Genesis 29:1 ¶ Then Jacob
went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. 2 And he looked, and behold a well in the
field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that
well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.
3 And thither were all the flocks
gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the
sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. 4 And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence
be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. 5
And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We
know him. 6 And he said unto them, Is he
well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with
the sheep. 7 And he said, Lo, it is yet
high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water
ye the sheep, and go and feed them. 8
And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and
till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.
Genesis 29:9 ¶
And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep:
for she kept them. 10 And it came to
pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the
sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone
from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted
up his voice, and wept. 12 And Jacob
told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son:
and she ran and told her father. 13 And
it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that
he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his
house. And he told Laban all these things. 14
And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he
abode with him the space of a month.
Jacob
went back in the direction from whence Abraham had come. So, he finds a well
with three flocks of sheep waiting to be watered by a well that had a great
stone covering it. What tremendous preaching material you can get from passages
like this. Think of the Resurrection of Christ leaving a tomb covered by a
great stone, giving living water to those sheep thirsting for it. There are so
many possibilities with this. Three flocks might represent Noah’s three sons
whose descendants overspread the whole earth waiting for this life-giving
water. Such good preaching material and I’m sure you can think of more.
Can
you see Jacob in this scene as a type of the angel of the Lord rolling the
stone away from Christ’s tomb? (Matthew 28:2)
Genesis 29:15 ¶
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou
therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? 16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the
elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was
beautiful and well favoured. 18 And
Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy
younger daughter. 19 And Laban said, It
is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man:
abide with me. 20 And Jacob served seven
years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had
to her. 21 And Jacob said unto Laban,
Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22 And Laban gathered together all the men of
the place, and made a feast. 23 And it
came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to
him; and he went in unto her. 24 And
Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. 25 And it came to pass, that in the morning,
behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me?
did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?
26 And Laban said, It must not be so
done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this
also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her
week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. 29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah
his handmaid to be her maid. 30 And he
went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served
with him yet seven other years.
Laban
calls Jacob his brother, which
clearly in this context means a close relation, as Jacob is his nephew. Brother can easily be used to refer to
someone who is a comrade or a fellow believer in Christ. It can also refer to
the brotherhood of mankind as in Genesis 9:5.
Jacob,
the trickster, is now going to be tricked. Laban is a very clever man. He
allows Jacob to work seven years under the promise of Jacob receiving Rachel as
his bride. Instead he gives Jacob Leah, her older sister. Notice that the
wedding ceremony is a feast at the end of which the father just gives his
daughter to the husband-to-be. Not very romantic from the point of view of
today’s woman.
Laban’s
excuse is that the custom of the country is for the older to be married before
the younger but it seems more likely that Laban probably worried that his
oldest, not so beautiful and well
favoured, would not find a husband. As Leah is tender eyed, which carries with it the implication of weakness or
deficiency in Early Modern English and in the Hebrew text, perhaps she was a
bit cross-eyed, who can say. Jacob was drawn to the prettier daughter. This
type of carnal attitude seems more worthy of Esau and marriages based on this do
not have a good foundation. But, let’s give Laban the benefit of the doubt and
agree it was the custom not to marry the younger before the elder. He still
tricked Jacob, the clever deceiver. You have to wonder if he did not know whom
he was consummating a marriage with that perhaps this feast included a liberal
supply of wine as one could reasonably assume that her veil would be taken off
when the marriage was completed.
It
appears from a literal reading of the text that Jacob gave Leah a week of being
the only wife and then received Rachel, for whom he worked an additional seven
years to pay off her father. Notice the difference here between Jacob and
Isaac. In the Ancient Near East a bride did not just marry a husband but joined
another family, leaving the family of her birth. Rebekah was brought to Isaac.
Here, Jacob is in bondage to his brides’ father. Also, while we might wonder
about the dowry given by the bride’s family there was also the ancient
“bridewealth” given by the groom’s family. Here, Jacob’s servitude for fourteen
years serves that function and he will leave with wealth after another six
years.
Jacob
has worked for Laban up to this point and acquired two wives with their
handmaids and his living in the process.
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