​by Lisa Rudisill

​

                      A New Explanation:  Jacob's Deception
     If not accepting the “voodoo-type” explanation of this passage about Jacob's management of the herds of Laban, his uncle, there must be a new explanation put forth that can more clearly explain and make understandable the true meaning of this text. If there is not some type of superstitious chain-of-events taking place, then just what might be actually going on, and is it possible to make more logical sense out of this small section of Scripture.
Without suggesting an any way that the Bible does not proclaim the true word of God, in the case of this passage, it could be that the failings of human narrators to correctly “speak” or record the tale of Jacob might be a reason that this text seems to defy human logic. In addition, it is a complex set of events that lend to this outcome of a larger, healthier herd for Jacob. There is clearly the intervention of an Angel who visits with Jacob; thus, it is known that God is looking over the events. Therefore, it is likely that God—either through showing Jacob the means or through creating miracles, is part of these events. Can they be humanly explained?
     First, it is not necessary that they be explained, for God is certainly watching over Jacob and protecting him—this is known. It may be, however, that just as the reader is led to see clearly that Laban has connived in his dealings with Jacob through giving him the second sister, Leah, when Jacob had worked seven years for Rachel, so is there a clear form of deception being played upon Laban. This would, in effect, bring the events of Jacob and Laban's relationship “full circle,” bringing a form of justice in a day when there were certainly few or no judges and legal systems to exact it. Justice, then, would have depended solely upon an individual's wits and also the intervention of the divine. That is entirely logical as well as believable.
     Maybe there was, in addition to the general aid of divine intervention, a humanly-logical set of events taking place in Genesis 30:27 – 31:17. Is the reader being told certain points for a reason? Probably, he is. Could one key to the understanding of this scripture lie in some breeding techniques that are actually used, sometimes, even in today's world? Why did Jacob peel the branches and expose the white. Did he place them IN the water troughs, or use them for some other purpose? If so, what do they have to do with the overall events and their explanation? It must be reasoned that Scripture wastes few words on frivolous points; it could be logically assumed that if unusual, seemingly inexplicable, or strange details are added to a narrative in the Bible, there may be some underlying explanation that may or may not have been clearly uncovered in Scriptural study.
     From the point of view of modern day breeders of livestock, the questions of selective breeeding can make quite clear sense. Within the requirements of the modern breeding of registered horses, there are very strict rules including the presentation of DNA samples from a certified veterinary source to be placed on file for breeding stallions, along with samples taken from the foals that must be matched to their sires for registration to occur. The very fact that these tests are required shows that “disallowed” breedings will be made if not controlled. Stallions worth large sums of money have been bred to produce foals, then given a different registration name (differing parents appearing on their papers); the opposite case is well documented of unknown sires fathering foals who are then said to be by a well-known stallion. The blood-typing process prevents these questionable matings.29
     If it is possible that there is a reasonable explanation for the description of Jacob's actions with regard to the keeping of Laban's flock and the increase of his own herd from Laban's that does not involve superstitious actions with seemingly little logical explanation, perhaps the following explanation might be considered. This may be how the events took place:
     Step 1:  Jacob went through the herds removing the “unwanted” animals, which he told Laban he would keep for his wages for managing Laban's herds. Laban agreed to this. This is the first step of a selective breeding operation, made in this case for convenience's sake, to produce payment for work.
     Step 2:  Jacob put three days distance between the two herds—Laban's “cleaned” herd and Jacob's “2nd rate” herd. This allowed two things to happen:  first, they could not interbreed, and secondly, Laban could not see clearly what was happening to Jacob's herds as he went to check on his own. If he did approach Jacob's, it would likely have been from some distance and not up close. This is a key point to the deception that was next practiced by Jacob upon Laban.
     Step 3:  Jacob cut posts from available trees in order to produce a corral or pen. These corrals are commonly used even today in caring for herds and flocks of animals in various places in the world. In this case, as part of the deception planned, he peeled the bark off the posts to expose the WHITE underneath, as Scripture states.30  As they were placed into the ground at the watering hole, as stated, forming a corral, they would likely have been placed parallel to one another to form a stockade-type enclosure. The herds were then let into the stockade at watering time and selective breeding could have been done. Within the stockade, the selected animals could be caught and mating occur as planned; in addition, within the stockade, mothers could raise foals undisturbed.
     Step 4:  Jacob continued to move back to Laban's herd the finer, solid animals and kept the multi-colored animals from the herd for his wages. The key to the deception lies here, for the construction of the pen—if seen from a distance—would give the appearance of animals within that were two-toned in color, not solid-colored. This allowed Jacob to keep animals that were of more desirable quality in his own herd while giving the impression that he was following exactly what the stated agreement said. In other words, it is likely that Laban's finest breeding males, or stallions, of solid color, were being put behind the stockade to breed with Jacob's spotted females, thus producing more solid animals for Jacob as well as ones that may have been stronger. Seen from a distance, with the white boards in front of the solid animals, they then looked to be those of Jacob when they were, at least, being borrowed for stallion service. As said, this practice has certainly been done at times in modern animal breeding—though not quite in this manner using the deception of the white boards.