Jacob and His Green Sticks

[HoneyBare]

I have a question about Gen. 30:37

"Then Jacob took green sticks of three kinds of trees. And he cut white marks in them, showing the white which was in the sticks. 38. He took these sticks which he had cut and set them in front of the flocks, in the place where the flocks came to drink. And the animals mated when they came to drink."

So this is after Laban allowed Jacob to have part of his herd of sheep for his own, and somehow by cutting these sticks, Jacob was able to make his sheep stronger than Laban's or something. I don't understand it. Does anyone know how this worked, and if it was wrong for Jacob to do what he did by taking the spotted and black sheep from Labon's herd? What was the purpose of all this?

 

[Boanerges]

Hi SIis!

From Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible:

Gen_30:37-43
Jacob devises means to provide himself with a flock in these unfavorable circumstances. His first device is to place party-colored rods before the eyes of the cattle at the rutting season, that they might drop lambs and kids varied with speckles, patches, or streaks of white. He had learned from experience that there is a congruence between the colors of the objects contemplated by the dams at that season and those of their young. At all events they bare many straked, speckled, and spotted lambs and kids. He now separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the young of the rare colors, doubtless to affect them in the same way as the pilled rods. “Put his own folds by themselves.” These are the party-colored cattle that from time to time appeared in the flock of Laban. In order to secure the stronger cattle, Jacob added the second device of employing the party-colored rods only when the strong cattle conceived. The sheep in the East lamb twice a year, and it is supposed that the lambs dropped in autumn are stronger than those dropped in the spring. On this supposition Jacob used his artifice in the spring, and not in the autumn. It is probable, however, that he made his experiments on the healthy and vigorous cattle, without reference to the season of the year. The result is here stated. “The man brake forth exceedingly” - became rapidly rich in hands and cattle.
It is obvious that the preceding and present chapters form one continuous piece of composition; as otherwise we have no account of the whole family of Jacob from one author. But the names אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym and יהוה yehovâh are both employed in the piece, and, hence, their presence and interchange cannot indicate diversity of authorship.

 

[HoneyBare]

If that don't beat all! They should try that on some of our herds today, lol. Of course it's all over my head and a little more than sci fi to me, but it's biblical, so I guess it will fly.