Bible Strands
Genesis 31:41
Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob addresses Laban during their parting confrontation, listing the duration and terms of his labor. The moment occurs as Jacob prepares to leave Laban's household after two decades of service.
The words — עֶשְׂרִ֣ים ('esrim) means "twenty," and עֲבַדְתִּ֜י ('avadti) translates literally as "I worked" or "I served." These terms anchor Jacob's factual claim of prolonged, unbroken labor.
The thread — The grievance over altered wages appears again in Genesis 31:7, while the initial seven-year commitment for Rachel is recorded in Genesis 29:18. The accounting of his service also parallels the wage-testing dialogue in Genesis 30:33.
Why it lands — The text demands a precise reckoning of Jacob's years and the specific breakdown of his labor. It requires the reader to place the record of exploitation alongside the divine protection and judgment detailed in Genesis 31:42.
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
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Cross-references
- Genesis 31:7 And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
- Genesis 29:18 Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
- Genesis 30:33 So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”
- Genesis 31:38 I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
- 2 Corinthians 11:26 In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,