Genesis 30
Expanded Bible
30 When Rachel saw that she was not having children for Jacob, she ·envied [was jealous of] her sister Leah. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “·Can I do what only God can do [L Am I in the place of God]? He ·is the one who has kept you from having children [L has withheld the fruit of your womb].”
3 Then Rachel said, “Here is my slave girl Bilhah. ·Have sexual relations with [L Go to] her so she can ·give birth to a child for me [L bear a child on my knees]. Then I can ·have my own family [L be built up] through her.”
4 So Rachel gave Bilhah, her slave girl, to Jacob as a ·wife [or concubine], and he ·had sexual relations with [L went to] her. 5 Bilhah ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, “God has ·judged me innocent [vindicated me]. He has listened to my prayer and has given me a son,” so she named him Dan [C sounds like “he has judged” in Hebrew].
7 Bilhah ·became pregnant [conceived] again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “I have ·struggled [or wrestled] hard with my sister, and I have won.” So she named that son Naphtali [C sounds like “my struggle/wrestling” in Hebrew].
9 Leah saw that she had stopped having children, so she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a ·wife [or concubine]. 10 When Zilpah, the slave girl of Leah, ·got pregnant [conceived] and had a son, 11 Leah said, “·I am lucky [Good fortune],” so she named him Gad [C sounds like “lucky” in Hebrew]. 12 Zilpah, the slave girl of Leah, gave birth to another son, 13 and Leah said, “I am very ·happy [or blessed]! Now women will call me ·happy [or blessed],” so she named him Asher [C sounds like “happy/blessed” in Hebrew].
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the field and found some mandrake plants [C an aphrodisiac, also thought to increase fertility] and brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 Leah answered, “·You have already [L Is it a minor matter that you have] taken away my husband, and now you are trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”
But Rachel answered, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you may ·sleep [L lie] with Jacob tonight.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field ·that night [in the evening], Leah went out to meet him. She said, “You will ·have sexual relations with [L come to] me tonight because I have ·paid for [bought; hired] you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob ·slept [L lay] with her that night.
17 Then God ·answered Leah’s prayer [L heard Leah], and she ·became pregnant [L conceived] again. She gave birth to a fifth son 18 and said, “God has given me what I ·paid for [bought; hired], because I gave my slave girl to my husband.” So Leah named her son Issachar [C sounds like “paid for” in Hebrew].
19 Leah ·became pregnant [conceived] again and gave birth to a sixth son. 20 ·She [L Leah] said, “God has given me a fine ·gift [dowry]. Now surely Jacob will ·honor [exalt] me, because I have given him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun [C sounds like “honor” in Hebrew]. 21 Later Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah [ch. 34].
22 Then God remembered Rachel and ·answered her prayer [L heard her], ·making it possible for her to have children [L and opened her womb]. 23 When she ·became pregnant [conceived] and gave birth to a son, she said, “God has taken away my ·shame [reproach],” 24 and she named him Joseph [C sounds like “he adds” in Hebrew]. Rachel said, “I wish the Lord would ·give [L add to] me another son.”
Jacob Tricks Laban
25 ·After the birth of [At the time that Rachel gave birth to] Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Now ·let me [L send me away that I might] go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children and let me go. I have earned them by working for you, and you know that I have served you well.”
27 Laban said to him, “If I have ·pleased you [L found grace in your eyes], please stay. I ·know [or have learned by divination that] the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 ·Tell me what I should pay you [Name your price], and I will give it to you.”
29 Jacob answered, “You know that I have worked hard for you, and [L how] your ·flocks [herds; or cattle] have ·grown while I cared for them [L have done with me]. 30 When I came, you had little, but now you have ·much [L increased many times]. ·Every time I did something for you [Wherever I turned; L At my feet], the Lord blessed you. But when will I be able to do something for my own ·family [household; L house]?”
31 Laban asked, “Then what should I give you?”
Jacob answered, “I don’t want you to give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I will come back and ·take care of [L feed and watch] your flocks. 32 Today let me ·go [pass] through all your flocks. I will ·take [remove] every speckled or spotted sheep, every black lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. That will be my ·pay [wage; hire]. 33 In the future ·you can easily see if I am honest [L my honesty/righteousness will answer for me]. When you come to look at my flocks, if I have any goat that isn’t speckled or spotted or any lamb that isn’t black, you will know I stole it.”
34 Laban answered, “Agreed! We will do what you ·ask [L say].” 35 But that day Laban ·took away [removed] all the male goats that had streaks or spots, all the speckled and spotted female goats (all those that had white on them), and all the black sheep. He told his sons to ·watch over [take charge of] them. 36 Then he took these animals to a place that was three days’ journey away from Jacob. Jacob ·took care of [pastured] all the flocks that were left.
37 So Jacob cut ·green [fresh] ·branches [rods] from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off some of the bark so that the ·branches [rods] had white stripes on them. 38 He put the ·branches [rods] in front of the flocks at the watering ·places [troughs]. When the animals came to drink, they ·also mated there [L were in heat], 39 so the flocks mated in front of the branches [rods]. Then the young that were born were streaked, speckled, or spotted [C since nothing in Jacob’s strategy would have produced this result, God must have done it]. 40 Jacob separated the young animals from the others, and he made them face the streaked and dark animals in Laban’s flock. Jacob kept his animals separate from Laban’s. 41 When the stronger animals in the flock were ·mating [L in heat], Jacob put the ·branches [rods] before their eyes so they would mate near the branches. 42 But when the ·weaker [feebler] animals ·mated [L were in heat], Jacob did not put the ·branches [rods] there. So the animals born from the ·weaker [feebler] animals were Laban’s, and those born from the stronger animals were Jacob’s. 43 In this way ·Jacob [L the man] became very rich. He had large flocks, many male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.
1 Mosebog 30
Bibelen på hverdagsdansk
30 Da det gik op for Rakel, at hun ikke kunne få børn, blev hun jaloux på sin søster. „Giv mig børn—eller jeg dør!” klagede hun til Jakob. 2 Men så blev Jakob vred. „Er jeg måske Gud? Det er ikke min skyld, at du ikke kan få børn!”
3 Da sagde Rakel: „Gå ind til min tjenestepige Bilha, så hun kan blive gravid, og jeg kan få et barn ved hjælp af hende.” 4 Så gav hun Jakob Bilha til kone, og han lå hos hende. 5 Hun blev gravid og fødte en søn. 6 Rakel kaldte ham Dan.[a] „Gud har skaffet mig min ret,” sagde hun, „han har hørt min bøn og givet mig en søn.” 7 Rakels tjenestepige Bilha blev igen gravid og fødte endnu en søn. 8 Rakel kaldte ham Naftali.[b] „Jeg har holdt ud i kampen med min søster,” sagde hun, „og jeg har fået min belønning.”
9 I mellemtiden tænkte Lea, at hun nok ikke fik flere børn selv. Derfor gav hun Jakob sin tjenestepige Zilpa til kone, 10 og Zilpa fødte snart en søn, 11 som Lea kaldte Gad.[c] „Hvor er jeg heldig!” udbrød hun. 12 Zilpa fødte endnu en søn, 13 som Lea kaldte Asher.[d] „Hvor er jeg velsignet,” sagde hun. „De andre kvinder vil sige det samme.”
14 En dag midt i hvedehøsten, hvor Ruben var ude i marken, fandt han nogle kærlighedsfrugter,[e] og han tog dem hjem til sin mor Lea. Rakel opdagede det og tiggede Lea om at give hende nogle af dem. 15 Lea svarede fortørnet: „Først stjal du min mands hjerte—og nu vil du tage min søns kærlighedsfrugter!” „Jeg vil lade ham sove hos dig i nat som betaling for kærlighedsfrugterne,” sagde Rakel.
16 Så om aftenen, da Jakob var på vej hjem fra høstarbejdet, gik Lea ham i møde. „I nat skal du sove hos mig,” sagde hun, „for jeg har betalt for dig med nogle kærlighedsfrugter, som min søn fandt.” Den nat sov de så sammen. 17 Og Gud bønhørte Lea, så hun blev gravid igen og fødte sin femte søn. 18 Ham kaldte hun Issakar.[f] „Gud har belønnet mig, fordi jeg gav min tjenestepige til min mand,” sagde hun. 19 Senere blev hun gravid igen og fødte sin sjette søn. 20 Hun kaldte ham Zebulon.[g] „Gud har givet mig en vidunderlig gave til min mand,” sagde hun. „Nu må han da respektere mig, for jeg har givet ham seks sønner.” 21 Senere fødte hun også en datter, som hun kaldte Dina.
22 Derpå greb Gud ind i Rakels situation. Han hørte hendes bøn, og hun blev gravid. 23-24 Hun fødte en søn, som hun kaldte Josef.[h] „Gud har borttaget min skam,” sagde hun. „Må han give mig endnu en søn!”
Jakobs velstand
25 Kort tid efter at Rakel havde født Josef, sagde Jakob til Laban: „Nu vil jeg gerne rejse hjem. 26 Lad mig tage af sted med mine koner og mine børn. Du ved, at jeg har betalt for dem ved at arbejde for dig i mange år.”
27 „Åh, du må ikke forlade mig,” indvendte Laban. „Jeg har jo set, hvordan Herren har velsignet mig på grund af dig. 28 Sig mig, hvad du forlanger i løn, så vil jeg betale det.”
29 Jakob svarede: „Du ved selv, hvor trofast jeg har tjent dig gennem årene. Din husdyrflok er vokset enormt. 30 Faktisk ejede du kun lidt, inden jeg kom, men nu er du blevet en velstående mand—takket være Herrens velsignelse over alt, hvad jeg har foretaget mig. Men hvad med mig selv? Hvornår kan jeg begynde at tænke på min egen families ve og vel?”
31 „Hvad skal du have i løn?” spurgte Laban igen.
Jakob svarede: „Du skal ikke give mig noget som helst. Der er bare én ganske lille ting, du skal gøre for mig, for at jeg vil fortsætte med at have opsyn med din hjord: 32 Lad mig straks i dag gå ud og fjerne alle de brogede og plettede får og geder og alle de mørke lam fra din hjord! Dem skal du give mig som løn. 33 For at du kan vide, at jeg er en ærlig mand, kan du når som helst inspicere den flok, der skal være min løn. Hvis du finder nogle hvide får eller nogle geder, der ikke er brogede eller plettede i min hjord, ved du, at jeg har stjålet dem fra dig.”
34 „Det er en aftale!” sagde Laban, 35 men samme dag fjernede han selv alle de brogede og plettede geder (ja, alle dyr med noget hvidt) og alle de mørke lam fra hjorden. Dem overgav han til sine sønner 36 og bad dem flytte deres lejr tre dagsrejser bort fra det sted, hvor Jakob var. Og Jakob blev tilbage og passede resten af hans hjord.
37 Men Jakob tog friske grene fra poppel-, mandel- og platantræer og skrællede noget af barken af, så der kom hvide striber på grenene. 38 Så placerede han grenene ved vandtrugene, så dyrene kunne se dem, når de kom for at drikke. 39 Når dyrene parrede sig foran grenene, fik de afkom, som var stribet, plettet eller broget. 40 Jakob tog de plettede og brogede unge dyr til sin egen hjord. I parringstiden lod han sine voksne får og geder være sammen med de stribede får og geder og de mørke geder i Labans hjord. På den måde fik Jakob flere og flere får og geder, som var hans, og han tog sig af både dem og Labans får og geder. 41 Hver gang de stærke dyr parrede sig, placerede Jakob grenene foran dem, 42 men når de svage dyr gjorde det, lod han være. På den måde kom de svage lam til at tilhøre Laban, og de stærke kom til at tilhøre Jakob. 43 Resultatet blev, at Jakobs hjord både forøgedes og forædledes, og han blev en velstående mand med masser af slaver, kameler og æsler.
Footnotes
- 30,6 Et ordspil med „skaffe ret”.
- 30,8 Et ordspil med „min kamp”.
- 30,11 Et ordspil med „held”.
- 30,13 Et ordspil med „velsignet”.
- 30,14 Alrunerod. Man mente, at hvis en kvinde spiste dem, havde hun større chance for at blive gravid.
- 30,18 Et ordspil med „løn”.
- 30,20 Et ordspil med „gave”.
- 30,23-24 Et ordspil med „borttage” eller „give en mere”.
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