Genesis 30:37
in Genesis 30Jacob, however, took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark, exposing the white inner wood of the branches.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane-tree; and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 30
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe 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.
This site's exposition
fresh branches of poplar
on Genesis 30:37-39
Jacob peels white stripes into fresh branches and sets them in the watering troughs where the flocks breed, and at 31:10 to 12 he credits an angel and a dream for the marked young. Genesis describes the method and names no cause. Ambrose and Cyril of Alexandria read the peeled branches at the troughs as a figure of the Scriptures the flock drinks from.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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 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.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Here is Jacob's policy to make his bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be: and if he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been an ill bargain indeed; which he knew Laban would never have considered, who did not consult any one's interest but his own.
And Jacob took him rods of green poplar,....
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?
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Rods of green poplar - לבנה לח libneh lach. The libneh is generally understood to mean the white poplar; and the word lach, which is here joined to it, does not so much imply greenness of color as being fresh, in opposition to witheredness. Had they not been fresh - just cut off, he could not have pilled the bark from them. And of the hazel - לוז luz, the nut or filbert tree, translated by others the almond tree; which of the two is here intended is not known.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Jacob took rods, &c.--There are many varieties of the hazel, some of which are more erect than the common hazel, and it was probably one of these varieties Jacob employed.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ | vaiyikach- | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| ל֣וֹ | lo | for <the> himself | ||
| יַעֲקֹ֗ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| מַקַּ֥ל | makal | branch[es] of | H4731 → | 18 times |
| לִבְנֶ֛ה | livneh | poplar | H3839 → | |
| לַ֖ח | lach | freshly cut | H3892 → | |
| וְל֣וּז | veluz | and almond | H3869 → | |
| וְעֶרְמ֑וֹן | veermon | and plane tree | H6196 → | |
| וַיְפַצֵּ֤ל | vayfatzel | and he stripped | H6478 → | |
| בָּהֵן֙ | bahen | on <the> them | ||
| פְּצָל֣וֹת | petzalot | strips | H6479 → | |
| לְבָנ֔וֹת | levanot | white | H3836 → | 29 times |
| מַחְשֹׂף֙ | machsof | [the] peeling of | H4286 → | |
| הַלָּבָ֔ן | halavan | the white [wood] | H3836 → | 29 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [was] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמַּקְלֽוֹת׃ | hamaklot | the branches | H4731 → | 18 times |
וַיִּֽקַּֽח־and he took
vaiyikach-H3947 →966 times
ל֣וֹfor <the> himself
lo
יַעֲקֹ֗בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
מַקַּ֥לbranch[es] of
makalH4731 →18 times
לִבְנֶ֛הpoplar
livnehH3839 →
לַ֖חfreshly cut
lachH3892 →
וְל֣וּזand almond
veluzH3869 →
וְעֶרְמ֑וֹןand plane tree
veermonH6196 →
וַיְפַצֵּ֤לand he stripped
vayfatzelH6478 →
בָּהֵן֙on <the> them
bahen
פְּצָל֣וֹתstrips
petzalotH6479 →
לְבָנ֔וֹתwhite
levanotH3836 →29 times
מַחְשֹׂף֙[the] peeling of
machsofH4286 →
הַלָּבָ֔ןthe white [wood]
halavanH3836 →29 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עַל־[was] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמַּקְלֽוֹת׃the branches
hamaklotH4731 →18 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 31:8The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:13
You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in…
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Psalms 80:10
The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches.
- Genesis 13:10
And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…
- Ezekiel 31:16
I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and…
- Ezekiel 28:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Jacob and the Blessed Life; Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on Genesis; Cyril of Alexandria, GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 5.3-4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Paulinus of Nola, POEM 27.273.