15 Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, should you therefore

Transcription

1 15 Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be? 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 And Leah s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face (Gen. 29:15 17). 29:15 17 "Weak" eyes were dull and lacking in luster rather than bright (v. 17). Fiery eyes were, and still are, considered the height of beauty among Near Eastern people. However, the Hebrew word translated "weak" (rak, tender, soft) can also mean "delicate," so Leah may have had lovely eyes (but perhaps not so beautiful a form as her younger sister s). The New Revised Standard Version has "Leah's eyes were lovely." Rak is translated gentle in Proverbs 15:1 ( A gentle answer turns away wrath ) and tender in Isaiah 47:1 ( You shall no longer be called tender and delicate ). Certainly Jacob found Rachel more attractive than her older sister. Leah s name means "Wild Cow." 448

2 18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so 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 to give her to another man; stay with me (Gen. 29:18 19). 29:18 19 Regarding marriage generally, the Nuzi tablets provided that if a man worked over a period of time for the father of a girl whom he wished to marry, then he would have the right to take the girl as his wife. Seven years was a handsome offer: Jacob was clearly not risking a refusal a fact that Laban would not fail to note and exploit, as Jacob had exploited Esau's eagerness (25:32). Casual laborers received between one-half and one shekel a month in old Babylonia, which, because Jacob forfeited seven years of wages at that rate, was a large marriage gift he "paid" in exchange for Rachel's hand. 449

3 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her (Gen. 29:20). 29:20 Jacob s seven years of service to Laban passed quickly because of Jacob s love for Rachel. Jacob was acting in good faith to the agreement he had reached with Laban. Yet Laban was setting up Jacob for a huge anti-climax. The trickster Jacob was about to be beguiled by Laban s cruel deception. The chiastic structure of verses focuses attention on the complication caused by Laban s deception: A Jacob's payment for his wife (20) B Consummation of the marriage to Leah by deception (21 24) C Jacob's accusation against Laban (25) C Laban's defense (26) B Consummation of the marriage to Rachel by negotiation (27 30a) A Jacob's payment for his wife (30b) 450

4 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her. 22 Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. 23 Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. 24 Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid (Gen. 29:21 24). 29:21 24 This was one of the meanest pranks ever played on a man. Jacob had pretended to be his older brother (27:19 20), and now Leah pretended to be her younger sister. Laban and Leah deceived Jacob, as Jacob and Rebekah had deceived Isaac. Perhaps Jacob's eating and drinking at the feast had clouded his mind (v. 22). The darkness of his tent at night, additionally, may have made it hard for him to see. Furthermore, in that culture a bride customarily entered her husband's presence veiled. Von Rad wrote heavily veiled, and Aalders completely veiled. One year an Indian seminary student told Dr. Thomas Constable that the student s father did not see his mother's face for three days after their wedding. It is still customary among some Indians for the bride to remain veiled even after the consummation of the marriage. It was customary for the bride's father to give her a large present when she got married: a dowry. In the ancient world, the gift normally consisted of clothing, furniture, and money, and it served as a nest egg for the wife in case her husband died or divorced her. Some dowries were exceptionally valuable, such as slave-girls (24:61; 29:29) or a city (1 Kings 9:16). Laban was being generous, giving away two of his maids (servants): Zilpah (to Leah, v. 24) and Bilhah (to Rachel, v. 29). 451

5 25a So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! (Gen. 29:25a) 29:25a Laban had carried out a masterpiece of shameless treachery. When confronted, Laban would offer a lame cultural excuse: It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn (v. 26). This entire experience, especially the idea of giving priority to the firstborn, must have immediately brought to Jacob s mind his own deception of Isaac: the deceiver (Jacob) had now been deceived. Jacob was learning how it feels to be deceived. Now he knew and understood how Esau had felt. This was God s rebuke of Jacob for deceiving his father to obtain the blessing. This deception was designed by God to make Jacob, the deceiver, know that such devices are repugnant to God. Moses original readers of this account would have understood its underlying principle: an ancestor of the Syrians (Laban) had dealt underhandedly with the ancestor of the Hebrews (Jacob). Moses readers would have been eager to hear the rest of the account, to discover its eventual outcome. Would Jacob make the best of this? Would these sins of deception frustrate God s plan? How would God incorporate this messy family situation into His good promises of blessing? 452

6 25b And he said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me? 26 But Laban said, It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service that you shall serve with me for another seven years (Gen. 29:25b 27). 29:25b 27 As Jacob had deceived Isaac by taking advantage of his inability to see due to poor eyesight (27:36), so Laban deceived Jacob by taking advantage of his inability to see in the dark tent (29:25). Earlier Jacob had deceptively pretended to be the older brother (ch. 27), and now Laban tricked him by replacing the younger with the older sister. Laban was just as deceitful as Jacob (v. 26)! For despicability Laban takes the prize in the Old Testament. He should have told Jacob of this custom beforehand, if indeed it was a custom, which seems questionable. The "bridal week" was the week of feasting that followed a marriage (v. 27; cf. Judg. 14:12, 17). Jacob received Rachel seven days after he had consummated his marriage to Leah ("Complete the week of this one ; i.e., Leah's bridal week); cf. vv. 28, 30). (Josephus wrote that after the second seven years, Jacob took Rachel as his wife, but here the week was seven days, not seven years.) The Hebrew name "Rachel" means "Ewe," and "Leah" means "Cow." Ironically, Laban treated his own daughters like cattle and sheep, and used them for bargaining and trading. "Zilpah" means "Small Nose," and "Bilhah" means "Carefree." Jacob married two women in eight days. Notice that Jacob was behaving like his parents, who each favored one son above the other, by favoring one of his wives above the other. In both cases, serious family problems followed. The Mosaic Law later prohibited marrying two sisters at the same time (Lev. 18:18). Bigamy and polygamy were never God's will, however ( wife is singular in Gen. 2:24). Jacob had planned to take Rachel as his wife, but God intended him to have Leah. 453

7 28 Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29 Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years (Gen. 29:28 30). 29:28 30 Verses 29 and 30 help us to understand the "love/hate" language in the Bible. These terms often refer to someone's choice to "bless" or "not bless another person (cf. Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13). In verse 29, we read: "Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah," but in verse 30 we read: "Leah was hated [literal translation]." Jacob did not really "hate" Leah; he loved Rachel more than Leah. The statement that Jacob "hated" Leah describes his comparative affection for her, and his purpose to bestow less blessing on Leah than he would give to Rachel. Evidence will follow that Leah was the more "spiritual" of the two sisters. God remains faithful to His promises to bless His people, but in the process He may discipline them for their previous unresolved sins, and often does so "in kind" (i.e., with talionic judgment; cf. Prov. 3:12; Gal. 6:7; Heb. 12:5 6). Jacob was getting what he deserved. In this light the seven extra years that Jacob had to serve Laban appear as a repayment for his treatment of Esau. By calling such situations to the attention of the reader, the writer begins to draw an important lesson from these narratives. Jacob's deceptive schemes for obtaining the blessing did not meet with divine approval. Through Jacob's plans God's will had been accomplished; but the writer is intent on pointing out, as well, that the schemes and tricks were not of God's design. 454