Genesis 31:9

9 Over and over God used your father's livestock to reward me.

Genesis 31:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 31:9

Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father
Not all of them, see ( Genesis 31:19 ) ; but a great part of them; his flock was much lessened by those means, and more were taken away, and came to Jacob's share, than if Laban had abode by the original agreement: and gave [them] to me;
who has the disposing of all things in the world, whose the world, and all in it, are, and gives of it to the sons of men as he pleases. Jacob takes no notice of any artifice of his, or of any means and methods he made use of, but wholly ascribes all to the providence of God, and points to his wives the hand of God only; and indeed it seems to be by his direction that he took the method he did, as appears from ( Genesis 31:11-13 ) .

Genesis 31:9 In-Context

7 Still, your father has cheated me over and over, changing my wages time and again. But God never let him really hurt me.
8 If he said, 'Your wages will consist of speckled animals' the whole flock would start having speckled lambs and kids. And if he said, 'From now on your wages will be streaked animals' the whole flock would have streaked ones.
9 Over and over God used your father's livestock to reward me.
10 "Once, while the flocks were mating, I had a dream and saw the billy goats, all of them streaked, speckled, and mottled, mounting their mates.
11 In the dream an angel of God called out to me, 'Jacob!' "I said, 'Yes?'
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.