Another Question for ALL Bible Readers? Or if You Ever Read It at ALL???

Question

Ok, let me break it down, according to how I understood this story in Genesis....

Jacob lived with Laban and married Laban's two daughters, Leah and Rachel. But Jacob (as any real man should) decided that he needed to build up his own household and wealth. But because Laban knew that Jacob brought blessing to HIS household, he encouraged him to stay on, even offering him whatever wages he chose.

So Jacob chooses to receive the "abnormally coloured" (speckled, spotted, striped) animals as payment. Laban agrees with that because he knows that that would mean Jacob stood the chance of earning much less than if he had asked for the usual 20% shepherds got in those days.

So Laban separates the flocks and lets Jacob tend the normally coloured ones ONLY. But then Jacob does some seemingly superstitious acts to increase the chances of his "abnormally coloured" animals’ increasing in number. And they DO increase.
But God tells him in a dream that the reason the flocks are coming out as "abnormally coloured" is because “all the he-goats springing upon the flock are striped, speckled and spotty, for I have seen all that Laґban is doing to you.” (Gen. 31:10)

ALL the animals Jacob was tending were coloured uniformly. But God said “All the he-goats…. are striped, speckled and spotty”- what does that mean???

For those who might wonder what I mean by "normal coloured", in that part of the world the sheep and goats are generally of a solid color, the sheep being white, the goats black.

As I said in my last question, please return to this question in the next 24 hours. I'd have put up the answer by then.

Thanks for your answers! :-)

Answer 1

On completing his 14-year work contract for the acquisition of his wives, Jacob was anxious to return to his homeland. But Laban, seeing how Jehovah had blessed him because of Jacob, insisted that he continue overseeing his flocks; Jacob was even told to stipulate his own wages. In that part of the world the sheep and goats are generally of a solid color, the sheep being white, the goats black. Jacob therefore asked that only the sheep and goats with abnormal colors or markings be given to him—all the sheep dark brown in color and all the goats with any white marks. “Why, that is fine!” was Laban’s reply. And to keep the wages as low as possible, Laban, at Jacob’s suggestion, separated out of the flocks all the striped, speckled, and color-patched goats and the dark-brown young male sheep, which he gave to his own sons to look after, even putting a three-day distance between them, to prevent any interbreeding of the two flocks. Only abnormally colored ones born in the future would be Jacob’s.—Ge 30:25-36.

So here Jacob started off tending only sheep of normal color and goats with no markings. However, he worked hard and did what he thought would increase the number of off-colored animals. He took green sapling staffs of the storax, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the barks of these in such a way as to give them a striped, spotty appearance. These he placed in the gutters of the animals’ drinking troughs, apparently with the idea that if the animals looked at the stripes when in heat there would be a prenatal influence that would make the offspring mottled or abnormal in color. Jacob also took care to place the sticks in the troughs only when the stronger robust animals were in heat.—Ge 30:37-42.

Results? The offspring abnormally marked or colored, and therefore Jacob’s wages, proved to be more numerous than those of normal solid color, which were to be Laban’s. Since the desired results were obtained, Jacob probably thought his stratagem with the striped sticks was responsible. In this he no doubt shared the same misconception commonly held by many people, namely, that such things can have an effect on the offspring. However, in a dream his Creator instructed him otherwise.

In his dream Jacob learned that certain principles of genetics, and not the sticks, were responsible for his success. Whereas Jacob was tending only solid-colored animals, yet the vision revealed that the male goats were striped, speckled, and spotty. How could this be? Apparently they were hybrids even though of uniform color, the result of crossbreeding in Laban’s flock before Jacob began being paid. So certain of these animals carried in their reproductive cells the hereditary factors for spotting and speckling future generations, according to the laws of heredity discovered by Gregor Mendel in the last century.—Ge 31:10-12.

During the six years that Jacob worked under this arrangement, Jehovah greatly blessed and prospered him by increasing not only his flocks but also the number of his servants, camels, and asses, and this in spite of the fact that Laban kept changing the agreed-upon wages. Finally, “the true God of Bethel” instructed Jacob to return to the Promised Land.—Ge 30:43; 31:1-13, 41.

Answer 2

Now that Laban is prepared to accept a hard bargain, Jacob names his terms. And frankly, Laban must have breathed a sigh of relief, for the request was one that was easy to accept. Normally goats in that land were black or dark brown, seldom white or spotted with white. On the other hand, the sheep were nearly always white, infrequently black or spotted.251 Jacob offered to continue working as a tender of the flocks if he were but to receive the rarer of the offspring.

Jacob would examine the flocks that day, removing all those animals which would later be marked so as to be his property. These animals would be taken three days’ distance and kept by Laban’s sons. Only those newly born spotted or striped would become Jacob’s property. At some later time the herd would be examined, and the spotted or striped animals would go to Jacob, while the rest would be Laban’s. Removing the spotted and striped which were in the flock benefited Laban in two ways. First, it left these animals to him, not Jacob. Also, it lessened the chances of other spotted or striped animals being conceived, since these would not be mating with the flock.

It was too good to be true, Laban must have thought. How could he possibly lose? However, it was an open-ended agreement, which encouraged Jacob to attempt to manipulate the outcome and also left God free to overrule the normal course of nature in order to bless Jacob. The agreement was solidified, and the flocks were divided, with Jacob tending the unspotted, unspeckled, and unstriped animals of Laban.

Answer 3

Jacob had been enticed by a man with 2 beautiful daughters. Jacob apparently was a humble individual because he gave Laban the benefit of the doubt by staying to help Laban unselfishly when he could have gone on his own. He even took what was said to be a pay cut for then. He chose animals that were spotty and unusual. I think the spottiness represents something of a tainted effect (Laban's intentions) And the fact that they reproduced better than expected was God showing that people may try and break you down but His plans is greater. Just what I gathered.

Answer 4

Let's focus on just the dream. The interpretation of the dream was stated by God Himself when He said to Jacob, "Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you." In other words, Laban was not making any kind of deal with Jacob. Laban was going to have it all when he is finished. God knew Laban's heart and intent.

In the most bare bones of terms, God is saying, "Jacob, your inheritance will not be in rams or goats, and if you think that Laban is going to give you ANYTHING, you don't know Laban like I do. Your inheritance will be one that will be incorruptible. It will not be in animals, but in a people--from the womb of your two wives Rachael and Leah. So get up, and get out of there as soon as you can!"

Answer 5

"ALL the animals Jacob was tending were coloured uniformly. But God said “All the he-goats…. are striped, speckled and spotty”- what does that mean???"

God taught genetics to Jacob, telling him to use striped, speckled and spotty he-goats to get an increased number of striped, speckled and spotty baby goats. Then, if none of the animals Jacob was tending were like the ones he dreamed, he acted like a businessman and went to another goat-owner to purchase or trade what he needed: "striped, speckled and spotty he-goats".

God shows you what have to be done, and also may help you with that, but God will not do what you have to do. Getting the right he-goats, allowing them to be with the potential mother goats, and avoiding the normal colored males to reach the potential mothers goats was under Jacob's responsibility, not God's.
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someone asked: Also makes one wonder how Jacob atoned for his sin, without perfect lambs?
Easy, when Jacob needed a lamb for a sacrifice He purchased or traded it from another sheep-owner if he did not found an appropriate one among his.

Same as me, If I want a turkey for next Sunday night, and I do not have one at my refrigerator I go to the supermarket and buy a turkey.

Answer 6

Eventhough Laban treated Jacob unfairly, God blessed Jacob thru his obedience to God

Answer 7

the use of mandrakes was kind of like a natural afrodesiac to the animals- it may appear superstitious, but its just herbs. Jacob was knowledgable about breeding and the spots being a recissive gene, he knew that he could breed these " imperfect" animals , get alot of them, and they would be just as good as the soild ones.
Laban was a jerk, and the Lord truly rewarded Jacobs desire to honor Him.

Answer 8

He was tending the normal ones, but when he leaves in the future, he gets to take all the abnormally colored ones, which is why he did magic to make them multiply. Jacob was a crafty guy!

Answer 9

They were not considered pure because they had spots and stripes.

Edit: essentially Jacob only took the blemished animals, but they turned from trash to treasure.

Answer 10

I'm no animal herder or breeder, but it seems to me like Jacob was well aware that if you want to increase the numbers in your heard, you get them to breed, and you get them to breed when the season is upon them. Perhaps you can trigger hormones with scents, which he did artificially.