Genesis 29:15-28

Genesis 29:15-28 (NRSV)

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. ¹⁸ 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 that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) ²⁵ When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

An editorial title for Genesis 29:15-28 and for the 29^th chapter might be “Jacob Marries Laban’s Daughters” (as the NRSV calls this section). A title somewhat more sensitive to the narrative arc of the Jacob story, however, might be “Jacob’s Comeuppance,” for that is what happens to one of the Bible’s most famous tricksters. The family of Jacob will have its problems. People have long made jokes about the problems within families. The ancient writer Plutarch supposedly noted he saw man throw a rock at a dog and instead hit his mother-in-law. “Not bad” was the comment he made on the incident. On a more serious note, it reminds me of the statement in the movie, Bridges Over Madison County.” It is natural for parents to love their children, in spite of their shortcomings.  It is harder for children to forgive the parents their faults. The family is an imperfect place for our beginnings. We are born into families that have histories, and we quickly share that imperfect history. Of course, it must be imperfect, for it is also a human story. Yet, some families seem to give a “leg up” on life for the children, if the children will appreciate it and move forward. Other families, of course, do not. Dysfunctional families have an abundance of trust and anger issues. We will find both in the family of Jacob. In a sense, Jacob has greatness in his heredity, since the Lord has chosen his family to be a blessing to the nations. Psalm 105 refers to the descendants of Abraham as the chosen ones of the Lord. It also refers to the covenant made with Abraham and the promise of land to Isaac and Jacob. The story of Jacob makes it clear that divine election is a matter of the choice of God rather than the virtue of Jacob. Yet, that blessing of election may not express itself the way Jacob might have planned. In other words, with all the problems we find in this family. The Lord was able to work with them.

In Genesis 29:15-28, we find the beginning of the dysfunctional and imperfect family of Jacob. Apparently, in the month that Jacob has stayed with Laban, he has been working. Laban offers to pay him. Yet, the end of this part of the story questions the sincerity of Laban. The only payment Jacob wants is to take Rachel, whose name in Hebrew means “ewe,” the daughter of Laban, for his wife. Jacob had already met her at a well, as we find with Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24:11-49 and Moses and Zipporah in Exodus 2:15-22. Laban did have an older daughter, Leah, whose name means “cow.” Between the two, Rachel was the knockout. Jacob offers to work for seven years. Payment for a wife would have been normal. However, seven years is a long time. Yet, the text makes an interesting comment on the human experience of time. In this case, Jacob is so full of passion for Rachel that seven years seem like a moment. The goal gives him so much joy that the undoubted drudgery of the day passed quickly. Unfortunately, for Jacob, the deception happens at the end of the seven years. Laban and his two daughters conspire to trick the trickster! Jacob had already tricked Esau and Isaac. Now, he is at the receiving end of the trick. Jacob experienced the principle of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” long before the Torah explicitly stated it. Laban is able to trick Jacob due to the feast prior to the wedding night. Jacob trusts Laban at a critical moment when he needed to be more alert to the possibility of deception. We can assume some adult beverage and a late night. He does not recognize until the next morning that he had sex with Leah. Laban will explain that in his culture the tradition is that the older daughter must marry first. Jacob would work another seven years for Rachel. The two daughters will receive maidens to serve them. Jacob will have children with the four women, which will form the basis for the Twelver tribes of Israel. The two daughters are the mothers of Israel. Yet, the strife and bitterness between them will find reflection in the tribal dissension of the Leah tribes vs the Rachel tribes.

It may well be the final trick played on Jacob will come from the Lord. While Jacob would love Rachel, it will be through Leah that Moses and David will come. The passion of Jacob led him to Rachel, but the Lord dismisses that interest and blesses the lineage of Leah in a special way. Further, as modern readers, we can take some strange comfort in the way the Lord can use a dysfunctional family that has issues with trust, bad interpersonal relations, anger, and wrongly directed passion. Regardless of how curious our families may be, the Lord can still work with us.