45 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Leah conceived again,.... For bearing children Jacob took more to her, and more frequently attended her apartment and bed: and bare Jacob a sixth son; the sixth by her, but the tenth by her and his two maids.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Leah said, God hath endued me [with] a good dowry,.... Having so many children; for though her husband could give her nothing at marriage, and her father gave her no more than one handmaid, yet God had abundantly made it up to her, in giving her so many sons: these are the heritage of the Lord, Psalms 127:3; now will my husband dwell with me;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And afterwards she bare a daughter,.... Which some writers, as Aben Ezra observes, say, was at the same birth with Zebulun, a twin with him; but being said to be afterwards shows the contrary: and called her name Dinah; which signifies "judgment": perhaps she may have some reference to the first son of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, whom she called...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And God remembered Rachel,.... In a way of mercy and kindness, whom he seemed to have forgotten, by not giving her children: and God hearkened to her; to her prayer, which had been made time after time, that she might have children; but hitherto God had delayed to answer, but now gives one: and opened her womb; gave her conception, and made her...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived and bare a son,.... Through the goodness of God unto her, and for which she was greatly thankful; and said, God hath taken away my reproach; the reproach of barrenness with which she was reproached among her neighbours; and perhaps by her sister Leah, and indeed it was a general reproach in those times; and especially, it was the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she called his name Joseph,.... Which signifies "adding", or rather, "to be added"; or, "God shall add", giving this reason for it; and said, the Lord shall add to me another son: which is expressive of strong faith; that as she had begun to bear children, she should bear another, as she did; though some read the words as a wish or prayer,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph,.... At which time his fourteen years of servitude were ended; for Jacob was in Laban's house twenty years, fourteen were spent in serving for his wives, and the other six for his cattle, which begun from this time, as the context clearly shows; see Genesis 31:41; so that, as the Jewish writers (l)...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Give [me] my wives,.... His two wives, Leah and Rachel, and the two maids, Bilhah and Zilpah, which he had given him for wives also; he desires leave not to have them, but to take them away with him: and my children; his twelve children; he did not desire his father-in- law to take any of them, and keep them for him, but was desirous of having...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry,.... One would think he could not expect to have much from him, by his treatment of him; but he craftily cajoles him in this fawning, flattering way, in order to gain a point, and begs of him, in a very humble and suppliant manner, if he had any love for him, that he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto him,.... Jacob to Laban, thou knowest that I have served thee; not only diligently and faithfully, without any salary, excepting for his wives; otherwise he had no wages for his service all this time, which therefore should be considered for the future: and how thy cattle was with me: always under his care, and he ever watchful of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came],.... Perhaps but a single flock, and that not a very large one, since Rachel, his youngest daughter, had the care of it: and it is [now] increased unto a multitude; or "broke forth" (m), spread itself over the fields and plains, hills and mountains adjacent, so that they were covered with his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, what shall I give thee?.... So said Laban to Jacob, still avoiding making any offer himself, but waiting for Jacob, and pressing upon him to fix his wages: and Jacob said, thou shalt not give me anything; a speech Laban liked very well: his meaning is, that he should give him no certain settled salary, nor even of anything that Laban...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will pass through all thy flock today,.... Not alone, but Laban and his sons with him; removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle; that is, such as were black and had white spots on them, or were white and had black spots on them; and the "speckled", according to Jarchi and Ben Melech, were such as had small spots on them; and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come,.... Either by the success I shall have, and the blessing of God upon me, making it prosperous; it will appear in time to come, and to all posterity, that I have most righteously and faithfully served thee: or rather, such a separation being made in Laban's flock, all the spotted ones being...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban said,.... Being well pleased with the proposal Jacob made, as knowing that, generally speaking, cattle of a colour produced those that were of the same; and whereas Jacob proposed to have a flock of sheep of only white in colour, committed to his care, and to have such for his own that should be produced of them, that were speckled,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted,.... That had strakes of a different colour from the rest on their shoulders, thighs, logs, or feet, or in any part of the body: the word here used stands in the room of that before translated "speckled"; this Laban did, as the context shows; he went about it immediately at the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob,.... Not three days' journey for a man, but for cattle; this distance there was between the place where Laban and his sons kept the spotted, speckled, and brown cattle, and that in which Jacob kept the flock only consisting of white sheep; and this was done, that the flocks might not be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jacob took him rods of green poplar,.... Of the white poplar tree, called green, not from the colour, but from the moisture, being such as were cut off of the tree: and of the hazel and chestnut tree; the former some take to be the almond tree, as Saadiah Gaon, and others; and the latter to be the plantain or plane tree, so Ainsworth, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks,.... Opposite them, in the view of them: in the gutters in the watering troughs, when the flocks came to drink; that is, in places of water, where troughs or vessels were made, into which the water ran convenient for the cattle to drink out of; and here he placed his party coloured rods...