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Genesis Chapter Twenty-nine
Preface
This chapter illustrates the biblical principle expressed in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” In previous chapters Jacob had used deceit on two separate occasions with his brother Esau, once to steal Esau’s birthright and the second to steal Esau’s blessing from Isaac. Now it appears that it is payback time, and God dealt with Jacob accordingly.
Jacob was seventy-seven years old when he left Beersheba for Haran. He would spend twenty years serving his uncle Laban, thirty-three years back in Canaan, and the last seventeen years of his life in Egypt. Genesis 29:1-14 So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East. And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well's mouth. Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well's mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well's mouth. And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” So he said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.” Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.” But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep.” Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. So she ran and told her father. Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.
Jacob traveled to the “land of the eastern people,” the descendants of Abraham and his concubines (Genesis 25:6—But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.). He came to a field where some shepherds from Haran were tending their flocks while waiting for other shepherds with their flocks to arrive so that they could in concert move the stone from the mouth of the well and then water their flocks. But when Jacob laid eyes upon Rachel, Laban’s daughter, he single-handedly moved the stone from the mouth of the well and watered Laban’s sheep that she was tending. Rachel was a shepherdess, not unusual when a father had no sons for such positions.
After watering Laban’s flock, Jacob kissed Rachel and cried for joy that he had found his relatives. Of course, his emotional state may very well have been an expression of “love at first sight.” Rachel soon departed returning home to Laban to inform him of the arrival of his nephew Jacob.
LABAN. The son of Bethuel; grandson of Nahor, Abraham’s brother; and uncle of Jacob. He lived in Haran of Padan-aram in Mesopotamia (Gen 24:15; 28:2; 29:4-5). When Abraham sent a servant to Laban’s country to find a bride for Isaac, Laban looked with covetous eyes on the gold rings and bracelets bestowed as gifts on his sister Rebekah. He encouraged the proposed marriage, and then shared in the addition gifts that the servant presented to the family (24:22, 29, 30, 53). . . . Laban was a shrewd and covetous man. He gave recognition to the God of his relative Abraham, but he mingled this with idolatrous reverence for household gods (teraphim). (Wycliffe Bible Dictionary, Hendrickson Publishers, 1975, Nelson B. Baker, Ph.D., Professor of English Bible Emeritus, Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Penn.)
Laban rushed to meet Jacob and to welcome him into his family. After hearing from Jacob about the condition and events of his extended family, he declared with certainty that Jacob was “bone of my flesh.” And Jacob stayed in Laban’s home for one month. Genesis 29:15-30 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.” And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Now it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came to pass 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 you? Why then have you deceived me?” And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.” Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
In one sense this passage conveys a great love story. Jacob had such love for Rachel that he ended up working 14 years for her hand in marriage. But the overriding lesson of the passage is that Jacob was in turn receiving “in kind” what he had done to his brother Esau. This is expressed succinctly in the NIV Bible Commentary, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994, as follows:
For the first time Jacob was the object of deception. Laban turned the tables on him. In the case of the blessing (ch. 27), Jacob was able to exchange the younger for the older, whereas here Laban reversed the trick and exchanged the older for the younger. Jacob was getting what he deserved. The seven extra years that Jacob had to serve Laban appear as a repayment for his treatment of Esau. Genesis 29:31-35 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now I will praise the LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
God reacted to Leah’s unloved (that is, loved less than Rachel by Jacob) condition by allowing her to give birth to children. Some say this is the “law of divine compensation.” That is, people who lack in one area are given extra in another. Leah acknowledged God when she named her children (vss. 32, 33, 35). From her comes the priesthood (Levi), the royal line (Judah), and ultimately the Messiah (Jesus Christ). In this chapter we have the first four of the sons of Jacob. The complete list of Jacob’s sons is as follows:
The sons born to Leah:
The sons born to Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel:
The sons born to Zilpah, handmaid of Leah:
The sons born to Rachel:
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