May the mumbling commence!
Jacob had worked for his Uncle Laban for seven years for
the hand of Rachel. Laban deceived him
and gave him Leah instead. Now Jacob had
to work an additional seven years for Rachel.
Surely, after the birth of eight children, the seven years had
elapsed. How much longer can this slave
labor last? Read from Peterson’s The Message:
After
Rachel
had had Joseph,
Jacob spoke to
Laban, “Let me go
back home. Give me my wives and children for whom I’ve served you. You know how
hard I’ve worked for
you.”
Laban
said, “If you please,
I have learned through
divine inquiry that God has
blessed me because of you.” He went on, “So
name your wages.
I’ll pay you.”
Jacob
replied, “You know
well what my work has meant to you and how your livestock
has flourished under
my care. The
little you had when I arrived has increased greatly; everything I did resulted in blessings for you. Isn’t it about time
that I do something for my own family?”
“So
what shall I pay
you?”
Jacob
said, “You don’t
have to pay me
a thing. But how
about this? I will go back to pasture
and care for your flocks. Go through your entire
flock today and take out every speckled or
spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my
wages. If
you find any goat that’s not speckled or
spotted or a sheep that’s not black, you will
know that I stole it.”
“Fair
enough,” Laban said. “It’s a deal.”
But
that very day Laban removed all the mottled
and spotted billy
goats and all the speckled and spotted nanny goats, every animal that had even a touch of white on it plus
all the black sheep
and placed them under
the care of his sons. Then he put a
three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob went on tending what
was left of Laban’s flock. (Genesis 30:25-36)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
After Rachel gave birth to Joseph,
Jacob said to
Laban, "Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served
you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work
I've done for you."
But Laban said to
him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please
stay. I have learned
by divination that
the Lord
has blessed me because of you." He added, "Name your
wages, and I
will pay them."
Jacob said to him, "You
know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little you
had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord
has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"
"What shall I give you?"
he asked.
"Don't give me anything," Jacob
replied. "But if you will do this one thing for
me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: Let me
go through all your
flocks today and remove from them every
speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or
speckled goat. They will be my wages. And my honesty will
testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me.
Any goat in my
possession that is not speckled or spotted,
or any lamb that
is not dark-colored, will be considered
stolen."
"Agreed," said Laban. "Let
it be as you have said." That same day he removed all the
male goats that were streaked or spotted,
and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored
lambs, and he
placed them in
the care of his
sons. Then he put a three-day journey
between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend
the rest of Laban's flocks. (Genesis
30:25-36)
Wow! Talk about
two men who do not trust one another.
Jacob had reason to distrust Laban after the marriage fiasco. Laban had only the name of Jacob to go by at
that point… Jacob’s name means deceiver.
Again Laban says, “Name your wages.” Another blank check! Jacob asks for all the speckled or spotted or
dark colored of the flocks as his pay.
And he insists on going through the flocks personally – in the NIV
(something missing in Peterson’s work).
He doesn’t trust Laban.
Peterson also missed the echo that Jacob did of the
blessing from the Lord that Laban first noted.
Peterson only has Jacob saying that my work has resulted in blessings
for you. I don’t like that change!
And Laban agreed to the set upon wages. “Let’s do it,” he said. Here’s where I like the work of Peterson. He makes clear (as do other translations)
that Laban first goes through his flocks and removes Jacob’s pay before Jacob
examines them.
Jacob had to know that something
was up again. He was back to tending Laban’s
flocks with no pay. What would Jacob
do? We’ll see tomorrow.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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