Genesis 30:28
in Genesis 30And he added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
KJV
And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.
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This verse in Genesis 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I have learned by divination
on Genesis 30:27-28
Laban's word is the root behind divination, which Clarke marks and which fits a man who hunts his house for missing gods. He admits the LORD has blessed him because of Jacob, as Abimelech told Isaac at 26:28. The blessing through Abraham's seed is landing on a household in Haran.
This site's exposition
Name your wages
Laban opened the first bargain the same way at 29:15, and it cost Jacob fourteen years. At 31:7 Jacob says Laban changed his wages ten times. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown credit Laban with the sense to see that he was blessed for Jacob's sake and to say so.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Appoint me thy wages, 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, 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,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And he said, appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. Say what thou wilt have, fix what salary thou thinkest sufficient, and I will agree to it, and punctually pay it: this he craftily said, not choosing to propose anything himself, but leaving it to Jacob, knowing very well the honesty and modesty of Jacob, that he would mention less wages than he could have the face to offer him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
appoint me thy wages, and I will give it--The Eastern shepherds receive for their hire not money, but a certain amount of the increase or produce of the flock; but Laban would at the time have done anything to secure the continued services of his nephew, and make a show of liberality, which Jacob well knew was constrained.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָקְבָ֧ה | nakevah | designate ! | H5344 → | |
| שְׂכָרְךָ֛ | sekharekha | wage[s] your | H7939 → | 28 times |
| עָלַ֖י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְאֶתֵּֽנָה׃ | veetenah | so let me give [it] | H5414 → | 2011 times |
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
נָקְבָ֧הdesignate !
nakevahH5344 →
שְׂכָרְךָ֛wage[s] your
sekharekhaH7939 →28 times
עָלַ֖יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
וְאֶתֵּֽנָה׃so let me give [it]
veetenahH5414 →2011 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 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
Genesis 29:19Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to another. Stay here with me.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:11
Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Isaiah 6:5
Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD…
- Psalms 12:2
They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Isaiah 6:11
Through
Genesis 29:15Laban said to him, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
it leads to
- Genesis 31:7
And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
- Genesis 31:7
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.