The long account of Jacob's relationship with Laban (chs. 29-31) is the centerpiece of the Jacob story (chs. 25-35). It is a story within a story, and it too has a chiastic structure. At its center is the account of the birth of Jacob's sons, the forefathers of the tribes of Israel (29:31-35).
Jacob met Rachel at the well and watered the flocks in spite of opposition against doing so. His love for her led him to serve Laban for seven years to obtain her as his wife. Laban deceived Jacob into marrying Leah, the first-born, so Jacob had to work another seven years for Rachel.
"In Laban Jacob met his match and his means of discipline."683
"Jacob is now in the greatest of all schools, that of experience, and there are many lessons to learn. These three chapters (xxix-xxxi.) cover forty years [sic, probably twenty years] of his life, and are the record of a large part of his training."684
29:1-12 "More than any other book in the OT, Genesis emphasizes the east (see 3:24; 4:16; 10:30; 11:2; 13:11; 25:6 [and 29:1]) as a direction of some significance."685
Jacob had travelled about 450 miles from Beersheba to Haran (v. 4).
The well was probably a cistern that had a mouth with a large circumference (v. 8). A very large stone that required several men to remove it evidently covered it. After someone moved the stone, the flocks would gather around the edge of the well to drink. The well from which Rebekah drew water for Eliezer (24:16) was apparently a different kind.
The male shepherds may have been unable to roll the stone away because the well belonged to Laban; their inability may have been moral rather than physical.686
Jacob wept for joy (v. 11). He had ended his journey, was now in the right place, and had met the right person. This is one of the few places in Scripture that we read of a man kissing a woman.
The suggestion of some interpreters that Laban adopted Jacob as his son is questionable.687
29:13-20 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.688
"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."689
"Seven yearswas a handsome offer: Jacob was clearly not risking a refusal--a fact which Laban would not fail to note and exploit, as Jacob had exploited Esau's eagerness (25:32)."690
Casual laborers received between one-half and one shekel a month in old Babylonia, which was a large marriage gift in exchange for Rachel's hand.691
The chiastic structure of verses 20-30 focuses attention on the complication caused by deception.
"AJacob's payment for his wife (20)
BConsummation of the marriage to Leah by deception (21-24)
CJacob'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)."692
29:21-30 "This was about one of the meanest pranks ever played on a man."693
Jacob had pretended to be his older brother, and now Leah pretended to be her younger sister. Leah deceived Jacob as Jacob 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 may have made it hard for him to see, too.694Furthermore, in that culture a bride customarily entered her husband's presence veiled.695One year an Indian student of mine told me that his father did not see his mother's face for three days after their wedding. It is still customary in India for the bride to remain veiled even after the consummation of the marriage.696
It was customary for the bride's father to give her a large present when she got married, a dowery. 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.697
As Jacob had deceived Isaac by taking advantage of his inability to see due to poor eyesight, so Laban deceived Jacob by taking advantage of his inability to see in the dark tent.
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."698
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 (cf. vv. 28, 30). 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 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 (2:24).699
"Jacob had planned to take Rachel as his wife, but God intended him to have Leah."700
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).701
"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."702
