But when the later coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were lateward, became Laban's; and they of the first time, Jacob's.
וּבְהַעֲטִ֥יף הַצֹּ֖אן לֹ֣א יָשִׂ֑ים וְהָיָ֤ה הָעֲטֻפִים֙ לְלָבָ֔ן וְהַקְּשֻׁרִ֖ים לְיַעֲקֹֽב׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Those who are consecrated belong to Christ; they forsake all earthly attachments, are liberated from worldly desires, and are distinctly marked by their lives, devoted instead to righteousness. As it is written, "the weak cattle were delivered to Laban, and the strong to Jacob" (Gen. 30:42).
This translation may not appear in the Seventy, but rather than terms like 'lagging behind' and 'keeping up,' they have offered an interpretation that is difficult to grasp. Scripture reveals that Jacob, a man skilled in strategy and resourcefulness, manages to remain fair and just through a clever contrivance. If all the livestock had produced colorful lambs and kids, it would have raised suspicions, prompting the jealous Laban to object publicly. Therefore, Jacob orchestrated his approach so that he would reap the rewards of his efforts while not leaving Laban completely deprived. At the time of mating, he placed branches before the flocks to encourage them to bear spotted young, since spring yields better results.
When the sheep and goats sought mates later on, he refrained from presenting branches, ensuring that monochromatic livestock would be produced. Thus, all the offspring born first were attributed to Jacob, as they were of mixed colors, while those that came afterward belonged to Laban, comprising solely black and white animals. The passage that states 'that they should conceive before the branches' corresponds to the Hebrew term jeamena (לְיַחְמֵ֖נָּה). I can only describe the essence of the Hebrew word, as jeamena refers to an intense state of physical arousal during mating, where the entire body is in motion, and the act of desire is reaching its climax.
Once one recognizes that Jacob's actions as a servant of Laban were not driven by his own cleverness, but rather inspired by divine guidance, to which he entrusted his sense of fairness, any seemingly questionable aspects of his behavior are rendered innocent. God led him, or at least empowered him, in the absence of other judgement, to assert his rights through his own skill, while simultaneously punishing Laban's greed through Jacob's efforts.
Laban unjustly compelled Jacob to work for seven years without reward, as Leah was not the promised bride (Genesis 29:25); seized the entirety of the outcomes from Jacob's fourteen years of labor, which should have rightfully belonged to his daughters as their inheritance; and ultimately offered Jacob a recompense that, in natural terms, he himself found unmet (Genesis 30:34).
THEOSIS