Genesis Chapter 30 Bible Study

Rachel had not borne any children and became jealous of her sister. She complained to Jacob to give her children, but Jacob became angry and told her that God is the one who keeps her from having children. Rebecca sent Bilhah, her slave, to sleep with him so that she can be a mother through her. Bilhah bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali. When Leah stopped bearing children, she gave Jacob her slave, Zilpah, to be his wife. Zilpah had two sons to Jacob whose names were Gad and Asher. 

During the wheat harvest, Reuben found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel asked Leah for the mandrakes and, in exchange, allowed Leah to spend the night with Jacob. God blessed Leah with another son, whom she named Issachar. She conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son, Zebulun, and later she also bore a daughter, Dinah. Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer. She bore a son and named him Joseph.

After Joseph was born, Jacob asked Laban to allow him to take his wives, children, and the wages he had earned so he could return home. Instead of receiving regular wages, Jacob proposed that he would continue tending Laban’s flocks and, as payment, he would take every black lamb and every spotted or speckled young goat. This plan would help prevent any future disputes. Laban agreed. However, that same day, Laban removed all the spotted and speckled male and female goats and gave them to his sons, who took them far away from Jacob. Jacob remained in charge of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Jacob then peeled the bark from fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, creating white stripes on them. He placed these striped branches in the watering troughs where the animals drank and mated. The goats conceived and produced young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob separated the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep near the streaked and black animals in Laban's flock, keeping them apart from Laban’s other animals.

When the stronger animals were mating, Jacob placed the branches in front of them so they would breed among the striped branches, but he did not do this for the weaker animals. As a result, Jacob’s portion of the flock grew stronger and more numerous. In this way, Jacob became very wealthy.

Our PECS/Picture Exchange Communication System for Genesis Chapter 30

Questions

What did God bless Leah with?
How many types of goats did Jacob have?
Where did Jacob place the branches?