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Genesis 30:39

in Genesis 30

they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted.

KJV

And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

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This verse in Genesis 30

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

fresh branches of poplar

on Genesis 30:37-39

Jacob peels white stripes into branches and sets them in the watering troughs where the flocks breed. At 31:10 to 12 Jacob credits an angel and a dream. Ambrose and Cyril of Alexandria read the peeled branches at the troughs as a figure of the Scriptures the flock drinks from.

This site's exposition

they mated in front of the branches

Streaked, speckled and spotted are the marks named in the bargain at verses 32 and 35, so each such lamb or kid becomes Jacob's. Adam Clarke notes that the flock Jacob kept had no marked animals when the bargain was made. Every marked one was born after it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the flocks conceived before the rods,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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?

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֶּחֱמ֥וּand they mated

    vaiyechemuH3179 →6 times

  • הַצֹּ֖אןthe flock

    hatzonH6629 →274 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמַּקְל֑וֹתthe branches

    hamaklotH4731 →18 times

  • וַתֵּלַ֣דְןָand they bore

    vateladnaH3205 →496 times

  • הַצֹּ֔אןthe flock

    hatzonH6629 →274 times

  • עֲקֻדִּ֥יםstriped [ones]

    ʾakudimH6124 →7 times

  • נְקֻדִּ֖יםspeckled [ones]

    nekudimH5348 →9 times

  • וּטְלֻאִֽים׃and spotted [ones]

    uteluimH2921 →8 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 31:38I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.3 worksGenesis 31:9–12Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.3 worksGenesis 31:40As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.3 worksGenesis 31:42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”3 worksExodus 12:35–36Furthermore, the Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, and for clothing.3 worksGenesis 31:10When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 31:42

    If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 31:7

      I will be glad and rejoice in Your loving devotion, for You have seen my affliction; You have known the anguish of my soul.

    • Isaiah 8:13

      The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded.

    • Genesis 31:29

      I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

    • Genesis 31:53

      May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

    • Genesis 31:24

      But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

  • Through

    Genesis 31:40

    As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 13:7

      Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

    • 1 Peter 5:2–4

      Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

    • Exodus 2:19–22

      “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 30 →

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; 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.

Read on in Genesis 30 →