Genesis 30:31
New International Version
“What shall I give you?” he asked. “Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them:

New Living Translation
“What wages do you want?” Laban asked again. Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.

English Standard Version
He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it:

Berean Standard Bible
“What can I give you?” Laban asked. “You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks.

King James Bible
And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:

New King James Version
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks:

New American Standard Bible
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

NASB 1995
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

NASB 1977
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

Legacy Standard Bible
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

Amplified Bible
Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock:

Christian Standard Bible
Laban asked, “What should I give you? ” And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Laban asked, “What should I give you?” And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock.

American Standard Version
And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me aught: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Laban said to him, “What shall I give to you?” Yaquuv said to him, “You will give me nothing, if you make the response to me that I shall tell you. I shall return, I shall tend and I shall keep your sheep.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Laban said to him, What shall I give thee? and Jacob said to him, Thou shalt not give me anything; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again tend thy flocks and keep them.

Contemporary English Version
"How much do you want me to pay you?" Laban asked. Then Jacob told him: I don't want you to pay me anything. Just do one thing, and I'll take care of your sheep and goats.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing: but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed, and keep thy sheep again.

English Revised Version
And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me aught: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "Don't give me anything," Jacob answered. "Instead, do something for me, then I'll go back to taking care of and watching your flocks again.

Good News Translation
"What shall I pay you?" Laban asked. Jacob answered, "I don't want any wages. I will continue to take care of your flocks if you agree to this suggestion:

International Standard Version
"What do I have to give you?" Laban asked. Jacob responded, "You don't have to give me anything. Just do this for me: Let me tend your flock again and watch over it.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he said: 'What shall I give thee?' And Jacob said: 'Thou shalt not give me aught; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it.

Literal Standard Version
And he says, “What do I give to you?” And Jacob says, “You do not give me anything; if you do this thing for me, I turn back; I have delight; I watch your flock;

Majority Standard Bible
“What can I give you?” Laban asked. “You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks.

New American Bible
Laban asked, “What should I give you?” Jacob answered: “You do not have to give me anything. If you do this thing for me, I will again pasture and tend your sheep.

NET Bible
So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:

New Revised Standard Version
He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it:

New Heart English Bible
He said, "What should I give you?" Jacob said, "You do not need to give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture your flock and take care of it.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:

World English Bible
Laban said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.

Young's Literal Translation
And he saith, 'What do I give to thee?' And Jacob saith, 'Thou dost not give me anything; if thou do for me this thing, I turn back; I have delight; thy flock I watch;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jacob Prospers
30Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?” 31“What can I give you?” Laban asked. “You do not need to give me anything,” Jacob replied. “If you do this one thing for me, I will keep on shepherding and keeping your flocks. 32Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages.…

Cross References
Genesis 30:30
Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?"

Genesis 30:32
Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages.


Treasury of Scripture

And he said, What shall I give you? And Jacob said, You shall not give me any thing: if you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flock.

2 Samuel 21:4-6
And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you…

Psalm 118:8
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

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Aught Care Delight Feed Flock Flocks Jacob Pasture Tending Turn Watch Watching Wilt
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Aught Care Delight Feed Flock Flocks Jacob Pasture Tending Turn Watch Watching Wilt
Genesis 30
1. Rachel, in grief for her barrenness, gives Bilhah her maid unto Jacob.
5. Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali.
9. Leah gives Zilpah her maid, who bears Gad and Asher.
14. Reuben finds mandrakes,
15. with which Leah buys her husband's company of Rachel.
17. Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
22. Rachel bears Joseph.
25. Jacob desires to depart.
27. Laban detains him on a new agreement.
37. Jacob's policy, whereby he becomes rich.














Verse 31. - And he (Laban, unwilling to part with so profitable an assistant) said, What shall I give thee? He was apparently prepared to detain Jacob at his own terms. And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. Jacob did not design to serve Laban gratuitously, but chose rather to trust God than Laban for recompense (Wordsworth, Gosman in Lange); or he may have meant that he would have no wages of Laban's setting, but only of his own proposing (Hughes). If thou wilt do this thing for me (accede to this stipulation), I will again feed and keep thy flock - literally, I will turn, I will tend thy flock, I will keep (sc. 2).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“What
מָ֣ה (māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

can I give
אֶתֶּן־ (’et·ten-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

you?”
לָ֑ךְ (lāḵ)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

Laban asked.
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“You do not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

need to give
תִתֶּן־ (ṯit·ten-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

me
לִ֣י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

anything,”
מְא֔וּמָה (mə·’ū·māh)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3972: A speck, point, nothing

Jacob replied.
יַעֲקֹב֙ (ya·‘ă·qōḇ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3290: Jacob -- a son of Isaac, also his desc

“If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you do
תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־ (ta·‘ă·śeh-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

this
הַזֶּ֔ה (haz·zeh)
Article | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

one thing
הַדָּבָ֣ר (had·dā·ḇār)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

for me,
לִּי֙ (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

I will keep on
אָשׁ֛וּבָה (’ā·šū·ḇāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

shepherding
אֶרְעֶ֥ה (’er·‘eh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common singular
Strong's 7462: To tend a, flock, pasture it, in, to graze, to rule, to associate with

and keeping
אֶשְׁמֹֽר׃ (’eš·mōr)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common singular
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

your flock.
צֹֽאנְךָ֖ (ṣō·nə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6629: Small cattle, sheep and goats, flock


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OT Law: Genesis 30:31 He said What shall I give you? (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 30:30
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