GEN1324 The rather minor, final deception by Jacob of Laban in Genesis 30:25 – 43 is therefore seen by J not exactly as a recompense for his deception by Laban, but rather a product of his deceptive past. In the section about selective breeding of Jacob’s flock in J this appears to be part of Jacob’s scheming ways. In E, the same selective breeding process is used to show that divine justice was being meted out for Laban’s deception of Jacob. Genesis 31:9-13. J clearly sees the Patriarchs as deceptive characters while E does not. The P and E accounts of similar issues do not give this impression.