Genesis 30:31-36

2009.Jan.23 17:00

What Jacob Wants

Read Genesis 30:31-36 | Full Chapter

[Laban] said, What shall I give you? And Jacob said, You shall not give me anything, if you will do this one thing for me [of which I am about to tell you], and I will again feed and take care of your flock. Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted animal and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. So later when the matter of my wages is brought before you, my fair dealing will be evident and answer for me. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the sheep, if found with me, shall be counted as stolen. And Laban said, Good; let it be done as you say. But that same day [Laban] removed the he-goats that were streaked and spotted and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every black lamb, and put them in charge of his sons. And he set [a distance of] three days' journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob was then left in care of the rest of Laban's flock.
(Genesis 30:31-36, AMP)

Jacob’s request is in some ways an acknowledgement that both he and Laban play the game of deceit. The idea is that as long as Jacob is caring for Laban’s flocks, if Jacob has any animals of his own, it would be easy for either party to make conflicting claims. Since Jacob is asking for a portion of Laban’s flock in payment for his continued service, this issue must be addressed. Jacob’s proposal is that they be divided by color.

How much does Jacob understand about heredity? And how much does Laban? Those could be particularly relevant questions if one were trying to decide who is practicing the most deceit. Fortunately, I consider that a moot point, instead caring more about this issue of mutual faithlessness. In either case, the idea is probably that sheep and goats with a particular type of goat will tend to have offspring of the same; in addition, coloration is something easy to distinguish. Laban agrees to the wages and to the policy of determining which animal belongs to which owner.

That is, he agrees in theory. Laban, in order to minimize his loss, sends the speckled and spotted and so forth and has his sons take care of them. That is, he removes them from the flock under Jacob’s care so that Jacob cannot take them as his wages. Jerk. But then, it is probably Jacob anticipates his uncle’s action; he’d be rather a fool not to expect something of the kind.

So, where are we? There’s a lot of ugly crap between Jacob and Laban. Neither is innocent, although in their relationship, Laban seems to be the more willing to take advantage of his relative. The tables will, of course, turn, for better or worse. For the whole family, it’s for worse. Laban will ultimately be hurt by his deceptive acts, just a Jacob will feel the pain of the lies practiced by his sons. In fact, from the birth of Jacob through his arrival in Egypt, there’s a ton of lying going on. And the running thread through all those lies is that someone always gets hurt. Not a surprise, mind you, but worth the notice.

And, of course, a lot of it has to do with money. Although some is plain old jealousy.

Genesis 13:1-9

2007.Jan.27 17:29

We Are Brothers

Read Genenesis 13:1-9 | Full Chapter

There was fighting between those who cared for Abram’s animals and those who cared for Lot’s animals. The Canaanite and the Perizzite were living in the land at that time. So Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no fighting between you and me or between the men who take care of our animals, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land in front of you? Let each of us go a different way. If you go to the left, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
(Genesis 13:7-9, NLV)

Heh. Thought I’d quote a version outside my regulars, and one with which I’m not familiar: the New Life Version. Choice quote from website: “This unique translation is gender-correct” (http://www.newlifebible.org). And no, I don’t know what that means.

As another note, I’ve gotten away from quoting Biblical verses outside of the passage in question (this will be no exception); that’s partly due to the story nature of what’s going on and partly due to laziness. I do want to encourage people who read this to keep digging deeper throughout the Bible as you study. It’s amazing how one passage can clarify another (if often in unexpected ways).

And, one more note, on the names of God. I’ve been using Jehovah a lot both to distinguish “God” from “some god” and because it feels more personal to me. I occassionally, as in this article, switch over to Yahweh, which to my understanding comes from the same Hebrew, but a different transliteration. Which I use is mostly based on my mood, so whether I write “God”, “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”, I am meaning the same being.

Anyway, Abram, Sarai, and the rest of their group leave Egypt after the Pharoah tells Abram that his deception was not appreciated. And back they all go to the vicinity of Bethel. Aside from a note that Abram "called on the name of the Lord" (Genesis 13:4) , this passage is focused on money. That is, Abram has a lot of it. Lot, also, has a lot (hyuck). More specifically, they have large sheep and cattle holdings. Jehovah is fulfilling his promise to bless Abram, but, as with many blessings, this blessing introduces a potential problem. And this one goes beyond potential: the people who care for the animals of Lot and Abram begin fighting.

Abram, having previously revealed that he is, in fact, a stupid human, now reveals the wisdom which God is building in him. Instead of fighting it out or hoping the problem will just go away–instead of, that is, giving into fight or flight (and I will argue flight is what Abram did in the sister-Sarai episode)–Abram addresses the problem: there is not enough land for both Abram’s and Lot’s animals. Neither does he hope his nephew will come to same conclusion. As head of his family (if I understand ancient Hebrew customs), it is his responsibility to address this problem before it creates a division within his family.

His solution is nicely elegant. They’ll split up. I don’t mean to say that dividing up is always the answer to problems. In fact, it often exacerbates discension (see: church splits). Rather, in this case, it is a useful solution. After all, this is more of a business split for the sake of family unity, as opposed to a family split for the sake of building aesthetics, e.g.. What I do take from this is the importance of addressing issues before they become terminally divisive. Had Abram said “Time will heal”, Lot might have never had the chance to prove just what an idiot he could be…wait, that didn’t come out right. I’ll look at Lot a bit more next week and thereafter–he has issues all his own. But a war between Abram and Lot–well, think about if you ended up fighting one of your family members because you chose to ignore a minor disagreement until it escalated? If Abram had entered into that, how could he have ever focused on Yahweh enough to develop the faith he showed later in life?

I’ve seen friends pulled apart within a church congregation and the church leadership say “Time will heal”. Those leaders failed, and I have watched people go through a lot of pain. I hope that I will have throughout my life the faith in Yahweh to be able to say this needs to be dealt with now. Lot might have become angry with Abram for the suggestion. But Abram had to make it anyway, for the sake of his family and both his servants and Lot’s.