Genesis 29

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:31:37utc

This chapter begins with Jacob's arrival in Haran, the place where Bethuel moved, either when Terah did or at a later date. It is the place where his mother was born and where Abraham's servant went to get a bride for Isaac. We are told nothing further about Jacob's trip, which must have taken him several weeks. He covered a distance of more than 300 miles, according to The Pulpit Commentary. It must have been an eventful journey, but we only hear about the one night when he had his dream at Bethel.

When Jacob arrives within walking distance of the place where his family lives, he sees a group of shepherds close to a well, waiting for more people to gather to water their sheep. He learns that they have a set way of doing this, which evidently is different than what Jacob is used to. At least

he makes a remark about the inefficiency of their system.

Jacob learns from the shepherds that he is close to Haran and that Laban still lives there. While he gathers information about his relatives, Rachel, his cousin, approaches with a flock of sheep. While she is approaching, the system of watering each flock is explained to Jacob. Whether the well wasn't opened to avoid too much dirt blowing in, or whether the water supply was limited and it was necessary to wait in order to assure a fair distribution, we are not told.

As soon as Jacob sees his cousin, he is overwhelmed with emotions. We have to remember that Jacob came to Haran with the specific purpose of marrying his cousin, so we do not have to ask ourselves the question what went on inside him. He does two things: he rolls away the stone of the well which, we are told, was very heavy. Either the shepherds were a bunch of lazy weaklings, or Jacob was a very strong man. Maybe the surge of adrenaline he felt when he saw Rachel made him perform over and above his natural strength. It looks like Jacob experienced love at first sight.

Secondly, Jacob kisses Rachel and he breaks down in tears. Obviously he must have told Rachel who he was. She would not have allowed a perfect stranger to kiss her in public, we hope. Jacob's reaction gives us a glance into his character and into the tensions he must have experienced during the trip. After all, he had no indication as to what he would find upon arrival. The uncertainty of the outcome of his trip must have preoccupied him constantly as he walked week after week. Whoever sets out over such a distance to marry a cousin he has never seen? Here he arrives and the first person he bumps in to is his cousin. Jacob had asked God to watch over him on his journey and God had granted his request beyond his wildest imagination.

Rachel runs home and tells her father Laban, who in turn hurries to the well and gives Jacob a very warm welcome. A comparison between this incident and a similar one that took place about sixty or more years earlier forces itself upon us. Then Abraham's servant stood at a similar place and was greeted warmly by Laban, who had seen the proofs of riches of his uncle Abraham in the nose and on the arms of his sister Rebekah. Here he only meets a poor single traveler, who has nothing to offer. It is to Laban's credit that he welcomes Jacob with the same warmth and takes him in.

In verse 13 we read: "As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things." It would be interesting to know what the content was of the story Jacob told his uncle. We are told "Jacob told him all these things." Did this include his deceit of his father, which has mother had plotted for him? Did he reveal that he had to flee for his live, because Esau planned to kill him? Did he tell that he came to marry one of his cousins? It could be that under the impact of the highly emotional experience Jacob just had he said more than he intended to. It is doubtful that Jacob specifically mentioned his intentions to marry Rachel, because in the following verses the topic is brought up as a new subject, not as something that had been mentioned before. Of course, Laban was not born yesterday. He would have divined that a single fellow would not cover a distance of about 450 miles just to say "hello" to his uncle. But although this was understood it was not said.

How much could Jacob hide and still be honest? The question can put made general: how much do we have to tell others to be open with them? Since the fall it is impossible for persons to be completely honest, either with each other or with themselves. We are even prone to deceive God. Jer.17:9 tells us: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" The cover God gave to Adam and Eve to clothe their nakedness was meant to cover their souls even more than their bodies. Our heart is still deceitful beyond cure and our only openness is under the cover of the blood of Jesus Christ.

We are told that Jacob stayed with Laban one month without any obligation on either side. Obviously, Jacob was not lazy and he must have started right away to help his uncle with the herd. Laban's eye was keen enough to see that he had found himself a first class worker and he decides to take full advantage of this. His talk sounds smooth, but evidently his intentions are less lofty. He offers to pay Jacob. The way he puts his proposal is very clever. We read in verse 15: "Laban said to him, 'Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.' " In other words: "Since you are my relative, I am under no obligation to pay you for your work, which should be considered payment for room and board. But since I am generous, I am offering you a salary."

Laban must also have been aware of Jacob's love for Rachel, so he sets the trap for his cousin. People in love are easy to catch. Jacob, rather generously, offers himself as a slave to his uncle. The period of seven years of service would later be incorporated into the Mosaic law. (Ex.21:2). It is quite likely that what God decreed to Moses was a continuation of the existing custom. We should notice that Laban does not offer Jacob any credit, at least at this point. After the deceit of Jacob's wedding night he is issued a credit card, but not now. It seems to me that Jacob paid his uncle well. Seven years of industrious labor constitutes a lot of money. But as far as Jacob is concerned the time flew by. We read in verse 20: "So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her."

When Jacob proposes to his uncle to marry Rachel, Laban acts as if he never thought of this possibility and that although he could do much better marrying her to someone else in the area, someone of influence, he does not mind sacrificing his daughter for the sake of family ties. Knowing the rest of the story, we can see the slyness of this man being outlines already at this point. Rachel was a beautiful girl, as Jacob's mother was, but Lea was rather plain. The Pulpit Commentary gives as meanings for the name Lea "Wearied," "Dull," "Stupid," "Pining," or "Yearning." The poor girl! To have to go around with a name like that! We are told that "Lea had weak eyes." The KJV says "tender eyes," but the meaning of the word tender must have changed over the centuries. It sound like Laban might have had a hard time marrying off his oldest daughter. It is quite likely that the plan to push Lea on Jacob was formed already at this moment.

So Jacob performs his slave labor of seven years. At the end of this period Laban does not give any indication to have counted too closely, so Jacob has to remind him of the deal that was made and a wedding, according to the custom of the country is organized. Calvin comments upon Jacob's words "I want to lie with her," that this was a proof that Rachel's virginity had been kept. Jacob had not touched her. Whether this is an indication of Jacob's restraint, we do not know. It would probably have been considered a capital offense had Jacob tried to touch his bride to be during this period.

The wedding feast lasted seven days, but at the end of the first day Jacob is given his bride, whom he presumes to be Rachel. Divine justice paid back Jacob for his own deceit at this point. We cannot but feel a mixture of pity and satisfaction for this man, who was in the habit of tripping up others. Here he pays for the soup he sold to his brother and the blessing he stole from his father. But on the other hand it must be terrible to discover the morning after that the joys of the wedding night were spent on the wrong person. Jacob expressed his love to the person he did not love. How utterly foolish and ridiculed he must have felt! Jacob had been in the habit of tripping people, by grabbing their heel; here his uncle had pulled his leg! He had found his match.

It is clear that if the custom of the land was to marry the oldest daughter before the younger, Jacob should have been told when he asked for Rachel's hand. To tell this to a bridegroom after the wedding is utterly mean. Laban shows his true colors by booking Jacob immediately for another seven years. He is given Rachel immediately upon finishing the first week of the wedding with Leah. Laban has Jacob over a barrel and he takes full advantage of him.

We could dismiss this with the thought that what we are reading here is just the story of what one crook does to another. In a certain way this is true. But Jacob had shown signs of a genuine change of heart after his encounter with God at Bethel. He seems to have become more open and straightforward. We have seen already that what happens to him is a meeting out of divine justice. God shows him "a severe mercy," to use C.S. Lewis's phrase. Jacob is made to feel by the hand of God, what it means to be cheated. Jacob's experience is part of the process by which the Holy Spirit is making him a man: a man of God. The Lord uses sinful people to change and chisel and polish us. More important than what happened to Jacob is how Jacob reacted to what happened to him. Jacob's reaction seems quite mild. He asks the question indignantly, but he does not fly into a rage. Yet he had been humiliated to the core.

With the two wives come two slave girls, who eventually become Jacob's wives also. Zilpah was Laban's gift to Lea and Bilhah to Rachel. These girls had probably served the daughters from the very beginning, or they were slave girls they grew up with. I suppose the names are mentioned specifically because of Jacob's future relationship with them. They would become mothers in Israel. And Jacob thought he was just marrying Rachel!

Chapter 29:31 through 30:24 give us one of those sad stories of family jalousie and friction that abound in this world. Partly this was Jacob's fault. He loved Rachel and he showed it, which made Lea suffer immensely. As Westerners we have very little understanding of the tragedies among polygamous families. I have seen the quarrels between wives of the same husband among the Ekagi tribe in Irian Jaya and I am afraid I have only thought it was funny. The screaming and, sometimes, physical abuse looked amusing, but I had very little understanding of the deep hurt that lay at the bottom of this. Impartiality by the husband in such a situation is an impossibility. Men generally are insensitive to the hurts of women; they are amused.

Jacob was used to favoritism. His mother had adopted him; his father had chosen Esau. Jacob's deceit of his brother and his father was probably his way of getting back at both of them for this kind of rejection. He may not have done this consciously. Now he practices what he learned at home and he makes Lea suffer immensely. What we say is no plea for polygamy. In a certain way Jacob was a victim, but so was Lea.

The Lord understood. We read in vs.31 - "When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren." God loved Lea! How terrible it is to live as husband and wife without love. Sex without love is a diabolic invention. For Lea it was misery to be married to Jacob. For Rachel it was too, because she turns out to be barren, like her mother was.

Lea calls her son Reuben - "Behold a Son!" She thinks that the birth of Reuben will change Jacob's attitude toward her, but it doesn't. The joy and mystery of birth should have affected Jacob, but his loveless relationship with his first wife must have dulled his ability for affection. So Lea continues to suffer. The KJV and RSV use the word "hated" instead of "not loved." It could be that Jacob used Lea to revenge himself for the humiliation he had undergone that first night. We are not told what went on in the secrecy of their bedroom, but it sounds like the sanctity of marriage was violated. Jacob may have gotten Lea pregnant by taking it out on her. We can only guess the depth of her suffering. However, in her pain she turns to the Lord. The names she gives to the four sons she bears Jacob express her growing fellowship with the Lord.

After Reuben, Simeon is born. The name means "hearing." Evidently Lea had prayed and Simeon was the answer to her prayers. When the third boy is born, she calls him Levi, which means, "joined." She thinks that this third child will be the cement in Jacob's relationship with her. Her naming the son Levi was prophetic in the sense that Levi did become the tribe out of which the priests would be called, who would be the bridge between God and the people.

The birth of Judah, however, brings Lea to praise the Lord. She must have realized that fulfillment was not going to come from her relationship with Jacob, or in any other human relationships, but only in fellowship with God. Only when we love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind will we experience the peace and fulfillment that we long for. If human love is based on God's love, it will fill our being. But if we tried to fill ourselves with human love, as a substitute for God's love, we dry out.

In naming her fourth son Lea exercises again her gift of prophecy. It is through him that the Messiah would come into this world, that the Word would become flesh. A greater reason to praise God cannot be thought of.

Lea's experience may not have been completely pure, because at a later date we see her starting to manipulate the situation, as if God had done nothing for her. As long as we are in this world there will not be any perfect relationships, not even with God. Lea learned to praise God at a certain point, because of her motherhood, but she did not learn to rest in Him for the remainder of her life. That does not diminish the riches of what we learn of these verses.