Genesis 30
Rachel Has 2 Sons Through Her Maid
When Rachel couldn’t give her husband any children, she grew jealous of her sister and told Jacob,
“Please give me a child! If you don’t, I think I’ll die!”
That made Jacob angry. He replied,
“I can’t control if you get pregnant or not! God is the one who’s preventing you from getting pregnant!”
She said,
“Sleep with my maid, Bilhah, so that she’ll get pregnant and I can have children through her.”
So she gave him Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob slept with her. When Bilhah got pregnant and gave birth to a son, Rachel said,
“God has heard my desire and brought me justice like a judge by giving me a son.”
So she named him Dan [which means “a judge”]. Then Bilhah got pregnant again and had another son. When he was born Rachel said,
“Contending my sister has felt like wrestling a god, but I have prevailed.”
So she named him Naphtali [which means “wrestling”].
Leah Has 2 Sons Through Her Maid
When Leah stopped getting pregnant, she took her maid Zilpah and had Jacob marry her. When Zilpah got pregnant and gave birth to a son, Leah said,
“How fortunate!”
So she named him Gad [which means “troop”]. When Zilpah got pregnant again and had a second son, Leah said,
“I’m so happy! Other women will say that I am blessed.”
So she named him Asher [which means “happy”].
Mandrake Drama
When wheat-harvesting season came, Leah’s son, Reuben found some mandrakes out in the field and brought them back to his mom. [A mandrake is a type of root that was thought to excite sexual desire.] Rachel asked Leah,
“Could I please have some of those mandrakes that Reuben found?”
But Leah replied,
“Was taking my husband not enough for you? Now you wanna take my son’s mandrakes too?”
Rachel said,
“Please, I’ll let Jacob sleep in your bed tonight if you give me some of Reuben’s mandrakes.”
So Jacob slept with Leah that night.
Leah Has 2 More Sons
God heard Leah’s perspective, because she got pregnant and gave birth to her 5th son. She said,
“God has paid me back for giving my maid away to my husband.”
So she named him Issachar [which means “there is compensation”]. Leah got pregnant again and gave Jacob her 6th son. She said,
“God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will exalt me, because I’ve given him 6 sons.”
So she named him Zebulun [which means “exalted”]. Then she had a daughter and named her Dinah [which means “judgment”].
Rachel Finally Has a Son
Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her. He made her fertile so that she got pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said,
“God has put an end to my mockery.”
So she named him Joseph [which means “Jehovah has added”]. She also said,
“May the Existing One give me another son someday.”
Jacob Wants to Leave Laban
After Joseph was born, Jacob told Laban,
“Could you send me off so I can go back to my own country? I want to take my wives and children and move on. You gave me them in exchange for my work, and you and I both know how much work I did for you.”
But Laban said,
“Please, if it’d be alright with you, would you consider staying? When I sought the supernatural, I realized that the Existing One has blessed me on your account. Let me know how much you want your salary to be, and I’ll pay it.”
Jacob replied,
“You know how hard I worked for you and how much your livestock has multiplied since I’ve been here. When I got here you only had a few, and now it’s exploded into a multitude. The Existing One has blessed you in every area I’ve had my hands in. Don’t you think it’s time for me to provide for my own household now?”
Laban said,
“When you leave, how much of the farm would you want to take with you?”
Jacob answered,
“You don’t have to give me anything, but I’ll make a deal with you: I’ll keep feeding and protecting your animals for you if you just let me pass over all your livestock today and take all the sheep and goats that are speckled, spotted, or black. That will be my compensation for taking care of them. That way, my integrity will speak for itself if there’s ever a question about which ones are mine. If any non-spotted animals are found under my possession, we can assume that they were stolen.”
Laban [whose name means “white”] said,
“Ok, let’s do it that way.”
Jacob Multiplies His Spotted Livestock
So that day they gathered all the striped, spotted, and speckled goats for Jacob to have. Then Jacob and Laban put 3 days’ distance between their families, and Jacob continued tending to both of their flocks.
Then Jacob took branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled stripes in them, exposing the white underneath the bark. Then he put the peeled branches into the watering troughs so that when the animals came to drink they would want to mate. When the animals started giving birth their babies came out striped, speckled, and spotted, so Jacob was able to keep them. He constantly directed the animals towards the striped ones to grow his own livestock instead of Laban’s. Whenever the strongest ones were ready to mate, Jacob would put out the branches so they might mate with the striped animals. But when the weaker ones were ready to mate, he didn’t put the branches out. That way Laban got the weaker ones and Jacob got the stronger ones. Jacob saw a lot of success and came to have a lot of livestock, camels, donkeys, and even workers.
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