Genesis 30:27

27 Toen zeide Laban tot hem: Zo ik nu genade gevonden heb in uw ogen; ik heb waargenomen, dat de HEERE mij om uwentwil gezegend heeft.

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 En het geschiedde, Als Rachel Jozef gebaard had, dat Jakob tot Laban zeide: Laat mij vertrekken, dat ik ga tot mijn plaats, en naar mijn land.

26 Geef mijn vrouwen, en mijn kinderen, om welke ik u gediend heb, dat ik vertrek; want gij weet mijn dienst, die ik u gediend heb.

27 Toen zeide Laban tot hem: Zo ik nu genade gevonden heb in uw ogen; ik heb waargenomen, dat de HEERE mij om uwentwil gezegend heeft.

28 Hij zeide dan: Noem mij uitdrukkelijk uw loon, dat ik geven zal.

29 Toen zeide hij tot hem: Gij weet, hoe ik u gediend heb, en hoe uw vee bij mij geweest is.