July 28 – Jacob Marries

Genesis 29 – Jacob Marries

Vs. 1-20 Jacob comes to Haran, asks for Rachel in marriage
When Jacob comes to the area of his destination, we are again given a well story. Flocks are already gathered around a well that apparently serves a loose community of people. Jacob asks those already gathered if they know Laban, which they do. In perfect timing, Rachel appears with Laban’s flock to await the evening watering. The scene is reminiscent of Abraham’s servant who came and encountered Rebekah at a well. 

Those gathered point out Rachel as Laban’s daughter, and Jacob is immediately taken with her. He then wants the well to be opened so her flock can be watered and then sent to pasture. The locals decline, as it is their common practice to wait until all who use the well are gathered. Only then is the stone removed to open the well. In an act that seems to fit his personality, Jacob casts aside the standing rule, opens the well himself, and waters the flock that Rachel has brought. After this we are told that Jacob kisses Rachel and weeps. The kiss must not have been a romantic gesture as we would picture it, but rather a more normative cultural greeting. Jacob discloses that he is the son of her father’s sister. At this news, Rachel runs to share the news with her father.

Laban is eager to extend hospitality to Jacob. After Jacob has been with Laban for about a month (v. 14), Laban asks what compensation Jacob would like for the service he has rendered to Laban’s household. As we can expect, Jacob asks for Rachel’s hand in marriage. Laban agrees, being more willing to marry his daughter within the family than otherwise. The section ends with us being told that Jacob served Laban for seven years (v. 20) in order to secure Rachel in marriage. 

The circumstances here give us a contrast with the events of Abraham’s servant and the securing of Rebekah as a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24). We may recall that Abraham’s servant, preparing to do his master’s bidding and find a wife for Isaac from among their clan in Haran, packed a healthy amount of supplies before making the journey. We also saw that a fair amount of these supplies were taken in expectation of paying a bride-price to the woman’s family, which the servant did. It would seem that Jacob is perhaps without the same means to pay for his bride. If that is the case, it may be due in part to an expedited departure on Jacob’s part, given that Isaac definitely had the means to offer a healthy amount for Jacob’s wife. Though the “why” beneath the observable reality is untold, what does seem obvious is that Jacob is having to work rather than offer gifts for his bride. And as some note, the length of seven years could be considered an exceptionally long time.

Vs. 21-35  The Deceiver Deceived
Jacob must have had his calendar marked, for when the seven years were complete he wasted no time in asking Laban for his duly-earned wife. We are not given any details on how the following events unfold, other than that Laban holds what would seem to be a wedding feast. Through a combination of dulled senses due to wine and a discretely disguised daughter, Laban orchestrates a wedding night switch during which Jacob consummates a relationship with the wrong daughter. Not until the next morning does he see that it is Leah rather than Rachel who has become his wife. 

Obviously and probably rightly frustrated, Jacob protests Laban’s actions. Laban responds with what may have been a localized custom of marrying older daughters before younger. If, and to the extent, this was the case, Laban’s deception remains suspect. The offer Laban makes in v. 27 is, “Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.” After the week of celebration for Leah’s marriage, Jacob gets to take Rachel also. For that, he is bound to another seven years of working for Laban.

The chapter ends with the account of Jacob’s first four sons, all of whom are born to Leah. We are told that the Lord saw that Leah was unloved by Jacob and opened her womb. Rachel, however, remained barren. As the first sons are born, each reinforces the compassion we might feel for Leah. The names Reuben, Simeon, and Levi all touch on Leah’s desire for her husband to love her. The fourth son, Judah, turns her attitude toward praise to the Lord. 

Genesis 30 – Jacob’s Sons (Five through Eleven)

Vs. 1-24 Both wives produce sons

The narrative now bears hints of Sarah and Hagar’s story as women (in this case sisters) display their envy of the other. As Leah has produce children and Rachel has not, Rachel makes a demand of sorts to Jacob, that unless she bears children it will be the death of her. Ultimately Rachel plays the same card Sarah played, offering her handmaid to husband to bear a child in her place (thus the language of bearing “on my knees”). Jacob agrees, taking Rachel’s maid Bilhah and producing children through her. The first son they name Dan, as Rachel says, “God has vindicated me.” Bilhah conceived again and bore another son. At the birth of this son Rachel says, “I have wrestled mightily with my sister and prevailed.” The son was therefore named Naphtali. 

With the competition in full force, Leah uses the same strategy of offering a maid to produce children on her behalf. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore sons to Jacob, the first being Gad and the second being Asher. 

If we have the impression that time has calmed the tension between sisters, the next part of the narrative will reveal otherwise. We are told in verse 14 that Leah’s son Reuben had found some mandrakes and brought them to his mother. Rachel asks Leah for some of the mandrakes, and receives instead a rather sharp response: “Was it not enough that you took my husband, that now you have to take my mandrakes also?” Rachel then makes a deal with her sister: in exchange for some mandrakes, Jacob may lie with you tonight. Leah accepts the deal, and from that night she produces another son for Jacob whose name was Issachar. Leah then produces a sixth son for Jacob, whose name was Zebulun. We are also told of a daughter born to Leah, whose name was Dinah. 

The narrative of Jacob’s children comes almost to an end with the birth of one more son. This one, born to Rachel, we be a central figure in the redemption story moving forward. The fifth son born to Jacob through Rachel was named Joseph. For quite some time, Joseph would hold the title as the youngest son of the family. 

Vs. 25-43  Jacob asks for his wages
What is described in the remainder of this chapter becomes more clear in chapter 31, as Jacob shares what God had revealed to him in a dream. At this point Jacob reveals his desire to return to his home in Canaan. He asks Laban to be released to leave, but Laban is not eager for that to happen. Perhaps for other reasons as well, Laban knows that he has become prosperous since Jacob arrived. His offer in verse 28 is a way of saying, “How much will you need in order to remain here?” 

Jacob is not willing to concede his plans, but does enter into another deal with Laban. This time it has to do with the livestock. Among the animals are ones that are solid colored, and some that are multicolored (striped, speckled, etc.). Jacob’s proposal is such: whichever ones turn out to be multicolored shall be mine, and the solid shall be yours. Laban agreed to the arrangement. He (apparently Laban, v. 35) went through the flock and separated all of the striped, speckled and spotted animals. They were put under the care of Laban’s sons (as a means of security for Laban) and taken “a three day’s journey” away from Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob continued caring for Laban’s flock. 

The arrangement seems to be as follows. As the flocks continue to breed, the animals that are multicolored will be Jacob’s wages, and those that are not remain the property of Laban. The text seems to tell us that Laban tried to stack the deck, so to speak, by removing all of the existing multicolored animals from the mix, thus with the expectation of minimizing Jacob’s profits. What we will find in chapter 31 is that the Lord was well aware of Laban’s intentions, and worked to continue blessing Jacob.

Chapter 31 – Jacob Returns Home

After a period of six additional years (v. 41) Jacob heeds a word from the Lord that it is time to head home. Jacob is fully aware that Laban and his sons are envious of the prosperity God has brought to him, which in their view came at the expense of Laban. Jacob calls his wives to meet him in the field, apparently for a private conversation. Jacob makes his plea to them, citing their father’s deceitful dealings with Jacob. Their response actually resonates, as they admit they have not received from their father what they should be due (v. 14-16). 

With Laban gone to sheer his flocks, Jacob seizes an opportunity. He gathers all that is his, livestock and wives included, and departs southward toward Canaan. It is not until the third day that Laban learns of Jacob’s departure. Laban sets out in pursuit, traveling seven days before catching up with Jacob in the region of Gilead. Along the way, Laban has a dream in which God warns him regarding any unwise action against Jacob (v. 24). 

Once caught up with Jacob, Laban criticizes his actions as selfish and deceitful, an interesting position to take in light of his own dealings with Jacob. The one accusation he brings that is clearly legitimate is that someone has taken his household gods (v. 30). Jacob, unaware that the culprit was his beloved wife, gives Laban free reign to search through all of Jacob’s cargo and take whatever legitimately belongs to Laban. He further guarantees that the one who stole Laban’s gods would be put to death, a threat he fortunately would not be faced with enforcing. 

In verses 36-42 Jacob declares his own integrity before Laban, which if true portrays a different image of Jacob from that of earlier times in his life. He portrays himself who has done right by Laban in every way, has suffered Laban’s injustices, and now experiences the vindication of the Lord. Laban (v. 43) admits no wrong and refuses to surrender possession of anything. Nevertheless he agrees to a covenant with Jacob, witnessed again by a standing stone (v. 45). The oath made between Laban and Jacob is more of a request of the Lord: “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from each other” (v. 49). This phrase has made it onto many trinkets and jewelry that are shared between people in fond relationships. It has a nice ring of binding people together in a loving kinship. In the context of this passage, however, we see that it was a way for Laban and Jacob to say, “I don’t trust you, and therefore I pray the Lord to keep an eye on you when you are not near enough for me to observe.” After making the oath, Laban departs for home and Jacob continues his journey southward. 

This whole section of narrative depicts an interesting time in Jacob’s life. He goes from being the scoundrel of the story to the one willing to endure the scheming of another. In a way, Laban turns out to be not so different from Jacob, having a conniving streak of his own that was first hinted when Abraham’s servant came for a wife for Isaac. And as for Jacob, his colors don’t totally change. The women also display their human condition in their jealousy and competitiveness. As for Rachel taking her father’s household gods, we might wonder if it was an act of spite or a clinging of devotion to those gods. 

If there is any encouragement for us, it is that God continues to work through those whom He chooses, and it is obviously not based on merit and good character. Does that mean God prefers scoundrels to righteous people? Of course not. It simply means that we scoundrels of the world are not left without hope. 

As the Genesis narrative progresses, we can see that as one chapter ends, an earlier one is ready to pick up where it left off. Jacob may have escaped the influence of Laban, but on returning to Canaan he will face a brother who was once angry enough to kill him. Twenty years have passed, and we are invited to wonder if that is enough time for “his brother’s fury to subside” (27:44).