Genèse 30:27

27 Et Laban lui répondit: Puissé-je avoir trouvé grâce à tes yeux; car j'ai deviné que l'Éternel m'a béni à cause de toi.

Genèse 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.

Genèse 30:27 In-Context

25 Et lorsque Rachel eut enfanté Joseph, Jacob dit à Laban: Donne-moi mon congé, que je m'en aille en mon lieu, dans mon pays.

26 Donne-moi mes femmes et mes enfants, pour lesquels je t'ai servi, et que je m'en aille; car tu sais le service que j'ai fait pour toi.

27 Et Laban lui répondit: Puissé-je avoir trouvé grâce à tes yeux; car j'ai deviné que l'Éternel m'a béni à cause de toi.

28 Puis il dit: Fixe-moi ton salaire, et je te le donnerai.

29 Et il lui répondit: Tu sais comment je t'ai servi, et ce qu'est devenu ton bétail avec moi.