Genesis 30:31

31 Lavan said, "What should I give you?""Nothing," answered Ya'akov, "just do this one thing for me: once more I will pasture your flock and take care of it.

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 Ya'akov replied, "You know how faithfully I have served you and how your livestock have prospered under my care.

30 The few you had before I came have increased substantially; ADONAI has blessed you wherever I went. But now, when will I provide for my own household?"

31 Lavan said, "What should I give you?""Nothing," answered Ya'akov, "just do this one thing for me: once more I will pasture your flock and take care of it.

32 I will also go through the flock and pick out every speckled, spotted or brown sheep, and every speckled or spotted goat; these and their offspring will be my wages.

33 And I will let my integrity stand as witness against me in the future: when you come to look over the animals constituting my wages, every goat that isn't speckled or spotted and every sheep that isn't brown will count as stolen by me."