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Chapter 30 deals with the increase of Jacob's wealth. Rachel had no children so she gave Jacob her handmaid Bilhah and by her Jacob had two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Then Leah, who could have no more children, gave Jacob her handmaid, Zilpah, and she bore Jacob two sons, Gad and Asher. Then Leah prayed that God might allow her to have more children and she bore Jacob two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun. Then God remembered Rachel and Rachel bore a son and called Joseph. Verse 43 says, "Thus the man (Jacob) grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses."
A strange but interesting story is told in this chapter. It seems that Reuben, the oldest son, had been out in the field where he had gathered some mandrakes. When he comes into the house, he gives them to his mother, Leah. Now mandrakes looked similar to carrots except the tops were purple and the root was forked. They were believed to have the ability to promote conception. Rachel, up to this time, had no children so naturally, she would like to have the mandrakes. She asks Leah to give her some of them but Leah wants something in return. She wants a night with Jacob in return for the mandrakes. Rachel agrees. As the result, Leah conceives and bears a son whom they name Issachar and later another son called Zebulun. Rachel also conceives and bears a son named Joseph.
The chapter ends with Jacob approaching his father-in-law to ask permission to leave and go back to his home in Canaan. But Laban realizes that Jacob was blessed of the Lord, and as a result, he too was blessed, so he hesitates to let him go. Besides, how would they divide the animals; they had, up to this point, kept the animals in one herd. Jacob resolves the problem by agreeing to take the spotted and black sheep and goats and this would allow Laban to have all the white animals. Deception is the name of the game from this point on. Laban removes all the spotted and black animals from the herd and hides them. Jacob, suspecting foul play, takes black popular poles and strips off part of the bark, making black and white poles and sets them at the watering troughs where the sheep mate. As a result, all of the new lambs were spotted or black and Jacob's flocks grew in strength and number while Laban's dropped in number and strength.
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