Genesis Chapter Twenty-Nine
Read Genesis 29:1-8
– Jacob Arrives at
v.1 “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into
the land of the people of the east.”
Though we’re not told
of any of the details of Jacob’s journey, he has communed with God; his fears
and troubles seem to have been lifted and he enjoys promises that his journey
will be blessed. The NASB has the following
footnote “Then Jacob lifted up his feet” another translation says that he hurried
on; both indicating that he traveled now with a cheerful eagerness to reach his
destination.
v.2-3 “And he looked, and behold a well in the field,
and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of
that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. 3And thither were all the flocks
gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the
sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.”
Jacob arrives at a place where flocks of
sheep are gathered and a well to provide their water is available. These shepherds are following the wisdom of
God and being good stewards of his providence:
Proverbs 27:23 “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy
flocks, and look well to thy herds.”
In addition they were being good stewards of the water as well. The well is protected by a great stone from
those who might overuse or misuse it and apparently an agreement is in
existence to assure that the water is shared.
v. 4-5 “And Jacob
said unto them, My brethren, whence be
ye? And they said, Of
Since these are the
first human beings that we have record of Jacob encountering on his journey
Jacob naturally inquires in what region or what city he has reached. Their answer tells him that he has reached
his destination so he inquires further about his uncle, Laban, whom he is to
find and the shepherds know him.
v.6 “And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.”
Learning all of this
Jacob, as most of us would do, inquires regarding his Uncle’s health and
situation. Not only is Laban well but
his daughter Rachel is his shepherdess and is coming with his sheep.
v.7-8 “And he said, Lo, it is yet high day,
neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered
together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. 8And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be
gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth;
then we water the sheep.”
Jacob is a shepherd, a
simple, plain man of the fields so he knows the nature of sheep. It is mid-day, the flocks have not grazed and
these shepherds are just waiting. So he
makes the suggestion that they go ahead and water their flocks so that they
will have the time needed to take their flocks to graze. Their answer tells us that none of them had
the authority to move the stone and access the water on their own. Their agreement to share the water keeps one
shepherd or one group of shepherds from using the water without all of the
others being present.
Genesis 29:9-14 – Jacob Meets
Rachel and Laban
v.9 “And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came
with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.”
In all of the Bible
stories that we have seen and taught we don’t often see a shepherd depicted as
a woman but in fact it was not at all uncommon.
When Moses fled
“Now the priest of Midian had
seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the
troughs to water their father’s flock.” Exodus
So the prospective bride of Jacob was a shepherdess, keeping her
father’s flocks.
v.10 “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.”
Jacob had asked earlier
why these shepherds did not go ahead, give their animals water and take them on
out to graze. Now he takes the
initiative, rolls the stone away from the mouth of the well and water’s Laban’s
flocks.
v.11-12 “And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his
voice, and wept. 12And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son:
and she ran and told her father.”
Jacob is overwhelmed
with joy. He departed his homeland partly
to keep his brother from killing him; he has journeyed far and now has
successfully arrived at his destination.
God has been with him all the way and everything is going very
well. He greats his cousin with a kiss,
as was common in that day and culture; and reveals his relationship to her and
her father.
Should we be concerned
about the translation of the relationship in verse 12 where Jacob is called
Laban’s brother? No, the only
translations we find that word used are the King James and the New King
James. I don’t know what original Hebrew
word was used but in all of the other major translations I researched we find
the word relative or kinsman.
v.13 “And it came to pass, when Laban heard the
tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him,
and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these
things.”
When Laban learns that
a nephew has arrived, the son of his sister Rebekah, he does what all of us
would do. He goes to greet him, welcomes
him into his home and has what we would probably call a good visit. He catches up on the happenings of his
extended family in
v.14 “And
Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him
the space of a month.”
Laban now welcomes
Jacob literally as part of his family, bone of my bone and flesh of my
flesh. This relationship will sour later
in our study of this book as many family relationships do, especially when
business, money and some jealousy becomes involved; but for the moment all is
well and Jacob is content to serve Laban as he served his own father.
Read Genesis 29:15-20 –
Laban’s Agreement
v.15 “And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?”
Verse 14 would indicate
that after a month of working for him, Laban asks Jacob what he thinks he
should receive as wages. I find the
comment interesting that he precedes his inquiry with the observations that
“BECAUSE THOU art MY BROTHER…” or
near kinsman, Jacob should not serve Laban without compensation. It makes me wonder what he would have done
had Jacob not been part of the family.
v.16-17 “And Laban
had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the
name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.”
Laban has two daughters
that are apparently at or near marriageable age. One commentator has done some calculations
and contends that Jacob is about 77 years old so it is well beyond the time
that he should have taken a wife. The
King James text tells us that Leah was “TENDER EYED”,
do we know what that means? Other translations
tell us that her eyes were “WEAK” or “DELICATE”. Rachel is contrasted with Leah as being
“BEAUTIFUL AND WELL FAVOURED” which should tells us that Leah probably wasn’t
as beautiful or as well favored as here younger sister.
v.18 “And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve
thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.”
In our time and culture
this would seem to be a strange request.
In a month Jacob has fallen so much in love with Rachel that he is
willing to work for seven years for the privilege of making her his wife. The short period of time that it took to come
to that conclusion isn’t strange to me.
Three weeks after I started dating my Judy I wrote my mother and told
her that I had found the one that I wanted as my wife. So that part of this situation is not strange
to me personally but waiting seven years for us to marry would have been
intolerable.
v.19-20 “And Laban said, It is better that I
give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. 20And
Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”
Laban agrees with
Jacob’s request. The way that he states
his agreement struck me as being a little strange but then perhaps this was
because of the apparent age difference between Rachel and Jacob.
Oh! The power of true
love! Jacob’s love for Rachel is so deep
that the seven years of labor seem but just a few days. A thought that came to mind as I was studying
this verse: is our love for God, his righteousness, His Son, the church and the
promise of an eternal destiny with Him as deep as Jacob’s love for Rachel? Is it so deep and so strong that whatever
afflictions we have to endure only seem as a few days of minor inconvenience? Perhaps this is something we need to think
about.
Read Genesis 29:21-30 –
Laban’s Treachery
v.21 “And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.”
Jacob has completed his
part of the covenant with Laban and now has asked for the daughter that is to become
his wife.
v.22 “And Laban gathered
together all the men of the place, and made a feast.”
In response to Jacob’s
request Laban provides a marriage feast to celebrate the occasion, perhaps much
the same as the one which Jesus and his disciples attended in
“And the third day there was a
marriage in
v.23-24 “And it came to pass in the evening, that he
took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. 24And
Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.”
Laban, wishing to
secure a husband for his eldest daughter, deceives Jacob and gives him Leah
instead of Rachel. But Laban hasn’t just
wronged Jacob; he has wronged Leah and Rachel as well. He has wronged Leah by giving her as a wife
to a man that doesn’t want her and Rachel by holding her back from becoming the
wife to the man who loves her deeply.
One observation that we might make is that made by Matthew Henry in his
commentary. He seems to dwell upon the
idea that Jacob is reaping the reward of his own treachery with Esau.
v.25 “And it came to pass, that in the morning,
behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel?
wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?”
Under our customs we
would find it difficult to understand how the husband could be deceived as to
the identity of his bride until too late but it is sufficient to note that this
is the case here. When the morning comes
Jacob confronts Laban regarding his treachery and wants a reason for his
actions.
v.26 “And Laban said, It must not be so done in our
country, to give the younger before the firstborn.”
Laban’s excuse for his
actions is pretty lame, isn’t it? First
of all we cannot determine whether it was a custom of that time and culture or
not to require that the eldest daughter must marry first. In all of the history of mankind I think we
would be hard pressed to find such a requirement. In addition, if that were so, then Laban
should have raised this issue at the very beginning when he made his covenant
with Jacob. What does this tell us about
Abraham’s nephew and Rebekah’s brother?
Matthew
I Samuel 24:13 “As saith the proverb of the ancients,
Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.”
v.27-28 “Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this
also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. 28And
Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him
Rachel his daughter to wife also.”
Laban has put Jacob into a dilemma and uses
the opportunity to take further advantage of him. He has given marriage vows to Leah so as an
honest man he cannot now reject her. He
is still in love with Rachel and willing to do whatever is necessary to have
her as his wife. So when Laban proposes
another covenant Jacob accepts. He will
fulfill the duties of a husband to Leah and work for Laban another seven years
and Laban will give Jacob Rachel as his wife as well.
Did God approve of
Jacob having more than one wife? No.
that was not God’s design then any more than it is today. God tolerated many things under the
Patriarchal covenants and under the Mosaic Covenant that he does not tolerate
under the law of Christ but God’s marriage law is universal, applicable to all
men of all ages. Please note that the
declaration of Jesus that settles this issue for all time refers to a man and
his wife in the singular.
Matthew 19:5 “And said, For this cause shall a man leave
father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one
flesh?”
v.29-30 “And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah
his handmaid to be her maid. 30And he went in also unto Rachel, and
he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.”
Jacob keeps his part of
the covenant with Laban so he acquires Rachel as his wife as well. Please note that the names of the handmaidens
given to Leah and Rachel are also given us here. The significance of this will be seen in the
next chapter as Jacob eventually has sons by all four women, so his sin of
having multiple wives is compounded and begets more sin as is usually the
case. The scriptures tell us that the
child or children of the wife that is most loved will be favored:
“If a man have two wives, one
beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son
be hers that was hated: 16Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons
to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make
the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the
firstborn:” Deuteronomy 21:15-16
And this was exactly what happened when Jacob favored Joseph, the son of
Rachel, to the extent that his brothers hated him and sold him into slavery.
Read Genesis 29:31-35 – Jacob
and Leah’s First Sons
v.31 “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.”
We see again God’s
direct intervention in the lives of the patriarchs. The wives that were loved of all three,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were barren, unable to bear children.
Psalms 127:3 “LO, CHILDREN are
AN HERITAGE OF THE LORD: and
THE FRUIT OF THE WOMB is his REWARD.”
And when God saw that Jacob loved Leah less than Rachel he compensated
by giving Leah children and withholding that ability from Rachel.
v.32 “And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she
called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will
love me.
God knows and understands
our troubles and trials. He sees our
pain. Leah has faith in God and knows
that just as he knew the affliction of
Exodus 3:7 “And the LORD
said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in
Leah knows that God is with her and allowing her to do what is probably
the only thing that she can do to win Jacob’s favor, give him sons. She names the first born Reuben, which means
“see a son” hoping against hope that this will cause Jacob to love her.
v.33 “And she conceived again, and bare a son; and
said, Because the LORD hath heard
that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.”
Leah names her second
son Simeon which means “he has heard” knowing that God has indeed heard her,
knows and has acknowledged that Jacob loves her less than Rachel.
v.34 “And she conceived again, and bare a son; and
said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him
three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.”
Leah gives Jacob
another son. This time she names him
Levi, meaning “joined”, again hoping that as a result of giving him sons that
Jacob will indeed become joined to her as a husband should be joined with his
wife as “ONE FLESH” but that is not to be.
v.35 “And she conceived again, and bare a son: and
she said, Now will I praise the LORD:
therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.”
Nothing that Leah has
done has worked. She has given Jacob
three sons so she bares a fourth but names him Judah, which means “praise” as
praise to God for giving her favor when her husband would not. But God did favor Leah. What is another significant blessing that God
has provided Leah?
Matthew 1:1-2 “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham begat Isaac; and
Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;”
It is through the descendants of Jacob and Leah that God fulfills the
promises made to Eve (Genesis