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Genesis 31:41

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 31:41 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Genesis 31:41 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 31

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
38These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flocks have I not eaten.
39That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
40Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes.
41These twenty years have I been in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
42Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
43And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children whom they have borne?
44And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
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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
“Thus have I been twenty years in thy house, etc.] Attended with these difficulties, inconveniencies, and hardships; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters; Rachel and Leah; first seven years for Rachel; and having Leah imposed upon him instead of her, was obliged to serve seven years more, which he did for her sake; whereas he ought to have given them, and a dowry with them, to one who was heir to the land of Canaan, and not have exacted servitude of him: and six years for thy cattle, to have as many of them for his hire, as were produced from a flock of white sheep, that were speckled, spotted, or ringstraked, or brown: and thou hast changed my wages ten times; (see Gill on…”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification