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Genesis 30:39

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 30:39 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted.
Genesis 30:39 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 30

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
36and he set three days` journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban`s flocks.
37And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane-tree. And peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
38And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink.
39And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth ringstreaked, speckled, and spotted.
40And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstreaked and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and put them not unto Laban`s flock.
41And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods;
42but when the flock were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban`s, and the stronger Jacob`s.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the flocks conceived before the rods, etc.] At them, and in sight of them; which had such influence upon them through thee force of imagination, and a divine power and providence so directing and succeeding this device, that they brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; such as Jacob was to have for his hire; and, though there was no doubt a more than ordinary concourse of divine Providence attending this affair; yet there have been many strange things brought about in a natural way by the strength of imagination, as may be observed in those marks which women are said to mark their children with, while with child of them; as also in conceiving and bearing such like unto…”
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Sources and verification