Commentaire sur La Genèse 30:30

לרגלי SINCE MY COMING — The word is the same as עם רגלי “with my coming” (lit, with my foot)— on account of my coming has the blessing come to you (Genesis Rabbah 73:8). Similar is (Exodus 11:8) “And all the people that come with thee (ברגלך)”, and (Judges 8:5) “and the people that are ברגלי” — ie. that are coming with me.

WHEN SHALL I PROVIDE ‘GAM’ (ALSO) FOR MINE OWN HOUSE? “At present, my sons alone provide for my needs, but I also ought to work together with them and assist them.” This is the force of the word gam (also). These are Rashi’s words. But we do not find that Jacob had his own sheep, nor do we find mentioned anywhere that his young children — the oldest of whom was six years or less — tended them. It was possible that before Jacob came, Laban had children younger than Rachel¹⁵⁶This is a reference to what Rashi explained in Verse 27 that since Jacob’s arrival, a blessing came upon Laban and he begot sons, “for is it possible that if he previously had sons, he would have let his daughter Rachel go among the shepherds?” Yet he had sons, as it is said, And he [Jacob] heard the words of Laban’s sons, (further, 31:1). We must say that these sons were born to him after Jacob came. and now they were fit to tend the flock. [However, Jacob’s children were still very young.] Perhaps Jacob referred to his wives and servants, who he said did his work for him. But all this is not correct. The meaning of, When shall I provide also for mine house? is: “When shall I provide for my house just as I have also done for your house.” Similarly, And he loved also Rachel from Leah,¹⁵⁷Above, 29:30. means “And he loved Rachel also more than he loved Leah.” And similarly, Also thee I would have slain,¹⁵⁸Numbers 22:33. means “Also I would have slain thee.” And there are many other such verses.

לרגלי, “on my behalf.” The word רגל in this connection also occurs in 33,14 לרגל המלאכה אשר לפני, “on account of the livestock before me.”

כי מעט...לרגלי, from the time I walked into your house to work for you, you became blessed, along the lines of the proverb רגל טובה לפלוני, “this person has a blessed foot,” [as in English we speak about someone having “green fingers,” i.e. that plants grow successfully under his care. Ed.]

ויברך ה' אותך לרגלי, still, when you said that the Lord blessed you during my presence here, this is true beyond a doubt;

מתי אעשה גם אנכי לביתי, “when will I also be able to do something for my family?” According to Rashi he meant that up to now only his children had supported him with their work, whereas, i.e, their father had been fully occupied in providing wealth for his father-in-law. According to Nachmanides there is no evidence that Yaakov owned any flocks which his sons could have tended. Besides, Reuven, his oldest son was only 6 years old at this time, so that his efforts could not have amounted to much. Therefore, what Yaakov meant was: ”when can I start doing for my family what I have been doing for your family?”

כי מעט אשר היה לך לפני ויפרוץ לרוב ויברך ה' אותך לרגלי, ”for the little that you owned before I came has expanded into a multitude as G’d has blessed you with my coming.” Yaakov simply told Lavan that from the moment he set foot in his house G’d had showered Lavan with His blessing. Even Lavan himself acknowledged this when he said: in verse 27 נחשתי ויברכני ה' בגללך, “I have been divinely inspired to realise that G’d has blessed me on your account.” According to Bereshit Rabbah 73,8, originally Lavan had handed Yaakov only 70 animals to tend and these had increased by that time to 600.000. Another opinion claims that Lavan’s flocks now amounted to 1,2 million sheep. The number 70 is arrived at by comparing the expression מעט “a few,” in this verse with Deut 26,5 where the meaning of the word is a reference to the 70 people who descended to Egypt with Yaakov at the time the Israelites had left the land of Canaan (Genesis 46,8).

For the needs of my household... Rashi is explaining that לביתי does not mean as it seems to, that Yaakov is saying he will go “to my home,” i.e., return to his father’s house and stay there. For Lavan said afterwards, “What shall I give you? ...” [And Yaakov replied], “I will continue to tend....” This shows that he did not intend to leave Lavan, but to [stay and] guard his flock. Perforce, לביתי means “for the needs of my household.”

לרגלי heißt wohl nicht: nach meinem Eintritt, sondern: nach meinem Gang und Schritt. So ׳לרגל המלאכה וגו. Nach dem Gange des Guts und der Kinder, denen ich folgen muss (1. B. M. 33. 14). Ebenso ההלכת לרגלה, die ihrem Schritte folgen (Sam. 1. 25, 42). Also hier: Gott hat dich nach meinem Gange, d. h. nachdem ich mich in deinem Dienste bewegte, gesegnet.

גם אנכי לביתי WHEN SHALL I PROVIDE FOR MINE OWN HOUSE ALSO? — לביתי means for the needs of my household. At present my sons alone provide for my needs, but I, also, ought to work together with them, to assist them. This is the force of the word גם also.

?גם אנכי לביתי. When will I start providing for the needs of my own family as I have been doing for your family for 14 years?Rabbeinu Shlomoh (Rashi) explains “thus far only my children have worked for me. When will I finally help them?” (This explains the word גם in the verse).

When will I also do. When will I have the opportunity to bring blessing to my own house the way you have brought it to yours through my presence

מתי אעשה גם אנכי לביתי, “when will I also do something for my own family?” Up until now all my efforts were concentrated on enriching you. The time has come to do something to enrich myself. This was the meaning of (verse 31) “I will guard your sheep against payment.”

Now only my sons provide my needs... Rashi explains this since גם אנכי implies that previously, some else was doing for the needs of his household. Thus Rashi explains: “Now only my sons...”

מתי אעשה גם אנכי when will it be my turn to do something blessed by the Lord for my own household? The kind of wages paid to shepherds are not adequate to enable me to accumulate some wealth for my family as you have succeeded in doing for your family.