---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Genesis 30"
description: "CHAPTER 30   :-. DOMESTIC
JEALOUSIES. 1. Rachel envied her sister—The
maternal relation confers a high degree of honor in the East, and the
want of that s"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30"
---

![Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible](/images/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible.jpg)

 The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
 
Include 66 books
 
Denomination: calvinism
 
 GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong Of SolomonIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950 

CHAPTER 30

. DOMESTIC
JEALOUSIES.

**1. Rachel envied her sister**—The
maternal relation confers a high degree of honor in the East, and the
want of that status is felt as a stigma and deplored as a grievous
calamity.
**Give me children, or else I
die**—either be reckoned as good as dead, or pine away from
vexation. The intense anxiety of Hebrew women for children arose from
the hope of giving birth to the promised seed. Rachel's conduct was
sinful and contrasts unfavorably with that of Rebekah (compare ) and of Hannah ([1 Samuel 1:11](../../../kjv/1-samuel/1/11)).

**3-9. Bilhah . . . Zilpah**—Following
the example of Sarah with regard to Hagar, an example which is not
seldom imitated still, she adopted the children of her maid. Leah
took the same course. A bitter and intense rivalry existed between
them, all the more from their close relationship as sisters; and
although they occupied separate apartments, with their families, as
is the uniform custom where a plurality of wives obtains, and the
husband and father spends a day with each in regular succession, that
did not allay their mutual jealousies. The evil lies in the system,
which being a violation of God's original ordinance, cannot yield
happiness.

**20. And Leah said, God hath endued
me with a good dowry**—The birth of a son is hailed with
demonstrations of joy, and the possession of several sons confers
upon the mother an honor and respectability proportioned to their
number. The husband attaches a similar importance to the possession,
and it forms a bond of union which renders it impossible for him ever
to forsake or to be cold to a wife who has borne him sons. This
explains the happy anticipations Leah founded on the possession of
her six sons.

**21. afterwards, she bare a
daughter**—The inferior value set on a daughter is displayed in
the bare announcement of the birth.
. JACOB'S
COVENANT WITH LABAN.

**25. when Rachel had born
Joseph**—Shortly after the birth of this son, Jacob's term of
servitude expired, and feeling anxious to establish an independence
for his family, he probably, from knowing that Esau was out of the
way, announced his intention of returning to Canaan (). In this resolution the faith of Jacob was remarkable, for
as yet he had nothing to rely on but the promise of God (compare ).

**27. Laban said . . . I have
learned**—His selfish uncle was averse to a separation, not from
warmth of affection either for Jacob or his daughters, but from the
damage his own interests would sustain. He had found, from long
observation, that the blessing of heaven rested on Jacob, and that
his stock had wonderfully increased under Jacob's management. This
was a remarkable testimony that good men are blessings to the places
where they reside. Men of the world are often blessed with temporal
benefits on account of their pious relatives, though they have not
always, like Laban, the wisdom to discern, or the grace to
acknowledge it.

**28. 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.

**31. Jacob said, Thou shalt not give
me any thing**—A new agreement was made, the substance of which
was, that he was to receive remuneration in the usual way, but on
certain conditions which Jacob specified.

**32. I will pass through all thy
flock to-day**—Eastern sheep being generally white, the goats
black, and spotted or speckled ones comparatively few and rare, Jacob
proposed to remove all existing ones of that description from the
flock, and to be content with what might appear at the next lambing
time. The proposal *seemed* so much in favor of Laban, that he
at once agreed to it. But Jacob has been accused of taking advantage
of his uncle, and though it is difficult to exculpate him from
practising some degree of dissimulation, he was only availing himself
of the results of his great skill and experience in the breeding of
cattle. But it is evident from the next chapter () that there was something miraculous and that the means
he had employed had been suggested by a divine intimation.

**37. 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 styles are of a bright red color, when peeled and along
with them he took wands of other shrubs, which, when stripped of the
bark, had white streaks. These, kept constantly before the eyes of
the female at the time of gestation, his observation had taught him
would have an influence, through the imagination, on the future
offspring.

**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.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/?s={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Genesis 30"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Genesis 30","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"CHAPTER 30   :-. DOMESTIC\nJEALOUSIES. 1. Rachel envied her sister—The\nmaternal relation confers a high degree of honor in the East, and the\nwant of that s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis","name":"Genesis"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/genesis/30","name":"30"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```