Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 29:21-30”
Categories: Genesis“Then Jacob said to Laban, 'Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her.' Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! 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?' But Laban said, 'It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn. 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.' Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.”
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“Give me my wife, for my time is completed, that I may go in to her.” (verse 21) “A betrothed woman has the status of a wife in the laws of Hammurabi...as well as in Deuteronomy 20:7 and 22:23-24.” (Nahum Sarna) You must admire Jacob's patience throughout his seven year “engagement” in anticipation of taking Rachel as wife. He loved her dearly and he was completely captivated by her beauty, and yet he steadfastly served his father-in-law and awaited, patiently or otherwise, the reception of his bride and the moment of intimacy he so greatly desired. Poor fellow was convinced his “time” of service was “completed” to seal the deal he made with Laban and end this chapter of his life. He had no idea that his times of trial and servitude had only begun!
“Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.” (verse 22) Dear ole dad pulled out all the stops and made a great spectacle of what really was a charade and a huge hoax. He knew the whole time that he was, indeed, not honoring his word and fulfilling his obligation, but merely putting on a deceptive show. In that regard, he behaved a whole lot like Jacob had seven years earlier when he bamboozled his own father out of the final blessing that he fully intended to give to Esau, the son he loved the most. This well-attended wedding feast also served to legitimize the marriage and discourage Jacob from trying to nullify it. All indications suggest that Jacob had lived righteously and honorably before his father-in-law in his home, and had pursued a course of integrity. Even so, his duplicitous past had caught up with him, and he reaped the bitter fruit of the bad seeds he had once sown. Jacob the deceiver had met his match with Laban the swindler.
“Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her.” (verse 23) “The episode is intelligible only on the presumption that Leah wore a veil... There is evidence that in the Near East the bride was indeed veiled when presented to her husband.” (Nahum Sarna) “The trick of Laban when he substituted Leah for Rachel could not have been possible without Rachel's consent. Evidently she did not fear any competition from her less-favored sister, and welcomed the thought of her company back to Canaan." (James Burton Coffman quoting the Teachers' Bible Commentary by Clyde T. Francisco)
“So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah!” (verse 25) “Jacob's masquerading as his brother meets its appropriate counterstroke in the substitution of Leah for her sister. But retributive justice is not the only motif. Just as Jacob's succession to the birthright was divinely ordained, irrespective of human machinations (25:23), so Jacob's unintended marriage to Leah is seen as the working of Providence, for from this unplanned union issued Levi and Judah, whose offspring shared spiritual and temporal hegemony in Israel through the two great institutions of the biblical period, the priesthood and the Davidic monarchy.” (Nahum Sarna) And of course, as most of us are aware, Jesus the Christ descended from Judah through the lineage of David in the ultimate fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies (Genesis 49:10; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 11:1-10, etc.)
“Why then have you deceived me?' But Laban said, 'It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn.” (verses 25-26) Even if Laban's explanation for his treachery was true, that still did not justify the fraudulent way he duped Jacob into marrying Leah. Laban could have been upfront and honest about this supposed custom, but maybe he feared that would have flopped because of Jacob's lack of interest in Leah. Since he didn't make taking Leah a condition up front, but left the terms of the agreement to marry Rachel up to Jacob, Laban readily resorted to the recourse of a ruse. As Rachel had duped her husband into breaking with custom by blessing the younger son in place of the older, so Rachel's brother duped his nephew into keeping the custom of marrying his older daughter instead of the younger. This story just drips with saturated irony on multiple levels, and this family was well-schooled in the art of deception.
“Complete the week of this one...” (verse 27) “That is, the seven days of feasting in celebration of a marriage, also mentioned in Judges 14:12, 17 in connection with Samson's wedding.” (Nahum Sarna) “And we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.” Of course Laban knew that Jacob's deep love for Rachel would not allow him to turn down this offer. He had Jacob's back against the wall and left him no choice but to agree to polygamy if he was to have the desire of his heart. Having more than one wife will always cause strife, but marrying two sisters kicks the contention up to a different level. Combine sibling rivalry with spousal hostility and you have the formula for lifelong grievance and frustration. And of course, Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah,” which accounted for further heartache and resentment. Meanwhile, Laban benefited from seven more years of Jacob's expertise, hard labor and divine providence.
“What happened to Jacob here was as mean and despicable a fraud as was ever perpetrated by one human being against another. One may only wonder if Jacob remembered the fraud that he and his mother had committed against Isaac. Did the remembrance of it lead to his rather meek acceptance of what Laban did to him? This time, 'the heel-catcher' (the meaning of the name Jacob) was himself taken by the heel, the deceiver was deceived. Laban also, in turn, would learn the solemn truth that 'as men sow, so shall they reap.' Something else - it appears that for seven years, Jacob had lived above the devices of fraud and deception, but in the action here, Laban aroused the passion in Jacob's heart to return to the old ways, and would eventually find out that he had more than met his match in Jacob! Laban might have been doing fairly well, until he tricked Jacob! Within the span of two decades, Jacob would move out of Laban's territory, taking with him both of Laban's daughters as his wives, and all their children, who were doubtless dear to Laban, and the vast wealth which he had taken away from Laban. In this, Laban might have been able to reap his 'just recompense of reward.'” (James Burton Coffman)
Please read Genesis 29:31-35 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
