“One time during the mating season, I had a dream and saw that the male goats mating with the females were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Parallel translations
- WEB During mating season, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled.
- KJV And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
- BSB When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.
- NKJV “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.
- NASB And it came about at the time when the flock was breeding that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream—and behold—the male goats that were mating were striped, speckled, or mottled.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jacob recounts a dream showing that the marked male goats were producing the marked offspring. The dream reveals God's hand in his increase.
Overview
In the dream, Jacob sees that the breeding stock producing his wages were themselves marked, indicating a natural and God-directed process. This vision corrects any impression that Jacob's rods caused the result. It is part of God revealing to Jacob that his prosperity was divinely granted, not self-engineered.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 13:1If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
- Gen 20:6God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her.
- 1 Kgs 3:5In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.”
- Gen 28:12He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
- Gen 31:24God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”
- Num 12:6He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
- Gen 30:39The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks produced streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 31:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.