Genesis 30:40

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Jacob	יַעֲקֹב֒ ya.'a.Ko	H3290	Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
separate	הִפְרִ֣יד hif.Rid	H6504	to break through · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
lambs	וְהַכְּשָׂבִים֮ ve.ha.ke.sa.Vim	H3775	a young sheep · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
set	וַ֠יִּתֵּן Vai.yi.ten	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
faces	פְּנֵ֨י pe.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct
flocks	הַצֹּ֧אן ha.Tzon	H6629	a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
toward	אֶל 'el-	H413	near · preposition
ringstraked	עָקֹ֛ד 'a.Kod	H6124	striped (with bands) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
brown	ח֖וּם chum	H2345	sunburnt or swarthy (blackish) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
flock	בְּצֹ֣אן be.Tzon	H6629	a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
Laban	לָבָ֑ן la.Van	H3837	Laban · proper noun, a man's name
put	וַיָּֽשֶׁת vai.ya.shet-	H7896	to place (in a very wide application) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
flocks	עֲדָרִים֙ 'a.da.Rim	H5739	an arrangement · noun, common masculine plural absolute
put	שָׁתָ֖ם sha.Tam	H7896	to place (in a very wide application) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Laban’s	לָבָֽן la.Van	H3837	Laban · proper noun, a man's name
cattle	צֹ֥אן tzon	H6629	a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · noun, common both genders singular construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:37–end

Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be. If he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been a bad bargain indeed, which he knew Laban would never consider, or rather would be well pleased to see him a loser by, so little did Laban consult any one's interest but his own. Now Jacob's contrivances were, 1. To set peeled sticks before the cattle where they were watered, that, looking much at those unusual party-coloured sticks, by the power of imagination they might bring forth young ones in like manner party-coloured, Gen 30:37-39. Probably this custom was commonly used by the shepherds of Canaan, who coveted to ha…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 30:38

watering troughs--usually a long stone block hollowed out, from which several sheep could drink at once, but sometimes so small as to admit of only one drinking at a time. Next: Genesis Chapter 31

Adam Clarke on Genesis 30:40

Jacob did separate the lambs, etc. - When Jacob undertook the care of Laban's flock, according to the agreement already mentioned, there were no party-colored sheep or goats among them, therefore the ring-streaked, etc., mentioned in this verse, must have been born since the agreement was made; and Jacob makes use of them precisely as he used the pilled rods, that, having these before their eyes during conception, the impression might be made upon their imagination which would lead to the results already mentioned.

John Gill on Genesis 30:40

And Jacob did separate the lambs,.... The ringstraked, speckled, and spotted: and set the faces of the flocks, that were all white: towards the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; either to go before those that were all white, that they by looking at them might conceive and bring forth such, which was another artifice of Jacob's to increase his own sheep; or else he set at the water troughs the white sheep on one side of them, and on the opposite side the speckled ones, &c. that the same effect might also be produced the more successfully both by the rods and by the speckled lambs: and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle; partly that…

The Church Fathers

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.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 57.7

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."
— Cyril of Alexandria, GLAPHYRA ON GENESIS, 5.4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Concubine — In the Bible denotes a female conjugally united to a man, but in a relation inferior to that of a wife. Among the early Jews, from various causes, the difference between a wife and a concubine was…
Contracts · Violated — Violated
Craftiness · .In management of Laban’s flocks and herds — .In management of Laban’s flocks and herds
Dishonesty · .Jacob gains from Laban’s flocks by skillful manipulation — .Jacob gains from Laban’s flocks by skillful manipulation
Jacob · Sharp practice of, with the flocks and herds of Laban — Sharp practice of, with the flocks and herds of Laban
Laban · Jacob becomes his servant — Jacob becomes his servant
Sheep · .Jacob’ s management of — .Jacob’ s management of
Son-In-Law · Unjust, Jacob — Unjust, Jacob
Worldliness · .Jacob — .Jacob

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 30:40

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:37–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 30:38

Adam Clarke on Genesis 30:40

John Gill on Genesis 30:40

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 30:40

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:37–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 30:38

Adam Clarke on Genesis 30:40

John Gill on Genesis 30:40

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 30:37-42

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 30:34-40

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 30:37-43

Rashi on Genesis 30:40