Genesis 30:31

31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock:

Genesis 30:31 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:31

And he said, what shall I give thee?
&c.] So said Laban to Jacob, still avoiding making any offer himself, but waiting for Jacob, and pressing upon him to fix his wages: and Jacob said, thou shalt not give me anything;
a speech Laban liked very well: his meaning is, that he should give him no certain settled salary, nor even of anything that Laban was now possessed of, and God had blessed him with for his sake he did not desire any part of it; but if thou wilt do this thing for me;
which he was about to mention, and does in ( Genesis 30:32 ) ; I will again feed [and] keep thy flock;
there is an elegance in the original; "I will return, I will feed, I will keep thy flock": it seems by this that Jacob had relinquished the care of the flock, upon the time of his servitude being out; but, upon the following condition, proposes to return to it, lead it out to the pastures, and feed it on them, and keep it night and day, as he had used to do.

Genesis 30:31 In-Context

29 And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle were with me.

30 For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came], and it is [now] increased to a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for my own house also?

31 And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed [and] keep thy flock:

32 I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and [of such] shall be my hire.

33 So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that [is] not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be accounted stolen with me.