Genesis 30:27

27 But Laban said to him, "If now it pleases * you, stay with me; I have divined ¹that the LORD has blessed me on your account."

Genesis 30:27 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:27

And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour
in thine eyes, tarry
One would think he could not expect to have much from him, by his treatment of him; but he craftily cajoles him in this fawning, flattering way, in order to gain a point, and begs of him, in a very humble and suppliant manner, if he had any love for him, that he would not depart from him, but stay with him, which he should take as a great favour; for he could not insist upon it, as bound in duty, or as a point of justice: for I have learned by experience;
by the observations made in the fourteen years past; that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake:
Laban had so much religion as to ascribe the blessings, the good things he had, to the Lord, as the author and giver of them; and so much honour, or however, thought it was more his interest to own it, that it was for Jacob's sake that he was thus blessed: the word translated is used sometimes of divination, and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render it, "I have used divinations"; and according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, Laban was a diviner and soothsayer; and by the teraphim he had in his house, ( Genesis 31:19 ) ; he divined, and knew thereby that he was blessed for the sake of Jacob; but, as Schmidt observes, it is not credible that the devil should give so famous a testimony to Laban of Jehovah and Jacob.

Genesis 30:27 In-Context

25 Now it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country.

26 "Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have rendered you."

27 But Laban said to him, "If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account."

28 He continued, "Name me your wages, and I will give it."

29 But he said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 26:24; Genesis 39:3, 5; Isaiah 61:9

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "I have found favor in your eyes"