Earlier Rachel said to Jacob, “give me children” (30:1). Now Jacob says to Laban, “give me my wives and children.” It is time for him to head back to Canaan. To that end, he asks that Laban give him the speckled and spotted sheep and goats as his wages (30:25–43). Laban believes that Jacob is giving himself the short end of the deal (very few irregular animals will be bred from this), and so he quickly agrees to Jacob’s proposal. Jacob, however, knows more about crossbreeding and the laws of heredity than Laban knows—and more than Laban gives him credit for knowing. Through exposure to a visual stimulus (branches of certain trees, which Jacob marks with white stripes) the monochromes give birth to multicolored young. In the process, not only does Jacob get more flocks than Laban bargained…