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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, Am 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 Dan. 7 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. 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, Is it 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 with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born 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 LORD shall add to me another son. 25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 26 Give me 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, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. 28 And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. 29 And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me. 30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD 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 any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and 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 of such 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 is 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, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them 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. 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 was 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 them 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.
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[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 30:1
Leah bore Reu-ben, Simeon, Levi and Judah and then ceased giving birth, whereas Rachel was barren. Because she heard Jacob say that Abraham had prayed over the barren Sarah and was heard and that Isaac had also prayed for Rebekah and was answered, she thought that it was because Jacob had not prayed for her that her closed womb had not been opened. For this reason, she said in anger and in tears, “Give me children, or I shall die!”

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 28.1.1
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 30:2
Why, Jacob says, do you ignore the Lord of nature and fix the blame on me? He it is who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb. Why not make your request to him, who can open nature’s workplace and quicken the womb to childbirth? So understand that God is the one who has deprived you of the fruit of the womb and granted your sister such fertility. So don’t look to me for what I am powerless to provide and over which I have no lordship. I mean, if it lay in my power, I would certainly give you pride of place ahead of your sister by securing greater respect for you. But since, no matter to what degree I am kindly disposed to you, I can do nothing to solve your problem, address your request to him who inflicted the sterility and has the power to remedy it. See the good man’s common sense in that, though provoked to anger by her words, he replied to her with great wisdom, instructing her precisely in everything and making the responsibility clear to her, lest by ignoring the Lord she might seek from another what God alone was able to provide.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 56.19
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 30:4
So, lest she nag him, asking him every day for children, Jacob, who was sent from his parents to take a daughter of Laban, agreed to take the foreign woman. But it was also so that the sons of the maidservants might become joint heirs with sons of the freewomen that Jacob took maidservants and freewomen. So he took Bilhah, and she conceived and bore Dan and Naphtali.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 28.1.2
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:5-6
(Chapter XXX.—Verses 5 and 6) And Bala conceived and bore a son to Jacob: and Rachel said: The Lord judged me, and heard my voice, and gave me a son: therefore she called his name Dan. She expressed the reason for the name, that because the Lord had judged her, a son of the handmaid, she would give the name of judgment: Dan, indeed, is interpreted as judgment.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:7-8
(Verse 7 and 8) And she conceived again, and bore a son. And Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son. Therefore she called his name Naphtali. The meaning of the name Naphtali is explained differently here than it is written in the Book of Hebrew Names. Hence also Aquila says, 'God has joined me, and I have joined together,' which in Hebrew is written Naphtule Elohim, Naphtalethi. From the conversion or from the comparison, since both signify conversion or comparison, he named the son Nephthalim. But what follows.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:10-11
(Verse 10 and 11.) And Zilpah, the maid of Leah, bore Jacob a son, and Leah said, 'In fortunate circumstances,' and she called his name Gad. Where we have placed ourselves, in fortunate circumstances, and in Greek it is said ἐν τύχῃ, which can be translated as 'event.' In Hebrew, it is Bagad (), which Aquila interprets as 'girdle' or 'belt.' But we can say 'in readiness.' For Ba can sound like the preposition 'in,' and gad means 'coming.' Therefore, from the event or readiness, the son of Zilpah, Gad, was called. Sequitur:

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:12-13
(Verse 12 and 13.) And Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, gave birth to a second son for Jacob. And Leah said, 'I am blessed, for women will call me blessed.' And she called his name Asher, which means 'riches'. The riches are added with a play on words, that is, πλοῦτος. The etymology of the name Asher is explained by the authority of Scripture, which says, 'I am blessed, and women will call me blessed.' And because she is called blessed by people, she named her son blessed. Therefore, Asher is not called riches but blessed, only in this particular context. For in other cases, according to the ambiguity of the word, riches can be called thus.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Genesis 30:14
Some say that the mandrake is a plant whose fruit resembles apples, which have a scent and are edible. So by means of these mandrakes, with cheerfulness seasoned with faith, Leah made Jacob take her that night.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 28.3.1
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:17-18
(Verse 17 and 18.) And God heard Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob her fifth son, and she said, 'God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.' And she called his name Issachar. The Septuagint Interpreters have given the etymology of this name, it is wages. Not that, as many wrongly read with an added pronoun, it is to be understood as written, which is wages, but the whole name is interpreted, it is wages. For it is said that Sachar, the son of Ruben, bought the entrance which was owed to Rachel, for a price. It follows:

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:19-20
(Verse 19 and 20.) And Leah conceived again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. And Leah said, 'God has endowed me with a good endowment. Now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' And she called his name Zebulun. Wherever we have settled, he will dwell with me.' And the Seventy translated it as 'he will love me.' In Hebrew, it is written as Jezbuleni. And the meaning is that I have borne Jacob six sons, so now I am secure, for my husband will dwell with me. Therefore, my son is called "Habitaculum". However, in the book of Numbers, Zabulon is translated as "fluxus noctis" (night's flow) wrongly and violently.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:21
(Verse 21.) And after these things she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah (). She is involved in a case, which the Greeks more significantly call δίκην. For there was a cause of contention in Shechem. After the sons, the names of the parents are to be given. Leah (), is interpreted as laboring. Rachel (), a sheep, whose son Joseph (), is called the addition because his mother had desired another to be added to her.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 30:26
Nothing is really more efficacious than meekness and nothing more powerful than it. See at any rate how, by a disarming use of meekness, Jacob also brought Laban to reply to him with great deference. “Laban replied to him,” the text goes on, remember, “If I have found favor in your sight, and the omens do not deceive me, God has blessed me in your coming. Name your wage to me, and I will pay.” “I am not unaware,” he is saying, that in the wake of your coming I enjoyed favor from God more richly. So, since I recognize the kindness done me in your coming, “name any wage you care to mention, and I will readily pay it.”Consider what a great thing meekness is, and don’t pass idly by these words. Instead, keep in mind that the good man had made no mention of this nor looked for any payment for his trouble. [He] had said only this: “Let me have my wives and children, for whom I was in your service, so that I may depart.” And yet the other man, out of respect for the good man’s great meekness, replied, “Tell me what wage you want to be paid by me, and I will cheerfully pay it.” After all, were not “Jacob’s wives and children in his company”? So why did he say, “Let me have my wives and children”? Jacob was giving him due respect and displaying in every circumstance his typical behavior, and wishing as well to take his leave without hindrance. Notice, at any rate, from these words how he won Laban over to the extent of promising to pay a wage and to leave the decision to him.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.2-3
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 30:30
“I call you to witness my labors,” he is saying. “I mean, you know how I did my best with good grace and how, after taking charge of your poor creatures, I made them grow into a vast herd through my attention and vigilance.” Then, to show his godly attitude, he added, “The Lord, you see, has blessed you in my coming. So isn’t it high time for me to build a house of my own?” You yourself know that after my arrival grace from on high increased your prosperity. So now, since I too have made every effort on my part with good grace in discharge of my service and the grace of God has become manifest, it is only fair that I too should build a house for myself.” Now, what is the meaning of “build a house for myself”? It means, to live now in freedom and to pay attention to a house of one’s own.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.4
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:32-33
(Verse 32 and 33.) I will pass through all your flock today: separate from it all the variegated and discolored animals: and all the animals of one color will be lambs and the variegated and discolored ones will be goats, they will be my reward: and my justice will be answered to me the next day, when my reward comes before you: everything that is not variegated and discolored among the goats and lambs, will be considered as theft to me, and so on. The meaning of this passage has been greatly confused among the Septuagint Interpreters, and until today I have not been able to find any clear explanation from our scholars regarding what is meant in this passage. I will serve you, Jacob, he said, seven more years, do what I demand. Separate all the speckled and spotted, both the sheep and the goats, and give them into the hands of your sons. And from the entire flock, the white and the black animals, that is, of one color, give them to me. So if anything speckled or spotted, which are of one color, is born, it will be mine; but if anything of one color is born, it will be yours. I ask for a not difficult thing. Nature makes it so that white offspring are born from white animals, and black offspring are born from black ones: my justice will be with me, as long as God looks at my humility and labor. He eagerly seized the opportunity given by Laban, and, doing as Jacob requested, separated Jacob and his sons with a three-day journey, so that no deceitful child would be born from near the flock. Therefore, Jacob devised a new strategy and fought against the natural order of white and black livestock with his cunning. For he made three rods, of poplar, almond and pomegranate, even though the Seventy had storax, walnut and plane tree rods, partly stripping the bark, to create a variety of rod colors, so that wherever he left the bark on the rod, the ancient color would remain; but where he removed the bark, a bright color would be revealed. So Jacob observed that at the time when the flocks were mating, and after the heat of the day, when they were thirsty and eager to drink, he would place the discolored rods in the troughs. And as the rams and goats came to drink, driven by their intense desire, he would make them mate, so that from this double longing, as they eagerly drank and were mounted by the males, they would conceive offspring resembling the shadows of the rams and goats as they ascended from above in the mirror of the water. For when men and women have experienced those of varied color in the bedding, it is not surprising that this is the nature of women, that they give birth to offspring resembling those they have seen or imagined in the heat of extreme pleasure; this is said to also happen among herds of mares in Spain. And Quintilian, in a controversy where a matron was accused of giving birth to an Ethiopian, argues in defense of her that this is the nature of conceptions, as we have mentioned above. But when the kids were born, and various lambs of different colors from white and solid color herds, Jacob separated them and made them be far from the original flock. But if any were born of one color, that is, white or black, he would give them into the hands of Laban's sons, and he would place the peeled rods in the troughs where the water was poured out, and they would come to drink opposite the animals, so that they would conceive at the time when they came to drink.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Genesis 30:37
The just man Jacob comes in like a hired hand and yet is the master who, in his ministry of preaching the gospel, gathered together a flock that is resplendent in the brilliance of its many signal virtues. Thus, when the flock came to drink, he would set before them in the troughs the bough of storax and walnut and that from the plane tree; those who felt desire for the mysteries of the most blessed Trinity that were prefigured there could engender offspring that were not at all discolored, by conceiving them in a devout mind. Good were the sheep that produced the offspring that were good works and that were not degenerate in holy faith. By the storax is meant the incense and the evening sacrifice that is offered to God the Father in the psalm; by the walnut bough, the priestly gift that is offered by Christ. For this is Aaron’s bough, that blossomed when it was set down, and through it the grace of priestly holiness was manifested. By the plane tree is meant an abundance of spiritual fruit, because a vine attaches itself to this tree so that the tree may be fertile through the symbiosis and pour itself out into rich offspring. Even so, the addition of the grace of the Spirit has generally nurtured the gifts of the Lord’s passion as well as the forgiveness of all sins.

Source: JACOB AND THE HAPPY LIFE 2.4.19
[AD 431] Paulinus of Nola on Genesis 30:37
Because the three rods have been mentioned, we can examine further, if you are agreeable, the symbolism of the kingdom implicit in them. The patriarch chose for himself three rods from three trees. The first was perfumed from the storax tree, the second smooth from the plane tree, the third unbending from the almond tree. The plane contains the Spirit, the storax the Virgin, and the almond Christ. For the plane extends its spreading branches to provide shade; so the Holy Spirit fashioned Christ by casting his shadow over the Virgin. I believe that the rod from the storax, the tree of David, is the Virgin who in childbirth brought forth a sweet-smelling Blossom. The rod of the almond tree is Christ, for there is food within that tree, which has an outer casing consisting of bitter bark over its green skin. Here you must recognize the divine Christ clothed in our human body. In that flesh he can be broken; the food lies in the Word, the bitterness in the cross. His hard covering consists of the tidings of the cross and the food of that cross, and it encloses within the divine remedy in the flesh of Christ.

Source: POEM 27.273
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Genesis 30:37
The rod also enigmatically symbolizes for us the Immanuel, for he is actually called by this name in the divinely inspired Scriptures. “And there shall sprout a rod,” the divine Isaiah says, “out of the root of Jesse, and a blossom shall come up from his root.” David … proclaimed to the heavenly Father and God: “Your rod and your staff have comforted me.” We received consolation in Christ and made him our pillar. In fact, it was written, “The Lord shall support the righteous.” And Christ in a sense displays a sort of rod to us as to reasonable goats and herds spread all over the earth and in the whole world. But it is not a rod of any kind, but it is made out of storax wood and walnut and plane tree. The storax tree is placed as a witness of righteousness. This tree is the symbol of death. The body of the dead is treated with perfumes, and a very sweet perfume is the oil of the storax tree. Christ died for us and was buried, according to Scripture. The rod made of walnut wood is a symbol of watchfulness.

Source: GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 5.3-4
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Genesis 30:38
But where did Jacob place his rods? In the troughs of water. And these troughs, in which the reasonable herd, that is we, go to water, must be interpreted as the writings of Moses and the prophetical predictions that nearly burst forth for us like a heavenly sermon from God. In fact, it was written, “You draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation.” And there we will find the Immanuel, the rod of power. And in his death for us he is also the firstborn from the dead, and is exalted in glory and increases the number of the believers, as I have just said. Every word of the holy prophets, including Moses, hints at the mystery of Christ. Therefore also the wise Paul says, “Christ is the end of the prophets and the law.” Jacob peeled in the rods white stripes alternated with green ones, and the sheep that were by them conceived a spotted and speckled progeny. Jesus somehow removed the shadow from the law and the veil from the prophetical writings. And he showed the pure and beautiful doctrine which was in them, and he transferred it to the spiritual song, in order that he might lead people to virtue since they wanted to be speckled, that is, they wanted to exercise a double virtue in words and actions. And therefore the divine prophets of those who were justified in the faith, by bringing the image before them, openly proclaim, “Because of the fear of you, we conceived, O Lord, and were in pain and brought forth the spirit of your salvation.” And the same blessed Isaiah, in another passage, says properly: “Strengthen your relaxed hands and palsied knees; comfort one another, you faint-hearted; be strong, fear not. Behold, our God renders judgment, and will render it.” And again: “Behold the Lord! The Lord is coming with strength, and his arm is with power. He shall tend his flock as a shepherd, and shall gather the lambs with his arm and shall soothe them who are with young.” That is, he will be a spiritual consolation for those who have already brought forth the divine sermon, for those who will be fruitful and for those who are about to bring forth the glories of evangelical life. This is the fruit of the holy and uncorrupted soul.

Source: GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 5.4
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Genesis 30:40
The good man did this, not of his own devising but with grace from on high inspiring his mind. You see, it was not done according to human reasoning but was quite unusual and beyond natural logic.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.7
[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Genesis 30:40
There is no association between the holy and the profane, between the pure and the impure. Those who belong to Christ are separated and refuse to mix with those who are in the world; they are free from carnal desires. They are marked by their way of life or rather are distinguished by their virtue. “The unmarked ones were Laban’s, and the marked ones were Jacob’s.”

Source: GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 5.4
[AD 420] Jerome on Genesis 30:41-42
(Ver. 41 and 42.) And the flocks conceived against the rods that Jacob had set before the flocks in the gutters, so that they conceived by the rods; but the sheep that were weak, he did not put the rods. And Laban's flocks were weak, but Jacob's were strong and healthy. This is not found in the Septuagint Interpreters, but instead of the weak and healthy ones, they translated something else, I don't know what, which does not make sense. But what the Scripture says is this: Jacob, wise and clever, observed justice and fairness even in a new way. For if all the ewes and goats were producing various offspring, there would be some suspicion of deceit, and openly Laban, envying this situation, would oppose it. Therefore, he managed everything in such a way that he himself would benefit from the result of his labor, and Laban would not be completely deprived. If ever the sheep and goats were bred in the early season, because the spring offspring is better, he would place rods in front of them so that diverse offspring would be born. But whatever sheep and goats were bred late and were seeking a male, he would not place objects in front of their eyes so that animals of a single color would be born. And whatever was first born belonged to him, because it was different and varied: whatever came after, belonged to Laban: for from one colored cattle, both black and white, were born. But in the place where it is written, that they conceive in rods: in Hebrew it has Jeamena (). I cannot express the force of the Hebrew word without going around it. Jeamena properly means the extreme heat in sexual intercourse, by which the whole body trembles, and is near the end of pleasurable satisfaction.

Source: Hebrew Questions on Genesis
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Genesis 30:41
Again, Jacob was in no sense the creator of the piebald colors of the flocks he managed, just because he put the peeled and parti-colored rods in the drinking troughs for the ewes to gaze at as they conceived. Nor for that matter were the ewes creators of the piebald effects in their young, just because the vivid impressions of piebaldness they received from look-ing at the particolored rods remained embedded in their souls. And so [these impressions] could not help having a sympathetic effect on their bodies, which were animated by these souls thus affected, so that the impression was passed on to color the progeny in their sensitive and impressionable beginnings. That soul and body should thus psychosomatically react upon each other is due to those archetypal harmonies of reason which live immutably in the very wisdom of God, something that is not localized within the limits of space. While this wisdom is unchanging in itself, it does not hold itself aloof from anything that is, even in a changing mode of existence, because there is nothing that was not created by it. That the ewes gave birth to lambs and not to rods is due to the unchangeable and invisible disposition of God’s wisdom by which all things were created. And that the lambs conceived were colored as an effect of the particolored rods was due to the souls of their pregnant mothers being affected from the outside through their eyes and having inside them their own proper “program” of embryo formation which they received from their Creator, whose power was active at the inner roots of their being.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 3.2.15