John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"And he removed that day the he-goats that were ringstreaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons;" — Genesis 30:35 (ASV)
And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstreaked
and spotted
That had streaks of a different colour from the rest on their shoulders, thighs, legs, or feet, or in any part of the body: the word here used is used instead of the word before translated "speckled"; this Laban did, as the context shows; he went about it immediately at the motion of Jacob, with which he was pleased:
and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted ;
so that there might be neither male nor female of those mixed colours; this he did to prevent any generation of them: [and] everyone that had [some] white in it ;
any white spot in it, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, everyone of the brown or black colour, that had any white in it:
and all the brown among the sheep :
that were entirely so:
and, gave [them] into the hands of his sons ;
not the sons of Jacob, as some in Aben Ezra; for they were not fit for the care of a flock, the eldest son, Reuben, not being seven years of age; but the sons of Laban, who were now grown up and fit for such service.