Laban outwits Jacob

The Jacob Cycle - Part 7

After Jacob apparently works a month for Laban, Laban asks him what his wages should be. This begins a reversal of Jacob’s actions in Canaan. Once again, there’s no mention of God, but the connections back to the previous sections show that God is reforming him into the kind of human he wants him to be as the chosen seed of the woman.

Structure

This episode is divided into 4 parts.1

  1. The betrothal of Jacob and Rachel - Genesis 29:15-19
  2. Seven years of service for Rachel - Genesis 29:20
  3. The wedding - Genesis 29:21-30a
  4. Another seven years of service - Genesis 29:30b

The betrothal of Jacob and Rachel

From nephew to servant

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

–Genesis 29:15 (ESV)

On the surface, especially within our cultural context, it appears that Laban is being friendly towards Jacob and concerned about his wellbeing. However, this wage bartering between family members is likely meant to be discomforting, especially given how the words “serve” and “wages” are used later in the context of Jacob being exploited by Laban.2 By offering wages, Laban makes the relationship transactional instead of relational.

In verse 13, Jacob told Laban “all these things,” so Laban understands Jacob’s situation: that he needs protection from Esau and that he’s been charged by Isaac to find a wife from among Laban’s daughters. He also knows that, coming empty-handed, he isn’t able to pay the culturally-required bride-price (see Wage negotiations.) Furthermore, it’s likely safe to assume that Laban knows that Jacob loves Rachel given the narrator’s disclosure of that information in verse 18. Laban has all the information he needs to weaken the uncle/nephew relationship and make a servant out of Jacob.3

The root word for “serve” (‘vd) occurs 7 times in this section (one is hidden in verse 27 in English; Laban says in return for “serving that [the additional seven years] service” Jacob may marry Rachel.)4 Jacob is shown to be made completely subservient to Laban, in tension with God’s words to Rebekah that the nation coming from Jacob would be served by the nation coming from Esau. Rebekah and Jacob’s attempts to force the oracle to happen have led to a situation opposite to the one God intended. Nevertheless, God will work through it to protect the seed of the woman and bring Jacob out of bondage. Once again, the Jacob Cycle looks ahead to Israel’s enslavement in Egypt and the exodus. The Egyptians will make the Israelites work as “slaves” (ya‘avidu, root ‘vd; Exodus 1:13-14.)

The root word for “wages” (maskurt,) is another keyword, appearing 12 times while Jacob is in Haran. The last time it appears, in Genesis 31:41, we learn that Laban will have changed Jacob’s wages 10 times. Throughout the story, wages will be used as a way to weaken Jacob’s position and agency.

Leah and Rachel contrasted

16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Jacob loved Rachel.

–Genesis 29:16-18a (ESV)

The narrator proceeds with background information about Leah and Rachel. The names of the sisters are likely juxtaposed to highlight Jacob’s preference for Rachel. Leah can mean “wild cow” and Rachel means “ewe lamb”.5 Leah is described as having “weak” or “tender” (rakoth) eyes, which describes the aesthetic quality of her eyes in contrast to Rachel’s beauty.6 It’s likely a deliberately peculiar way to inform us that Jacob preferred Rachel because of her physical appearance. He’s about to be deceived by the Laban and the “weak-eyed” Leah. In Canaan, he and Rebekah deceived the “dim-eyed” Isaac.

This passage parallels the descriptions of Esau and Jacob and the favoritism of their parents in Genesis 25:27-28. Isaac loved Esau because of what Esau could offer him: food that he loved. Jacob loves Rebekah because of her beauty. He’s falling into the places of Esau and Isaac whom he manipulated and deceived. Jacob was initially described as tam, “blameless” or “having integrity” (Genesis 25:27,) perhaps ironically, in contrast to Abimelek who took Sarah in the “integrity of his heart” in Genesis 20:6, not knowing that she was Abraham’s wife (see Part 3.) While God’s promises to Jacob have all been without condition, he wants to reform Jacob into a model of the seed of the woman that will ultimately crush the head of the serpent. He’ll do this by revisiting Jacob’s scheming and deceptions on him as discipline to encourage repentance.

Wage negotiations

18 And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”

–Genesis 29:18b-19 (ESV)

The offer of seven years of service is for the typical bride-price, which was a fixed amount paid by the groom in compensation for the loss of the bride’s contributions to the family and her potential children.7 Abraham’s servant gave Laban and his mother “costly ornaments” as the bride-price for Rebekah in Genesis 24:53. As we know, however, Jacob arrived in Haran with nothing, so the only thing he has to offer is himself. Hiring oneself out on contract as an indentured servant was a common practice in Jacob’s time and place. An Assyrian tablet records a man offering ten years of service for a wife, food, and clothing.8

It’s possible that Jacob’s offer of seven years of service is well beyond what would have been typical.9 If so, this exchange strongly echoes Esau’s sale of the birthright to Jacob. Jacob, understanding Esau’s nature, manipulated him into trading something of great value for a bowl of lentil soup, which Esau likely thought was something more substantial such as meat stew or blood broth (see Part 2 - The sale of the birthright.) Jacob exchanges seven years of service, possibly of greater value than a typical bride-price for Rachel; instead, he’ll receive Leah.

Laban accepts in a conspicuously ambiguous way, not outright agreeing or even naming which daughter he’s thinking of allowing Jacob to marry.10 His statement, “stay with me” echoes Rebekah’s instruction to “stay with him” (Genesis 27:44.)11

Seven years of service for Rachel

20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

–Genesis 29:20 (ESV)

The seven years Jacob works for Rachel only seeming like “a few days” is a link back to Rebekah instructing him to stay with Laban for “a few days” in Genesis 27:44 before returning home. So, Jacob is likely expecting to return home after these “few days.”11 Neither Laban nor God will be finished with him after that time, however. It’s time for the deceiver to be deceived.

The wedding

Masquerade

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 23 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.)

–Genesis 29:21-24 (ESV)

The narrative immediately progresses to the point after Jacob served seven years, allowing us to share in the short relative time that Jacob experienced. He demands that Laban give him Rachel so that he can consummate the marriage in the same way that he demanded Esau sell him the birthright, without saying “please,” using a verb in the imperative form, and stressing urgency with a form of the word “day.”

Jacob said, “Sell [mikrah, imperative] me your birthright now [yom, ‘day’.]”

–Genesis 25:31 (ESV)

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give [havah, imperative] me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time [yama, root yom, ‘day’] is completed.”

–Genesis 29:21 (ESV)

However, this time, Jacob won’t immediately get what he wants, and it’s he who will trade something of greater value, his seven years of service, for something of lesser value in his eyes, Leah. Laban is in control of the situation. The turning point has arrived.

Laban gathers the people of the “place” (maqom) for a wedding feast. “Place” was established as a keyword in the Jacob Cycle at the beginning of the Bethel episode where it was repeated three times (Genesis 28:15.) There, God promised Jacob that he would be with him wherever he went. He’s now in Haran, a different “place” away from the “House of God” and “Gate of Heaven” (Genesis 28:17.) maqom is repeated here to remind us of that promise.

The Hebrew word translated “feast”, mishteh, might imply a feast with copious drinking (the root word is sth, “drink”.) So, it might not be a stretch to imagine Jacob drinking too much, giving Laban’s plan a greater chance of success. It’s noted that Laban implemented his plan “in the evening,” recalling Isaac’s “dim” eyes (Genesis 27:1) and Jacob stopping at the place that he would name Bethel because the “the sun had set” (Genesis 28:11.) The physical darkness in these scenes points to the spiritual blindness of the chosen one. Here, an unrepentant and uncommitted (and perhaps drunk) Jacob is unable to see through the masquerade. In addition to the darkness of evening, Leah was likely veiled per the customs of the time.12 This all contributes to the main point of the narrative: Jacob is being deceived in the same manner as he deceived Isaac.

It’s noted that Laban gives Zilpah to Leah as a servant. It might seem like a strange interruption, but its narrative purpose is to connect Leah and Zilpah as future matriarchs of the chosen line.13

Unmasking

25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah…

–Genesis 29:25-30a (ESV)

In the light of morning, Jacob discovers the deception. He echoes the words of Isaac to Esau when they discovered Jacob’s deception in Genesis 27:35: “Your brother came deceitfully…”14 Laban responds, literally, “It is not done in our place to give the younger before the firstborn.” “Our place” meqome again recalls Bethel and God’s promise to be with Jacob. Laban’s statement about it not being their custom to give the younger before the firstborn leaves Jacob speechless. What he had done to Isaac and Esau is now being done to him. He elevated himself, the younger, above Esau, the firstborn. The reminder of Bethel is set in tension with Jacob experiencing the wrong he’s inflicted on others. It can be viewed as God’s discipline to reshape Jacob and demonstrate that he can and will work through his chosen one, regardless of his failings.

Instead of a verbal response, Jacob silently accepts Laban’s offer to work another seven years for Rachel. We’re perhaps intended to wonder if this is the appropriate response. In Biblical narrative, marrying multiple wives is generally demonstrated to cause problems and not align with God’s plan. The first man who had two wives in the Bible was Lamech, the seventh generation from the line of Cain, was also the second murderer in the Bible and boasted about it. Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to try to resolve her barrenness on her own, contrary to God’s plan. In the Jacob Cycle itself, Esau’s first two wives caused “bitterness of spirit” in Isaac and Rebekah. Leah will be the mother of Judah, the line of Israel’s kings and Jesus himself. She’ll survive the return to Canaan, while Rachel won’t. Jacob’s persistent favoritism for Rachel and his children by her will ultimately lead to the nascent Israel relocating to Egypt and becoming enslaved there. Leah, though the firstborn, as the unloved wife is the lesser between her and her sister. Up to this point in Genesis, God has been choosing the lesser to be his chosen one. Maybe, Leah was the only one God intended Jacob to marry. If Jacob, confronted with what he had done in Canaan had repented here, would he have recognized it? Regardless, God will work through both wives, and their servants, to bring about the births of the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel, demonstrating the invincibility of his plan despite imperfect people and situations.

After completing the required week with Leah, Jacob marries Rachel, committing to another seven years of service to Laban. The introduction of Rachel’s servant Bilhah sets the stage for further complications in Jacob’s family. Here, the matriarchs of the tribes of Israel are presented: Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah. Leah and Rachel will both experience barrenness, and, like Sarah before them, will attempt to resolve it by giving their servants to Jacob to bear children on their behalf. This, combined with Jacob’s clear preference for Rachel over Leah, suggests that more familial discord is imminent. Despite these issues, God’s plan remains firm. He continues to work through the failings and favoritism of His chosen people, committed to reforming Jacob along the way.

Another seven years of service

30 …and served Laban for another seven years.

–Genesis 29:20b (ESV)

The episode ends with Jacob committed to another seven years of service to Laban. These do not pass “like a few days,” however.15 Jacob and Rebekah’s hopes of a swift return to Canaan are dashed. God has more work to do with Jacob in Haran.

Bibliography

Fokkelman, J.P. Narrative Art in Genesis. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004.

Sarna, Nahum M. Genesis. The JPS Torah Commentary. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1989.

Walton, John H. Genesis. The NIV Application Commentary. E-book ed. Zondervan, 2014.

Walton, John H. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009.

Wenham, Gordon John. Genesis 16-50, Volume 2. World Biblical Commentary. E-book ed. Zondervan Academic, 2017.

  1. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 233. ↩

  2. Ibid, 234. ↩

  3. Fokkelman, Narrative Art, 127. ↩

  4. Sarna, Genesis, 203. ↩

  5. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 234. ↩

  6. Sarna, Genesis, 204. ↩

  7. Ibid, 168. ↩

  8. Ibid, 204. ↩

  9. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 234. Walton, Genesis-Deuteronomy, 109. ↩

  10. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 234. ↩

  11. Fokkelman, Narrative Art, 128. ↩ ↩2

  12. Walton, Genesis, 587. ↩

  13. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 235. ↩

  14. Sarna, Genesis, 205. ↩

  15. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 237. ↩

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