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890 B
Genesis 30 General Notes
Structure and formatting
This chapter continues the story of the conflict between Rachel and Leah.
Special concepts in this chapter
Women and their children
In the ancient Near East, it was important for a married woman to have many children. If a woman did not have many children, people believed it brought shame upon her. This is one of the reasons why Rachel and Leah were always jealous of each other. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/jealous)
Speckled and spotted
Speckled and spotted sheep were considered to be imperfect. Therefore, they were considered to be much less valuable than the spotless sheep. Despite Jacob's fair offer, Laban once again tried to cheat him out of something he deserved. Jacob anticipated Laban's cheating.