Genesis 30:37

37 Jacob got green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.

Genesis 30:37 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:37

And Jacob took him rods of green poplar
Of the white poplar tree, called green, not from the colour, but from the moisture, being such as were cut off of the tree: and of the hazel and chestnut tree;
the former some take to be the almond tree, as Saadiah Gaon, and others; and the latter to be the plantain or plane tree, so Ainsworth, and others: and pilled white strakes in them;
took off the bark of them in some places, and left it on in others, which made white strakes: and made the white appear which [was] in the rods;
that part of the rods which was stripped of the bark appeared white; and it appeared the whiter for the bark that was left on in other parts; and both made the rods to appear to have various colours, which was the design of Jacob in pilling them.

Genesis 30:37 In-Context

35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that had stripes or spots and all the females that were speckled and spotted or which had white on them; he also removed all the black sheep. He put his sons in charge of them,

36 and then went away from Jacob with this flock as far as he could travel in three days. Jacob took care of the rest of Laban's flocks.

37 Jacob got green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.

38 He placed these branches in front of the flocks at their drinking troughs. He put them there, because the animals mated when they came to drink.

39 So when the goats bred in front of the branches, they produced young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.