God is not in the thunder, the earthquake, or the violent wind. God is in the still, small voice.
On the one hand, it’s an easy thing to claim. If it did happen again, everyone would be dead and nobody could claim it a false promise.
But on the other hand, perhaps the intention was to tell a story of death and resurrection: It is a final act. It happens once, and then we enter Eternity. No more death, no more sorrow, no more pain.
Those who forgive have tasted eternity.
but your father has cheated me, changing my wages time and again. God, however, would not let him do me harm.
Genesis 31:7 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
The cheating and wage-changing was bad, but not “harm,” according to Jacob. Harm here is “ra’a,” or “do evil.” It’s the same “ra” from the tree in the garden.
and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.
Genesis 19:7 (NIV)“Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
Genesis 19:9 (NIV)
This same “do evil” is first introduced with the men of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I suspect it’s meant to suggest a corrupting kind of harm – the kind that spreads, like abusers creating abusers.
Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Genesis 31 (NIV)
I am convinced that Jacob is not crafty nor clever nor manipulative.
I think he is slow. Simple. So dim-witted that even after hearing what Laban’s sons were saying and seeing Laban’s attitude, God still had to tell him directly that it was time to leave.
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֔ב שׁ֛וּב אֶל־אֶ֥רֶץ אֲבוֹתֶ֖יךָ וּלְמוֹלַדְתֶּ֑ךָ וְאֶֽהְיֶ֖ה עִמָּֽךְ׃
Then יהוה said to Jacob, “Return to your ancestors’ land—where you were born—and I will be with you.”
Genesis 31:3 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
וְהִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י עִמָּ֗ךְ וּשְׁמַרְתִּ֙יךָ֙ בְּכֹ֣ל אֲשֶׁר־תֵּלֵ֔ךְ וַהֲשִׁ֣בֹתִ֔יךָ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את כִּ֚י לֹ֣א אֶֽעֱזׇבְךָ֔ עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִם־עָשִׂ֔יתִי אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי לָֽךְ׃
Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:15 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
The rabbis make it clear, running Genesis 31:3 in parallel to Genesis 28:15: this verse is not conditional. It is not saying “IF you return, THEN I will be be with you.” God has already told Jacob that He *WILL* be with him, and this is a restatement of the Promise God has already made.
וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ל֣וֹ יַעֲקֹ֗ב מַקַּ֥ל לִבְנֶ֛ה לַ֖ח וְל֣וּז וְעַרְמ֑וֹן וַיְפַצֵּ֤ל בָּהֵן֙ פְּצָל֣וֹת לְבָנ֔וֹת מַחְשֹׂף֙ הַלָּבָ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־הַמַּקְלֽוֹת׃
Jacob then got fresh shoots of poplar, and of almond and plane, and peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white of the shoots.
Genesis 30:37 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
When Jacob peels/splits the rods and magically gets the flock to produce an abundance of speckled and spotted offspring, the Hebrew reader notes that this word for peels/split is פָּצַל (patsal). It’s never used in the Bible aside from this story.
The story is weird and wholly unscientific, and like many of the stories in Genesis, probably isn’t meant to be studied literally. There’s a lesson hidden in the text somewhere. Perhaps it can be found in this word פָּצַל (patsal).
The three letters of פָּצַל each have their own meaning:
(Pe) פּ – mouth, speech, expression, opening.
(Tsadi) צ – righteous, hook, connection, or pursuit of justice.
(Lamed) ל – learning, guidance, teaching, upward aspiration.
Combined, one might argue that patsal is a word that teaches us: spoken words of righteousness will guide. In the case of the strange story from which it is derived, it may hint that this shephard will guide the spotted and speckled sheep into deliverance.
אֶֽעֱבֹ֨ר בְּכׇל־צֹֽאנְךָ֜ הַיּ֗וֹם הָסֵ֨ר מִשָּׁ֜ם כׇּל־שֶׂ֣ה ׀ נָקֹ֣ד וְטָל֗וּא וְכׇל־שֶׂה־חוּם֙ בַּכְּשָׂבִ֔ים וְטָל֥וּא וְנָקֹ֖ד בָּעִזִּ֑ים וְהָיָ֖ה שְׂכָרִֽי׃
let me pass through your whole flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted animal—every dark-colored sheep and every spotted and speckled goat. Such shall be my wages.
Genesis 30:32 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
I cannot read the story of Jacob choosing the speckled, spotted, and dark-colored animals (both sheep… AND goats!) and not see a Gospel with an ever-widening circle of grace.