3988. Verses 31-33 And he said, What shall I give you? And Jacob said, You shall not give me anything; if you will do this one thing for me, I will return, feed, and guard your flock. I will pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted member of the flock, and every black one among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the she-goats; and that will be my wages. And my righteousness will answer for me on the morrow, when you come [to look] over my wages that are before you; every one that is not speckled and spotted among the she-goats, and black among the lambs, is one stolen by me.

'He said, What shall I give you?' means knowledge. 'And Jacob said' means a reply. 'You shall not give me anything; if you will do this one thing for me' means that the finding of the wages should rest with the good that springs from truth. 'I will return, feed, and guard your flock' means that the good meant by Laban has a use to perform. 'I will pass through all your flock today' means that [the good of truth] recognizes the nature of all that good. 'Removing from it every speckled and spotted member of the flock' means that everything good and true that is meant by 'Laban' and which - when mingled with evil, meant by 'speckled', or mingled with falsity, meant by 'spotted' - will be separated. 'And every black one among the lambs' means a proprium of innocence, which belongs to the good meant by 'Laban'. 'And the spotted and speckled among the she-goats' means that after this all the good of truth that has falsity and evil mingled within it will be 'Jacob's'. 'And that will be my wages' means that it was the result of His own effort. 'And my righteousness will answer for me' means the Divine holiness which He possessed. 'On the morrow' means into eternity. 'When you come [to look] over my wages that are before you' means what was His own. 'Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the she-goats' means that which does not originate in the good meant by Laban and is not mingled with evil and falsity within the goods of truth. 'And black among the lambs' means the first state of innocence. 'Is one stolen by me' means that it was not His.