Genesis 30:37 Commentary and Bible Study

So Jacob gets to work, implementing the plan shown him by the Lord. There is no natural explanation for what happened, nor should we look for one. When he tells his wives what he has done, he does not lay claim to any special knowledge of his breeding methods; he simply ascribes everything to the Lord. How God worked we are not told, but we can say that it was a supernatural intervention, and yet Jacob also had to do something himself. He was told through a dream to place the striped rods in front of the animals when they came to drink, because that was the time when they normally bred together. This means was completely inadequate to achieve the desired result, but there was an obvious connection between the appearance of the rods and the offspring that came from the breeding animals. What Jacob did, was extremely effective and produced a flock which was totally different to the norm, so that Laban was completely wrong footed. Furthermore, Jacob did not apply his method to all the animals, but only to the best of them, so that the weaker ones belonged to Laban, and the stronger to himself. As a result he grew wealthy and was able to purchase camels and asses as well, and to hire a large number of servants. The marked animals that were his became far more numerous, and Laban could say nothing against it. Jacob is able to leave well-provided for with his wives and children.