| Subject: Genesis 29 vss. 11-20 Post 151 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 17:13:18 06/19/11 Sun
Genesis 29:21-30 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23 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. 24 And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. 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? 26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. 28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. 29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. 30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Jacob has fulfilled his seven years of labor for Rachel. The previous passage tells that it seemed but a few days because his love for Rachel was so great. Jacob goes to Laban and asks for his "pay". Laban is totally agreeable and calls together the neighbors and kinsfolk for the big wedding feast. The night must have been as a dream to Jacob as his anticipation grew with each passing moment. The wedding over evidently Jacob goes to his tent and waits for Rachel to be brought to him. With customs as they were I suspect that Leah was covered from head to toe and would have been unrecognizable even in the daylight. She was brought to Jacob in the night and she fulfilled her duty to her husband in such a manner that he was none the wiser for the deception of Laban. Daylight brought a totally different aspect to the marriage. When Jacob opens his eyes and gets his first good look he sees those "tender eyes" on what should have been his sister-in-laws face. Jacob gets up and bolts from the tent straight to Laban. The cleaned up version of the conversation probably went something like this. "Man, what have you done to me?" "I slaved for seven whole years for Rachel, whom you agreed to give me for my wife, and I wake up to find her sister in my bed". "You dirty rotten scumbag, why did you trick me and swap Leah for Rachel?" "I didn't want Leah; I don't want Leah and now she is all I have to show for seven years of hard labor!"
The modern version of Laban's answer is short and to the point: "We don't do things that way here Bud!" "We don't give the younger in marriage before the oldest!" What may also have been left unsaid was that this seemed like a good way for Laban to marry off an otherwise unmarriable daughter.
Jacob's answer might have been; "Well now is a fine time to tell me all this." "What now?" Laban's answer is another indication of the treachery that he is capable of. "I tell you what Jacob; You fulfill Leah's marriage week and I will give you Rachel also with one stipulation. You've got to give me seven more years of labor for my letting you marry her."
Jacob's treachery to Esau has come back to haunt him. He has run into someone who will use subtilty, guile and treachery for his own benefit than Jacob would. Payback is hard sometimes and it will not always come back from the one you wronged. God's hand can be seen in this and Jacob is reaping what he has sown. He is now on the receiving end of wrongdoing.
Jacob has now indentured himself to Laban for 14 years. What was to be maybe a year or two away from home to let Esau "cool down" is now stretched to 14 years of mandatory labor.
Jacob fulfills Leah's week, gets Rachel to wife and in the bargain gets two handmaids added to his family. Zilpah is given to Leah and Bilhah goes to Rachel. It is a setup for intense jealousy and strife. Jacob loved Rachel far more than he did Leah and he didn't try to hide it. I imagine that Jacob had trouble getting over Leah's part in the deception as she did not reveal herself until after they had consummated the marriage. We are not told anything about Rachel's silence but I have to believe that she also loved Jacob and was much distraught at Leah getting "her man".
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