Genesis 30:31
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: 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:
Genesis 30:31 records Jacob refusing any present gift or advance payment from Laban and offering instead to again feed and guard Laban's flock if Laban will agree to his proposal. Under that proposed arrangement certain marked animals would become his wages rather than a direct payment. He asks for nothing in advance but agrees to continue tending the flock if Laban will grant his request.
The verse belongs to the account of Jacob's service and dealings with Laban over the flock, in which God blessed Jacob's labor and prospered him in flocks and herds despite Laban's efforts to deprive him of his right. Through that service he returned with a prosperous family and abundant flocks and herds. The blessing rested on his labor even under unjust dealing.
The verse also belongs to the record of Jacob's trials and victories, which culminate in a complete change of heart and his place among the Israel of God. It falls within his checkered and unsatisfactory experience, in which selfish plotting and overreaching led to suffering. He himself encountered overreaching in turn, for his overreaching was followed by being overreached, while God's providence brings retribution sooner or later and in time.
The verse belongs to the history of Jacob's family in Genesis 29-31, which plainly violates the marriage institution through polygamy. That polygamous household shows that polygamy was always evil and wrong and was the cause of very great unhappiness in every family where it entered. The ancient people of God allowed it through the whole Old Testament period because Moses tolerated it for hardness of heart, while the true standard remains the original order in Eden from which there should have been no departure. This violation does not destroy the sacred character of marriage, just as violation of the Sabbath in the patriarchal age would not destroy the sacred character of the Sabbath. Marriage was made for man before the fall and does not derive its sanctity from the Decalogue, with the seventh commandment guarding marriage as the fourth guards the Sabbath.
Jacob's agreement to keep tending the flock includes care of animals on the Sabbath. Keeping stock requires daily work for the life and welfare of people and animals that must be performed on the Sabbath the same as on any day. That work is to be reduced to a practical, merciful minimum such as feeding, milking, and watering.