Genesis 30:40

After that he separated those young ones. He kept them for himself, he did not put them with Laban's animals. He put the oldish [= mature, matable] animals facing towards Laban's animals. [Laban's animals: The plain ones in Jacob's care, not the non-plain ones that Laban's sons had taken far away. 'Facing' here is taken to be a euphemism for 'mating them with'.]

Nyangumarta (portions)

In The King James Version

And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.

In Context

39When they mated they looked at those sticks. Then the sheep gave birth to black young, the goats gave birth to spotted and striped young.

41Whenever the strong animals were mating Jacob put the sticks in front of them.

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Matthew Henry on Genesis 30:38-43

Jacob's Ingenious Policy. ( b. c. 1745.) 37 And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 38 And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob did separate… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Genesis 30:40