Sermon Tone Analysis

Thursday June 22, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 29:15-20-Jacob Agrees to Work for Laban Seven Years in Exchange for Rachel

Lesson # 167

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 29:1.

This evening we will note Genesis 29:15-20, which records Jacob agreeing to work for Laban for seven years in exchange for being betrothed to Rachel.

On Tuesday we studied Genesis 29:1-12, which records Jacob finally arriving in Paddan Aram and meeting the shepherds from Haran and the daughter of his uncle Laban and future wife, Rachel.

Last evening we noted Genesis 29:13-14, which gives us the record of Jacob meeting Laban for the first time and staying with Laban for a month.

Genesis 29:1, “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the sons of the east.”

Genesis 29:2, “He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks.

Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.”

Genesis 29:3, “When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.”

Genesis 29:4, “Jacob said to them, ‘My brothers, where are you from?’

And they said, ‘We are from Haran.’”

Genesis 29:5, “He said to them, ‘Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?’

And they said, ‘We know him.’”

Genesis 29:6, “And he said to them, ‘Is it well with him?’

And they said, ‘It is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.’”

Genesis 29:7, “He said, ‘Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered.

Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.’”

Genesis 29:8, “But they said, ‘We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.’”

Genesis 29:9, “While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.”

Genesis 29:10, “When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.”

Genesis 29:11, “Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept.”

Genesis 29:12, “Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and that he was Rebekah's son, and she ran and told her father.”

Genesis 29:13, “So when Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house.

Then he related to Laban all these things.”

Genesis 29:14, “Laban said to him, ‘Surely you are my bone and my flesh.’

And he stayed with him a month.”

Genesis 29:15, “Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing?

Tell me, what shall your wages be?’”

Laban’s question is motivated by his knowledge of several factors.

One, Laban could obviously see that Jacob was in love with his daughter Rachel and the second was that Jacob did not have the means to pay Laban for the bride-price in order to marry Rachel.

The “bride-price” refers to the compensation paid to the family of the bride for the loss of the bride’s presence and services and her potential offspring and would demonstrate proof to Laban’s family that Rachel would be well cared for by Jacob.

The “bride-price” must not be confused with a “dowry,” since the latter was provided by the bride’s family whereas the former was provided by the groom.

Laban would know from Jacob’s report that initially Jacob came to visit him because he was on the run from Esau but his encounter with the Lord has changed his purpose and now he is seeking a wife.

Since Jacob left home simply to avoid Esau and was not anticipating securing a bride from Laban, he did not have the financial means to offer Laban as the bride-price for Rachel.

So Laban figures that Jacob’s only alternative would be for Jacob to work for him as the bride-price or compensation to marry Rachel.

Laban also is reported to not have any sons at this point in the narrative to help him with his flocks and herds.

This is why Rachel was a shepherdess.

So the fact that Laban does not have a man around to help him with his business would have further motivated him to find a way to have Jacob stay with him.

He does not have to worry about keeping Jacob around since his daughter’s beauty has solved this problem for him.

Also, Laban exploited the fact that he and Jacob were related since he knew that Jacob would not mind working for a relative.

Genesis 29:15, “Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing?

Tell me, what shall your wages be?’”

Laban’s proposal is very clever.

We read in Genesis 29:15: “Laban said to him, ‘Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing?

Tell me what your wages should be.’”

In other words: “Since you are my relative, I am under no obligation to pay you for your work, which should be considered payment for room and board.

But since I am generous, I am offering you a salary.”

Laban sounds very concerned about the well-being of his nephew but his use of the terms “serve” and “wages” reveal his true intentions with Jacob, which was to exploit Jacob’s love for his daughter Rachel for personal profit.

Laban is smooth talking Jacob and has reduced him to a laborer under contract.

Laban wanted to bind Jacob to him in some way and very craftily lets Jacob name the terms of the agreement, knowing full well that because of Jacob’s love for his daughter Rachel, he would get a great bargain by approaching him this way.

Bruce K. Waltke, “Laban is degrading the blood relationship between himself and Jacob into an economic arrangement.

What Laban should have done as a loving relative is to help Jacob get a start on building his own home, as Jacob asks of Laban in 30:25-34 (esp.

vv.

26, 30, 33).

Instead, Laban keeps Jacob as nothing more than a laborer under contract, as Jacob bitterly complains in 31:38-42…Laban’s smooth talk reduces Jacob to a lowly laborer under contract.

Their relationship for the next twenty years is that of an oppressive lord over an indentured servant paying off a bride price, not of an uncle helping his blood relative…He would rather give any wage than give Jacob the dignity and help due a relative” (Genesis, A Commentary, pages 404-405, Zondervan).

Genesis 29:16, “Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.”

Genesis 29:17, “And Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.”

Jacob’s response to Laban’s question is delayed in Genesis 29:16-17 in order to provide necessary background information regarding Leah and Rachel, which is essential for a full understanding of subsequent developments in the narrative.

“Leah” (le’ah) (ha*l@) (lay-aw), which means, “cow” and “Rachel” (rachel) (lj@r*) (raw-khale) means, “ewe” meaning the female of the sheep, especially of the mature.

Rachel’s name is mentioned again since it was necessary to introduce Leah and to explain the order of birth, which is of vital importance to the plot.

These names were not unusual or derogatory but rather appropriate in a family of shepherds.

However, in the case of Laban, he actually does treat these two young women like animals.

As we will see as we go further into the story, Leah was later given to Jacob contrary to his consent since he served Laban for seven years in order to marry Rachel.

Also, as we will see, Leah, though comparatively unloved by Jacob, produced more offspring than her sister and their servants combined.

Her fertility was compensation for her unloved status (Gen.

29:31ff.).

Little in the narratives sheds insight into Leah’s personality, aside from her competition with her sister concerning producing offspring.

Both were consulted by Jacob upon his desire to leave Laban’s household.

Both were upset of their father’s demands upon Jacob and treating him deceptively.

Genesis 29:17, “And Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.”

Genesis 29:17 contrasts the appearance of these two sisters.

The statement “Leah’s eyes were weak” does “not” refer to the fact that she had poor eyesight but rather that her eyes were dull in color meaning they were probably light blue or gray and not deep dark brown, which was the preferable color for standard of beauty in the Middle East.

The statement “Leah’s eyes were weak” implies that Rachel’s eyes were a deep dark brown in color, which men of the Middle East prized and this is confirmed by the description of her as being “beautiful in face.”

The expression “beautiful in face” refers to the appearance of Rachel’s face with emphasis upon her eyes since the noun mar’eh, “face” is related to anything having to do with seeing, including not only the act of seeing but the eyes themselves.

The statement “Leah’s eyes were weak” does “not” mean that she was homely looking since her sister Rachel was beautiful but rather it means it was her only specific weakness in the eyes of men in Middle East in that day.

Rachel is described as being “beautiful in form” refers to the fact that she had a beautiful “figure” and does “not” imply that Leah did not have a nice figure but that Rachel’s was outstanding and superior to her sister’s.

Genesis 29:18, “Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, ‘I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.’”

The statement “Jacob loved Rachel” confirms what has been implied since the beginning of the story of Jacob’s visit to Laban’s home in Paddan Aram.

As we noted on Tuesday, the Word of God indicates that Leah and not Rachel was Jacob’s right woman as indicating by the following.

First of all, when we take into consideration of the providence of God, which expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God, we must acknowledge that, in spite of the deceptiveness of Laban, Leah was Jacob’s wife.

Furthermore, it was Leah, not Rachel, who became the mother of Judah, who was to be the heir through whom the Messiah would come (cf.

49:8 12).

Also it was Levi, a son of Leah, who provided the priestly line in later years.

It seems noteworthy that both Leah and her handmaid had at least twice the number of children as compared to Rachel and her maid (cf.

29:31 30:24; 46:15, 18, 22, 25).

The firstborn was always to have a double portion and so it would seem Leah did, so far as children are concerned.

The fifth factor, which reveals the superiority of Leah to Rachel is that Rachel died at an early age, yet she was the younger sister.

When she died, she was buried on the way to Bethlehem (35:19) and yet when Leah died later, she was buried with Jacob in the cave at Machpelah (49:31).

Lastly, the Word of God reveals that Jacob chose Rachel based solely upon looks and did not take into consideration her character as Abraham’s servant Eliezer did when selecting Rebekah for Isaac.

Jacob’s statement “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel” expresses the intensity of his love for Rachel and the extent to which he valued her.

The seven years’ service is to be in lieu of the usual “bride-price,” known as the mohar in Hebrew.

By making this offer to Laban, Jacob will now possess the status of an indentured laborer working to pay off the bride-price.

Since Jacob did not have the financial means necessary for the “bride-price,” he offers to work for Laban for seven years, which was a handsome marriage gift in exchange for Rachel’s hand.

Jacob makes Laban an offer he can’t refuse because he does not want to risk Laban refusing him and then losing Rachel.

Genesis 29:19, “Laban said, ‘It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.’”

Now, it is important to understand for our future studies of Laban and Jacob that Jacob specifically offered to exchange seven years of service to Laban for Rachel and Laban’s response indicates clearly that he agrees to Jacob’s offer.

There is therefore, no ambiguity in his response as suggested by commentators since Jacob has made clear he wants Rachel and Laban agrees.

The fact that Laban is quick in accepting Jacob’s proposal indicates that he had anticipated such an offer from Jacob as a result of understanding fully Jacob’s situation of being on the run from Esau and without the necessary finances to secure a bride.

Laban’s statement “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man” is a deception since he later deceives Jacob by sending Leah into Jacob’s tent on his wedding night when he agreed to marry Rachel.

In those days, marriage between relatives was regarded as very desirable in that it safeguarded purity of blood, property of the family and the welfare of the daughter but this is not what Laban is thinking when he says, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another.”