Introduction: Jacob had arrived in Haran, the land of his mother and uncle Laban. He had assisted Rachel, Laban’s daughter, by watering her flock of sheep. Laban then ran out to meet Jacob, and they all returned to Laban’s house.
For Jacob, things were about to get interesting.
1 The wages
Text: Genesis 29:14-20, KJV: 14 And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month. 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.
Jacob had stayed with Laban, and his family, for a month now but what Jacob did during that time is never mentioned. Laban took note of this and, apparently realizing Jacob was going to stay for a while, made Jacob an offer (Laban hoped) he couldn’t refuse! Or, maybe, something else was in play here.
No matter what Jacob had done, or wasn’t doing, Laban gave him an offer. If Jacob had been working, he may have been doing so without pay or anything besides room and board! Another thought is that Jacob had not done much of anything—after all, he was a stranger in the land, even though a blood relative of Laban—and may not have known what to do or even offer. If that’s the case, Laban may have been dropping more than a hint for Jacob to get busy.
For either scenario or option, Laban was open to giving Jacob something in return. One wonders just how generous, though, Laban was willing to be! Even so, Jacob had been there long enough to know exactly what he wanted.
Jacob wanted Rachel!
This may have been love at first sight. Besides Rebekah, Jacob may not have known many other women besides his sisters-in-law or female servants, if any, in the household. There’s not one word about any romantic interest in Jacob’s life before he saw Rachel. Someone once observed that when Jacob saw Rachel, he was bitten by the love bug, and hard! Moses, in the text, observed that Rachel was “beautiful, and well favoured (sic)”, compared to Aunt Rebekah, of whom it was said, ‘(she) was very fair to look upon (Gen. 24:16)”
But Laban had another daughter, mentioned briefly here, and her name was Leah. Commentators have given many explanations for the phrase “tender eyed” and who knows, one or more of them may be right! The important thing here is that Jacob may have noticed Leah, but he was absolutely smitten with Rachel. And he wanted Rachel to be his wife.
Now, in those days, a father would not necessarily give a daughter away just for love. Seldom if ever in the Old Testament did anything like that happen (some exceptions, like Boaz and Ruth, did exist). The father would want some kind of proof, or dowry, that would show the prospective son-in-law was able to take care of the bride-to-be. Laban might well have remembered when Abraham’s servant had come years before, with ten camel’s loads of treasure (Gen 24) as evidence of Abraham’s wealth. Jacob, though, had nothing to offer but his labor and himself, as many commentators observed, and for Laban that was enough.
So then, as was the custom of the time, there was basically a contract that Jacob would serve Laban—his own uncle!—for seven years in exchange for Rachel. At first glance, all seemed to be fine, didn’t it? Laban would get seven years of Jacob’s service and Jacob would get the “girl of his dreams” except this was no dream! She was real!
Laban, though, had something else in mind, and Jacob didn’t know anything about it.
2 The wedding/s
Text: Genesis 29:21-27, KJV: 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.
Whether it was seven days or seven years (commentators are divided on this), Jacob knew that it was time to receive his wages—namely, Rachel, in accordance with the “deal” or contract he had made with Laban. Jacob simply said, “Give me my wife—I’ve paid the bill (paraphrased)” and expected Laban to honor his part of the deal. Laban, to his credit, indeed “gathered all the men of the place, and made a feast” as part of the ceremony.
Remember that weddings were not always the same in those days and in that culture as our weddings these days. If there were any ceremonies, recitals of vows, “kissing the bride” after the vows were repeated, there is no mention here that anything like that took place. So far, it seems that only the men of Laban’s household, possibly some others in the area, plus Jacob himself were there at the “wedding.” Jacob was probably wondering, “Where’s Rachel?” by this time.
Indeed, where was Rachel? Believe it or not, she wasn’t anywhere near the “wedding” at all.
Laban was about to play a trick on Jacob. He gave Jacob a wife, all right, just not Rachel!
How Laban was able to pull this off with nobody except himself and Leah knowing what was going on is one of history’s unsolved mysteries! “In the evening”, probably after sunset, Laban took Leah, the older daughter, and then brought her to Jacob.
Jacob must have thought all was well on his wedding night. Oh, how he had looked forward to this day, and this night, and he must have been happy beyond words!
Then came the morning.
And Jacob received the surprise of his life. He looked at his wife and what he thought is never recorded. He was expecting to share a life with Rachel but instead, he found Leah!
Not what he expected!
Jacob went to Laban and protested his “gift” or wages. He had agreed with Laban for Rachel, not Leah, and questioned Laban, “Why did you do this to me?” Instead of anything else, Laban trotted out a “rule” or custom of that territory. Odd, isn’t it, that there was a ready-made rule ready to be enforced even though there are few if any other occasions where this happened.
Laban said, in so many words, “We can’t allow the younger daughter/s to be married before the firstborn or older daughter. Finish this week (apparently the length of the celebration) and I’ll give you Rachel. Oh, by the way, you owe me seven more years of service.”
3 The waiting (my wife assisted me with this heading)
Text, Genesis 29:28-30, KJV: 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.
Jacob had agreed with Laban to work for seven years in exchange for Rachel to become Jacob’s wife. As noted above, Laban invoked a (newly created?) rule or custom saying that the oldest had to be married before any other daughters—this, after Jacob had found himself celebrating his wedding night with Leah, a girl he apparently didn’t love or even look at much!
Part of this may have something to do with the different facial features for each of the girls. Rachel was very pretty (a current figure of speech is “drop-dead gorgeous”) and Jacob found something in her that made him want her for his wife. Leah’s problem, for lack of a better word, was that she was “tender eyed” and that phrase has all sorts of definitions according to the commentators. Maybe the best way to put it is that Leah was plain while Rachel was pretty but, because none of us have ever seen either one of them, only the people of that time would know for sure!
Jacob now realized that he was not in much of a place to bargain with Uncle Laban. Laban held all the cards, one might say, and Jacob had—not much of anything, except Leah and, oh by the way, Laban’s “gift” of Zilpah, as a handmaid or servant girl. Unsatisfied, Jacob took the offer (bait?) and agreed to work seven more years for Rachel. Laban said, “Okay with me, but at least complete this week (marriage feast?), and then you can marry Rachel, too.” Of note is that some teachers think Jacob worked seven years before he actually married Rachel but others think he married her right after the week-long feast. The important thing is that Jacob agreed to some rather hard conditions but he was blinded by his love for Rachel.
Eventually, the wedding between Jacob and Rachel took place and Jacob must have been happy. Finally he was with the love of his choice. He must have thought he was going to live “happily ever after” because he had now found true love (he thought), a new home (for the time being) and steady employment (boy, howdy, was this ever true!). For the time, Jacob was happy.
But things, again, were about to change for him.
Conclusion: Jacob was so smitten with Rachel that he agreed for seven years of work for his uncle so that he could marry Rachel. When he found he had married Leah instead, Jacob protested but Laban had another solution: another daughter? Another seven years. How about it, Jake? And Jacob took the deal, agreeing for seven years more work for Rachel He did marry her, and must have thought everything was going to be fine.
You and I can be fooled by thinking something or someone is too good to be true. Sadly, that does happen: you and I are all sinners in need of God’s gift of salvation. Jacob let his emotions get the best of him, spending 14 years of his life in exchange for a pair of sisters. What happens when our emotions get the best of us?
Even worse is that there is not one word in this narrative that Jacob prayed to God for His Will in the matter. God loves us enough to let us make choices, but He is also the one Who makes us responsible for the choices we make. What would have happened if Jacob had sought God’s will in the matter? We will never know down here, but we don’t have to make the same mistakes Jacob did. When we seek God’s will, He will make it known to us.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
