garten, Kurtz, Rosenmiillcr, Kalisch, Camllish, (from I~?, to be white, meaning either tiw) Murphy, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Clarke, Bush). poplar (LXX., in Hosea iv. 13; Yulgate, Ver. 33.---So shall my righteousness (liter- Kalisch) or tlie stwa:c (LXX. in loco, Keil ; ally, and rny righteousness) answer for me cf. Michaelis, 'Suppl. ,' p. 1404) fresh, or (or bear testimony in my behalf) in time to gi·een-and or the haze1-n,, the hazel come, - literally, in the day, to-morrow.; tree (Raschi, Kimchi, Arabic, Luther, Furst, meaning in the future (Gesenius) rather Kalisch) or the almond tree (Vulgate, Sand.fas, than the day following (Delitzsch)-when it Calvin, Gesenius, 'Speaker's Commentary') shall come for my hire before thy faoe. -and cheenut tree ;-l10i..lt, the plane tree Either, (1) for it (my righteousness) shall (LXX., Vulgate, et alii),' so called from come, concerning my wages, before thy face, its height- and pilled white strakes in sc. for consideration (Calvin); or, (2) when them (literally, peeled qff in them peeled thou shalt come to my reward, connecting places white), and made the white appear "before thy face" with the previous clause (literally, makintJ naked the white) which (Chnldee, Rosenmilllor, Ainsworth, Lange); WAS in the rods. or, (3) when thou she.It come to my Wl¥(es Ver. 38.-And he set the rods which he before thee (Murphy), or to inspect it (Ka- he.d pilled before the :flocks in the gutters lisch). Every one that is not-speckled and (Cl't;)l:n; literally, the canals or channels spotted among the goats, and brown among through, wkich, the water ran, from n root the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with signifying to run) in the watering troughs m~-ond therefore to be delivered up to thee. Ver. 34.-And Laban said, Behold, I would (l"\\n~I;?, i. e. the troughs which contained it might be aocording to thy word. Jncob's the water, to which the nnimals nppfonched) chances of obtaining speckled onimnls by this when the :flocks came to drink, that they nrrnngement were so smnll that Laban, ·with should conceive (literally, and tliey became his customary selfishness, hnd no difficulty wwrm, in the senso expressed in tho A. V.) in closing with the offered bargain. As when they came to drink-this was Jncob's originally proposed by J arob it seems to first artifice to overreach Laban. have been nn honest desire on his pnrt to Ver. 39. -And the flocks conceived (ut commit the question of wages to the decision supra) before the rods, e.nd brought forth rather of God's providence, thau of his kins- cattle rinrptraked, speckled, and spotted. man's greed. That o.t this time Jacob's The fact 1s said to have been frequently mind "had alre11dy formed the whole fraudu- observed thnt, pnrticulrirly in the mse of lent procedure by which he acquired his sheep, whntever fixes their attention in wealth" (Knlisch) does not nccord ,vith the copulation is marked upon tho young. '!'hat statement subsequently made. J ucob believed in the efficncy of tho nrtilice Vor. 35.-And he-Laban (Rosenmiiller, ho ndopted is nppnrent; but tho multiplica- Keil, Delitzsch, Kalisch, Murphy, et alii) ; tion of parti-colourcd nnimals it will be Jacob (Le.nge)-removed that day (thnt the snfer to nscribo to Divine blessing thnn to smnllcst possible chance of success might human craft. rernnin to his nephew) the he-goats that Ver. 40. -And Jacob did separate the u n 2 3i2 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. (err. XXX. 25--43.
lambs (1·. e. the speckled lambs procured by Ver. 42.-Butwh'l.li the cattle were feeble, the foregoing e.rtilioo he removed from the -literally, in the covering (sc, with wool ; main body of the flock), and set the faces of h~nce WOl\lceniug) of (Ae .flock, which took the flocks toward the ringatraked, and all place in autumn-he put them not in (po.rtly the brown in the flock of Laban (this was to prevent the introduction of foeblo animals J acob's second artifice, to make the speckled amon~t his parti-coloured flocks, but partly lambs serve the same purpose ns the pilled also, 1t fa thought, to avoid prema.turely rods) ; and he put his own :flocks by them- exciting Laban's suspicion): so the feebler selves, and put them not unto Laban's were Laban's, and the stronger J'acob's. cattle-so that they were not exposed to the Ver. 43.-And-as the apparent result of risk of producing offspring of uniform colour. the triple stratagem, though vide supra, Ver. 41.-And it came to pass, whenso- ver. 38, and cf. eh, xxxi. 12-the man in- ever the stronger cattle did conceive, - creased exceedi.ngly,-literally, broke forth, literally, in every heating of the caftw, the greatly (vide ver. 30)-and h&d much c&ttle, bound ones, i. c. the firm, compact sheep, and maid-servants, and men-servants, and "the spring flock" (Luther), which, being camels, and asses-like Abraham (eh. xiii. 2) conceived in spring and dropped in autumn, and Isaac (eh. xxvi 13, 14). Thus far the are supposed to be stronger than those con- historian simply narrates the fact of the ceived in autumn and dropped in spring ; patriarch's prosperity, and the steps which but this is douhtful-that Jacob laid the rods led to it, "without expressing approb&tion before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, of his conduct or describing his increasing that they might conceive among the rods. wealth as a blessing from God. The verdict J acob's third artifice aimed at securing for is contained in what follows" (Keil). himself a vigorous breed of sheep.