
taken away my reproach,</i> as if the greatest mercy she had in
this son was that she had saved her credit; and <i>Jasaph</i>
(<i>addidit</i>), <i>The Lord shall add to me another son,</i>
which may be looked upon either as the language of her inordinate
desire (she scarcely knows how to be thankful for one unless she
may be sure of another), or of her faith—she takes this mercy as
an earnest of further mercy. "Has God given me his grace? I may
call it Joseph, and say, He shall add more grace! Has he given me
his joy? I may call it Joseph, and say, He will give me more joy.
Has he begun, and shall he not make an end?"</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxxi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.25-Gen.30.36" parsed="|Gen|30|25|30|36" passage="Ge 30:25-36" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.30.25-Gen.30.36">
<h4 id="Gen.xxxi-p12.3">Jacob's Bargain with Laban. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxi-p12.4">b. c.</span> 1745.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxi-p13">25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne
Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go
unto mine own place, and to my country.   26 Give <i>me</i> my
wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go:
for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.   27 And
Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine
eyes, <i>tarry: for</i> I have learned by experience that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxi-p13.1">Lord</span> hath blessed me for thy sake.  
28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give <i>it.</i>
  29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served
thee, and how thy cattle was with me.   30 For <i>it was</i>
little which thou hadst before I <i>came,</i> and it is <i>now</i>
increased unto a multitude; and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxi-p13.2">Lord</span> hath blessed thee since my coming: and now
when shall I provide for mine own house also?   31 And he
said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give
me anything: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed
<i>and</i> keep thy flock:   32 I will pass through all thy
flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted
cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted
and speckled among the goats: and <i>of such</i> shall be my hire.
  33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come,
when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that
<i>is</i> not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among
the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.   34 And
Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.
  35 And he removed that day the he goats that were
ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled
and spotted, <i>and</i> every one that had <i>some</i> white in it,
and all the brown among the sheep, and gave <i>them</i> into the
hand of his sons.   36 And he set three days' journey betwixt
himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p14">We have here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p15">I. Jacob's thoughts of home. He faithfully
served his time out with Laban, even his second apprenticeship,
though he was an old man, had a large family to provide for, and it
was high time for him to set up for himself. Though Laban's service
was hard, and he had cheated him in the first bargain he had made,
yet Jacob honestly performs his engagements. Note, A good man,
though he swear to his own hurt, will not change. And though others
have deceived us this will not justify us in deceiving them. Our
rule is to do as we <i>would be</i> done by, not as we <i>are</i>
done by. Jacob's term having expired, he begs leave to be gone,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.25" parsed="|Gen|30|25|0|0" passage="Ge 30:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. Observe, 1.
He retained his affection for the land of Canaan, not only because
it was the land of his nativity, and his father and mother were
there, whom he longed to see, but because it was the land of
promise; and, in token of his dependence upon the promise of it,
though he sojourn in Haran he can by no means think of settling
there. Thus should we be affected towards our heavenly country,
looking upon ourselves as strangers here, viewing the heavenly
country as our home, and longing to be there, as soon as the days
of our service upon earth are numbered and finished.

<pb id="Gen.xxxi-Page_182" n="182"/>

We must not think of taking root here, for this is
not our place and country, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.14" parsed="|Heb|13|14|0|0" passage="Heb 13:14">Heb. xiii.
14</scripRef>. 2. He was desirous to go to Canaan, though he had a
great family to take with him, and no provision yet made for them.
He had got wives and children with Laban, but nothing else; yet he
does not solicit Laban to give him either a portion with his wives
or the maintenance of some of his children. No, all his request is,
<i>Give me my wives and my children, and send me away,</i>
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.25-Gen.30.26" parsed="|Gen|30|25|30|26" passage="Ge 30:25,26"><i>v.</i> 25, 26</scripRef>. Note,
Those that trust in God, in his providence and promise, though they
have great families and small incomes, can cheerfully hope that he
who sends mouths will send meat. He who feeds the brood of the
ravens will not starve the seed of the righteous.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p16">II. Laban's desire of his stay, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.27" parsed="|Gen|30|27|0|0" passage="Ge 30:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. In love to himself, not
to Jacob or to his wives or children, Laban endeavours to persuade
him to continue his chief shepherd, entreating him, by the regard
he bore him, not to leave him: <i>If I have found favour in thy
eyes, tarry.</i> Note, Churlish selfish men know how to give good
words when it is to serve their own ends. Laban found that his
stock had wonderfully increased with Jacob's good management, and
he owns it, with very good expressions of respect both to God and
Jacob: <i>I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me
for thy sake.</i> Observe, 1. Laban's learning: <i>I have learned
by experience.</i> Note, There is many a profitable good lesson to
be learned by experience. We are very unapt scholars if we have not
learned by experience the evil of sin, the treachery of our own
hearts, the vanity of the world, the goodness of God, the gains of
godliness, and the like. 2. Laban's lesson. He owns, (1.) That his
prosperity was owing to God's blessing: <i>The Lord has blessed
me.</i> Note, worldly men, who choose their portion in this life,
are often blessed with an abundance of this world's goods. Common
blessings are given plentifully to many that have no title to
covenant-blessings. (3.) That Jacob's piety had brought that
blessing upon him: <i>The Lord has blessed me,</i> not for my own
sake (let not such a man as Laban, that lives without God in the
world, <i>think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord,</i>
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.7" parsed="|Jas|1|7|0|0" passage="Jam 1:7">Jam. i. 7</scripRef>), but <i>for thy
sake.</i> Note, [1.] Good men are blessings to the places where
they live, even where they live meanly and obscurely, as Jacob in
the field, and Joseph in the prison, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.39.23" parsed="|Gen|39|23|0|0" passage="Ge 39:23"><i>ch.</i> xxxix. 23</scripRef>. [2.] God often blesses
bad men with outward mercies for the sake of their godly relations,
though it is seldom that they have either the wit to see it or the
grace to own it, as Laban did here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p17">III. The new bargain they came upon.
Laban's craft and covetousness took advantage of Jacob's plainness,
honesty, and good-nature; and, perceiving that Jacob began to be
won upon by his fair speeches, instead of making him a generous
offer and bidding high, as he ought to have done, all things
considered, he puts it upon him to make his demands (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.28" parsed="|Gen|30|28|0|0" passage="Ge 30:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): <i>Appoint me thy
wages,</i> knowing he would be very modest in them, and would ask
less than he could for shame offer. Jacob accordingly makes a
proposal to him, in which,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p18">1. He shows what reason he had to insist
upon so much, considering, (1.) That Laban was bound in gratitude
to do well for him, because he had served him not only faithfully,
but very successfully, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.30" parsed="|Gen|30|30|0|0" passage="Ge 30:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>. Yet here observe how he speaks, like himself, very
modestly. Laban had said, <i>The Lord has blessed me for thy
sake;</i> Jacob will not say so, but, <i>The Lord has blessed thee
since my coming.</i> Note, Humble saints take more pleasure in
doing good than in hearing of it again. (2.) That he himself was
bound in duty to take care of his own family: <i>Now, when shall I
provide for my own house also?</i> Note, Faith and charity, though
they are excellent things, must not take us off from making
necessary provisions for our own support, and the support of our
families. We must, like Jacob, <i>trust in the Lord and do
good,</i> and yet we must, like him, provide for our own houses
also; he that does not the latter <i>is worse than an infidel,</i>
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.8" parsed="|1Tim|5|8|0|0" passage="1Ti 5:8">1 Tim. v. 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p19">2. He is willing to refer himself to the
providence of God, which, he knew, extends itself to the smallest
things, even the colour of the cattle; and he will be content to
have for his wages the sheep and goats of such and such a colour,
speckled, spotted, and brown, which should hereafter be brought
forth, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.32-Gen.30.33" parsed="|Gen|30|32|30|33" passage="Ge 30:32,33"><i>v.</i> 32, 33</scripRef>.
This, he thinks, will be a most effectual way both to prevent
Laban's cheating him and to secure himself from being suspected of
cheating Laban. Some think he chose this colour because in Canaan
it was generally most desired and delighted in; their shepherds in
Canaan are called <i>Nekohim</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.1.1" parsed="|Amos|1|1|0|0" passage="Am 1:1">Amos
i. 1</scripRef>), the word here used for <i>speckled;</i> and Laban
was willing to consent to this bargain because he thought if the
few he has that were now speckled and spotted were separated from
the rest, which by agreement was to be done immediately, the body
of the flock which Jacob was to tend, being of one colour, either
all black or all white, would produce few or none of mixed colours,
and so he should have Jacob's service for nothing, or next to
nothing. According to this bargain, those few that were
party-coloured were separated, and put into the hands of Laban's
sons, and sent three days' journey off; so great was Laban's
jealously lest any of them should mix with the rest of the flock,
to the advantage of Jacob. And now a fine bargain Jacob has made
for himself! Is this his providing for his own house, to put it
upon such an uncertainty? If these cattle bring forth, as usually
cattle do, young ones of the same colour with themselves, he must
still serve for nothing, and be a drudge and a beggar all the days
of his

<pb id="Gen.xxxi-Page_183" n="183"/>

life; but he knows whom he has
trusted, and the event showed, (1.) That he took the best way that
could be taken with Laban, who otherwise would certainly have been
too hard for him. And, (2.) That it was not in vain to rely upon
the divine providence, which owns and blesses honest humble
diligence. Those that find men whom they deal with unjust and
unkind shall not find God so, but, some way or other, he will
recompense the injured, and be a good pay-master to those that
commit their cause to him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxxi-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.37-Gen.30.43" parsed="|Gen|30|37|30|43" passage="Ge 30:37-43" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.30.37-Gen.30.43">
<h4 id="Gen.xxxi-p19.4">Jacob's Ingenious Policy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxi-p19.5">b. c.</span> 1745.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxi-p20">37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and
of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them,
and made the white appear which <i>was</i> in the rods.   38
And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the
gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that
they should conceive when they came to drink.   39 And the
flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle
ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.   40 And Jacob did
separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the
ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put
his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle.
  41 And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did
conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in
the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.   42 But
when the cattle were feeble, he put <i>them</i> not in: so the
feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.   43 And the
man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants,
and menservants, and camels, and asses.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxi-p21">Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his
bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be. If
he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been a
bad bargain indeed, which he knew Laban would never consider, or
rather would be well pleased to see him a loser by, so little did
Laban consult any one's interest but his own. Now Jacob's
contrivances were, 1. To set peeled sticks before the cattle where
they were watered, that, looking much at those unusual
party-coloured sticks, by the power of imagination they might bring
forth young ones in like manner party-coloured, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.37-Gen.30.39" parsed="|Gen|30|37|30|39" passage="Ge 30:37-39"><i>v.</i> 37-39</scripRef>. Probably this custom was
commonly used by the shepherds of Canaan, who coveted to have their
cattle of this motley colour. Note, It becomes a man to be master
of his trade, whatever it is, and to be not only industrious, but
ingenious in it, and to be versed in all its lawful arts and
mysteries; for what is a man but his trade? There is a discretion
which God teaches the husbandman (as plain a trade as that is), and
which he ought to learn, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.28.26" parsed="|Isa|28|26|0|0" passage="Isa 28:26">Isa. xxviii.
26</scripRef>. 2. When he began to have a stock of ringstraked and
brown, he contrived to set them first, and to put the faces of the
rest towards them, with the same design as in the former
contrivance; but would not let his own, that were of one colour,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.40" parsed="|Gen|30|40|0|0" passage="Ge 30:40"><i>v.</i> 40</scripRef>. Strong
impressions, it seems, are made by the eye, with which therefore we
have need to make a covenant. 3. When he found that his project
succeeded, through the special blessing of God upon it, he
contrived, by using it only with the stronger cattle, to secure to
himself those that were most valuable, leaving the feebler to
Laban, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.41-Gen.30.42" parsed="|Gen|30|41|30|42" passage="Ge 30:41,42"><i>v.</i> 41, 42</scripRef>.
Thus <i>Jacob increased exceedingly</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.30.43" parsed="|Gen|30|43|0|0" passage="Ge 30:43"><i>v.</i> 43</scripRef>), and grew very rich in a little
time. This success of his policy, it is true, was not sufficient to
justify it, if there had been any thing fraudulent or unjust in it,
which we are sure there was not, for he did it by divine direction
(<scripRef id="Gen.xxxi-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.31.12" parsed="|Gen|31|12|0|0" passage="Ge 31:12"><i>ch.</i> xxxi. 12</scripRef>); nor
was there any thing in the thing itself but the honest improvement
of a fair bargain, which the divine providence wonderfully
prospered, both in justice to Jacob whom Laban had wronged and
dealt hardly with and in pursuance of the particular promises made
to him of the tokens of the divine favour, Note, Those who, while
their beginning is small, are humble and honest, contented and
industrious, are in a likely way to see their latter end greatly
increasing. He that is faithful in a little shall be entrusted with
more. He that is faithful in that which is another man's shall be
entrusted with something of his own. Jacob, who had been a just
servant, became a rich master.</p>
</div></div2>