Jerome : (Verse 41.) And you changed my reward to ten lambs. The same mistake as above: The word 'numerus' should be read instead of 'agnis'. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis Augustine of Hippo : ON THE CONDUCT OF LABAN TO JACOB IN RELATION TO THE HERDS. — What does it mean what Jacob says to his father-in-law, and you did falsely rate my wages for ten lambs ? For the Scripture does not say when or where this was done. But obviously what Jacob mentions did happen. He even told his wives, when he made them come to the country, complaining about their father, he says among other things: "And he changed my wages to ten lambs (Gen. 31:7)." It happened, therefore, that in each of the times the lambs were born. When Laban saw that the offspring that was agreed upon that they belonged to Jacob, Laban fraudulently changed the agreement and said that Jacob would have as payment other colored lambs that would be born in the future. Jacob no longer the varying shades, but there were no spotted offspring, but only one-color offspring, which Jacob took under the new agreement. When Laban became aware of this, he again fraudulently changed the agreement so that the spotted lambs belonged to Jacob. And the spotted lambs were born because Jacob had put out those branches. Then what Jacob says to his wives: "He changed my pay into ten lambs”, and then to Laban: “You took away from my wages ten lambs.” Jacob therefore does not wish to make it understood that this disloyalty benefited his father-in-law, for he says that God helped him against Laban to prevent this result. But he wagered ten lambs or ten young lambs to indicate the ten times that the sheep he kept had offspring for a six-year term. They gave birth twice a year. However, the first year he dealt with Laban, and he agreed to keep the flocks for the agreed reward, the sheep only gave lambs once at the end of the year, the first litter having already come, when the commitment was contracted. The same thing happened in the sixth and last year. When the sheep had given a first litter, it was necessary for Jacob to leave, before they had given the second. Thus, as the first year and the last year had only two births, that is, each year one, and, on the other hand, the four years in between had two in each one, they make a total of ten births. It is not surprising that he designates these ten seasons by the names of the lambs which came at these times; It is as if one said: during so many harvests, during so many harvests, to mark the number of years. Thus a poet said (Virgil, Ecl. 1, 70), "After a few ears," hearing the harvest, and the harvests of the years. As to the fertility of the herds of this country, it is such that they give, as in Italy, two litters in a year. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 94 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)