Comments on Genesis 29

     The traditional reading on this chapter is that it is a
matter of justice, Biblical style.  Jacob had purloined the
blessing by deceit, and now he gets deceived by Laban into
marrying both of his daughters and getting a total of 14 years of
service out of him instead of just 7 (the time period of 7 years
was a typical term of indenture at that time, cp. Deut. 15:1; at
this point it appears the servitude is imposed in the place of
bride-price which Jacob cannot produce, cp. 24:53).  A case of
"What comes around, goes around".  By no means does this excuse
Laban's behavior, but it does put Jacob into the uncomfortable
situation where his own duplicity makes it difficult for him to
argue against Laban's.  At the present, Laban had only
two daughters and no sons (no sons are mentioned until quite
some time later, cf. 31:1), so obtaining the service of an
experienced pastoralist and an heir apparent was probably very
important to Laban.
     Of the encounter, Nahum Sarna on page 195 of _Understanding
Genesis_ states:

	Retributive justice is not the only motif here.  Just as
	Jacob's succession to the birthright was divinely ordained
	irrespective of human machinations, so it must be assumed
	that Jacob's unwanted marriage to Leah was understood by 
	the narrator as part of God's scheme of things.  For from
	this union issued the tribes of Levi and Judah which shared 
	between them the spiritual and temporal hegemony of Israel,
	providing the two great and dominating institutions of the
	Biblical period, the priesthood and the Davidic Monarchy.

     After marrying the two daughters, the matter of childbearing
comes up in v. 31-35.  The theme of progeny, and the Semitic
concept and views of it, come through plainly in this account and
that of the next chapter.  As we saw with Sarah and Rebekah, to
go without children was considered a direct curse from God and to
bear children was considered a direct blessing from God (and
among Jews today this is still a commonly held belief).  In this
story, Jacob is favoring Rachel over Leah because she is more
physically beautiful.  God sees this and reacts by favoring Leah
over Rachel.  Leah has produced four sons, and Rachel none.  This
becomes a point of contention between Jacob and Rachel in the
next chapter, and we see that Jacob's desires shift away from the
carnal to the spiritual.

v17 "tender eyed", the JPS renders this "weak eyes" and the TC
states, "not poor vision but lacking in luster".  In other words,
Leah was not anywhere near as attractive to Jacob as was Rachel.

v21-25  That Jacob could not tell it was Leah and not Rachel
necessarily implies that she was wearing a veil, which was a
common practice for brides at the time, cf. 24:65.  This is
highly ironic as Jacob dressed up like Esau in order to
accomplish his act of deception, now Leah is presented in the
guise of Rachel.  The additional irony comes in when the Lord
favors Leah over Rachel, just as He favored Jacob over Esau.  In
both cases the deceiver wins out in the long run.



Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller <kurtn@cybcon.com>.  All rights 
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