NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 65

Genesis 29:32  | 69
29:9 y  Ex  2:16
29:10 z  Ex  2:17
29:11 a  Ge  33:4
29:12 b  Ge 13:8; 14:14, ​
16 c  Ge  24:28
29:13 d  Ge  24:29
29:14 e  Ge  2:23;
Jdg 9:2; 2Sa 19:12‑13
29:18 f  Hos  12:12
29:20 g  SS  8:7;
Hos 12:12
29:21 h  Jdg  15:1
29:22 i  Jdg  14:10;
Jn 2:1‑2
29:25 j  Ge  12:18
k  Ge  27:36
29:27 l  Jdg  14:12
29:29 m  Ge  30:3
n  Ge  16:1
29:30 o  ver  16
p  Ge  31:41
29:31 q  Dt  21:15-17
r  Ge 11:30; 30:1;
Ps 127:3
7 “Look,” he said, “the sun is s ­ till high; it is not time for the f ­ locks to be gath­ered. Wa­ter
the ­sheep and take them back to ­pas­ture.”
8 “We c ­ an’t,” they re­plied, “un­til all the f ­ locks are gath­ered and the s ­ tone has been r ­ olled
away from the ­mouth of the well. Then we will wa­ter the ­sheep.”
9 While he was ­still talk­ing with them, Ra­chel came with her fa­ther’s ­sheep,  y for she was
a shep­herd. 10 When Ja­cob saw Ra­chel daugh­ter of his uncle La­ban, and La­ban’s ­sheep, he
went over and ­rolled the ­stone away from the ­mouth of the well and wa­tered his un­cle’s
sheep.  z 11 Then Ja­cob ­kissed Ra­chel and be­gan to weep ­aloud.  a 12 He had told Ra­chel that he
was a rel­a­tive  b of her fa­ther and a son of Re­bekah. So she ran and told her ­fa­ther.  c
13 As soon as La­ban  d ­heard the news ­about Ja­cob, his sis­ter’s son, he hur­ried to meet him.
He em­braced him and ­kissed him and ­brought him to his home, and t ­ here Ja­cob told him
all ­these ­things. 14 Then La­ban said to him, “You are my own ­flesh and ­blood.”  e
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel
Af­ter Ja­cob had ­stayed with him for a ­whole ­month, 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.”
16 Now La­ban had two daugh­ters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the
youn­ger was Ra­chel. 17 Leah had weak  a eyes, but Ra­chel had a lovely fig­ure and was beau­
ti­ful. 18 Ja­cob was in love with Ra­chel and said, “I’ll work for you seven ­years in re­turn for
your youn­ger daugh­ter ­Ra­chel.”  f
19 La­ban said, “It’s bet­ter that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with
me.” 20 So Ja­cob ­served seven ­years to get Ra­chel, but they s ­ eemed like only a few days to
him be­cause of his love for ­her.  g
21 Then Ja­cob said to La­ban, “Give me my wife. My time is com­pleted, and I want to
make love to ­her.  h ”
22 So La­ban b
­ rought to­gether all the peo­ple of the p
­ lace and gave a f ­ east.  i 23 But when
eve­ning came, he took his daugh­ter Leah and ­brought her to Ja­cob, and Ja­cob made love
to her. 24 And La­ban gave his ser­vant Zil­pah to his daugh­ter as her ­at­ten­dant.
25 When morn­ing came, ­there was Leah! So Ja­cob said to La­ban, “What is this you have
done to me?  j I ­served you for Ra­chel, ­didn’t I? Why have you de­ceived me?  k ”
26 La­ban re­plied, “It is not our cus­tom here to give the youn­ger daugh­ter in mar­riage be­
fore the older one. 27 Fin­ish this daugh­ter’s bridal week;  l then we will give you the youn­ger
one also, in re­turn for an­other seven ­years of ­work.”
28 And Ja­cob did so. He fin­ished the week with Leah, and then La­ban gave him his
daugh­ter Ra­chel to be his wife. 29 La­ban gave his ser­vant Bil­hah  m to his daugh­ter Ra­chel
as her at­ten­dant.  n 30 Ja­cob made love to Ra­chel also, and his love for Ra­chel was greater
than his love for Leah.  o And he ­worked for La­ban an­other seven ­years.  p
Jacob’s Children
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not ­loved,  q he en­abled her to con­ceive,  r but Ra­chel
re­mained child­less. 32 Leah be­came preg­nant and gave b
­ irth to a son. She n
­ amed him
a  17 Or
delicate   
29:10 rolled the stone away . . . and watered
[the] sheep. Jacob’s actions suggest that his
presence would be an asset to Laban’s family.
29:14 my own flesh and blood. On learning
that Jacob is Rebekah’s son, Laban embraces
him as a close relative.
29:15 – 30  Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel.
Having been sent to Paddan Aram to find a
wife, Jacob is captivated by Rachel’s beauty.
He readily works seven years in order to earn
the bride-price necessary to marry Rachel.
However, in a deception that is highly ironic
in the light of how Jacob treated Esau, Laban
substitutes his older daughter Leah in place
of his younger daughter Rachel. To have
Rachel, Jacob must serve Laban for an addi-
tional seven years.
29:17  Leah . . . Rachel. Although the descrip-
tions of both are exceptionally brief, they suffi-
ciently explain why Jacob is attracted to Rachel
rather than Leah (v. 30; but see vv. 31 – 35).
29:19 Marriage arrangements in the ancient
Near East normally required that a prospec-
tive husband give a gift of money, technically
known as the bride-price, to the father of the
bride. Since Jacob has arrived in Paddan Aram
with no means of paying the bride-price, he
offers to work for Laban without wages for
seven years.
29:23  In the darkness of the evening and
without artificial lighting, Jacob does not
recognize that his veiled bride is Leah (cf.
24:65). Perhaps after a day’s feasting, Jacob is
somewhat in ebriated.
29:24 Zilpah. She later becomes a surrogate
mother for Leah (30:9 – 13).
29:26 Laban justifies deceiving Jacob on the
basis that a firstborn daughter should take
precedence in marriage over other daugh-
ters. His remark recalls how Jacob deceived
his own firstborn brother. Although Laban’s
actions are wrong, there is an element of
poetic justice.
29:27  bridal week. To appease Jacob, La-
ban offers him Rachel on two conditions:
Jacob must finish the wedding celebrations
with Leah and commit to serving Laban for
another seven years. Accepting these condi-
tions, Jacob marries Rachel immediately after
marrying Leah.
29:29 Bilhah. She later becomes a surrogate
mother for Rachel (30:3 – 8).
29:30 his love for Rachel was greater than his
love for Leah. This becomes a source of con-
siderable friction between the two women.
Many of the stories in Genesis involve tensions
between family members, reflecting the con-
sequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against
God. Polygamy adds another dimension to
these family disputes (see note on 16:3).
29:31 — ​30:24  Jacob’s Children. The tension
between Leah and Rachel impacts the pro-
cess by which they bear children for Jacob.
Although Jacob loves Leah less than Rachel,
God enables Leah to bear four sons: Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, and Judah. While Rachel re-
mains childless, out of jealousy she gives her
servant Bilhah to Jacob. Subsequently, Bilhah
gives birth to Dan and Naphtali. In response