Bible Strands
Genesis 30:35
That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Laban acts unilaterally to separate the marked animals from Jacob’s flock immediately after their breeding agreement. He removes the streaked, speckled, and dark-colored livestock and entrusts them to his sons while Jacob tends the remaining animals.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּסַר (va.yasar) literally means “he removed” or “he separated,” describing Laban’s deliberate act of withdrawing the marked livestock. The phrase בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא (ba.yom ha.hu’) translates to “on that very day,” emphasizing the immediate timing of the separation.
The thread — This separation sets the stage for the breeding agreement’s outcome, which is later recounted in Genesis 31:9 as divine intervention taking the livestock. The pattern of marked animals and their subsequent increase appears throughout the Jacob- Laban narrative.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Laban’s removal of the marked animals was a strategic move to cheat Jacob out of his agreed wages. It requires the reader to observe how the narrative juxtaposes human deception with the subsequent fulfillment of the breeding results.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
Cross-references
- Genesis 31:9 Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.