A camp of black goat-hair tents on a wide plain at dusk, lamps glowing in the doorways, small children far off among the tents and flocks bedded down nearby.

The Book of

Genesis 30

Two sisters, one husband, and a contest for children that no one can win. Then God remembers the one who has waited longest.

43 verses≈ 7 min5 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, Babel
12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed onChapter 30
37–50JosephGod meant it for good

Dan and Naphtali

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister.

Rachel

“Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.

Jacob

Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”

Rachel

Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”

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Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?

Genesis 30:2

So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her, and Bilhah conceived and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.

And Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

Gad and Asher

When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. And Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

Reflect

Rivals under one roof

Rachel “envied her sister.” Leah answered her, “Is it not enough that you have taken away my husband?” Even the babies’ names became points in the contest: “I have wrestled with my sister and won.” Envy kept score in that family, and nobody came out happy. Where are you keeping score against someone close to you? Write it down honestly.

Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah

And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob. “God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.

After that, Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

Joseph

Genesis 30:22–23

She named him Joseph, and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”

Jacob’s family so far

Whiteboard

Eleven sons and a daughter, born to four mothers in a house full of rivalry. From these sons will come the tribes of Israel, and one more, Benjamin, is still to come.

Pray

God remembered

Rachel tried everything: anger at her husband, her servant, a bargain over mandrakes. Nothing worked. Then “God remembered Rachel. He listened to her.” Bring God the thing you have waited for longest, the one you have tried to fix yourself. Ask Him to hear you, and thank Him that He has not forgotten you.

Jacob Prospers

Jacob

Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland. Give me my wives and children for whom I have served you, that I may go on my way. You know how hard I have worked for you.”

Laban

But Laban replied, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

Jacob

Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care. Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”

Laban

“What can I give you?” Laban asked.

Jacob

“You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks.

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. These will be my wages. So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”

Laban

“Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”

The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot.

Genesis 30:30

That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons. Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Peeled branches with white stripes where the bark was stripped, laid in a long stone watering trough at evening while speckled and black goats crowd in to drink.

Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches. Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So 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.

0:24

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Jacob set apart the young, but made the rest face the streaked dark-colored sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and did not put them with Laban’s animals.

Whenever the stronger females of the flock were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they would breed in front of the branches. But if the animals were weak, he did not set out the branches. So the weaker animals went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.

Thus Jacob became exceedingly prosperous. He owned large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.

Question

Quick question

Laban told Jacob to name his wages. Jacob’s answer surprised him.

What did Jacob ask for as his wages?

You’ve experienced

Genesis 30

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A verse to carry with you

Then God remembered Rachel.

Genesis 30:22

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