Laban the Devious / Leah the older / Rachel the Beautiful (29:1-30). This story opens in idyllic bliss but leads through deception, into conflict, toward romance, and finally, to favoritism. Jacob is on a roll at the beginning: a safe journey, a remarkable meeting at the watering hole, and friendship with his own kin. However, not long into the story, the bliss is busted by Uncle Laban.

Rivalry - From the beginning Jacob is engaged in a struggle for his future. He is born into rivalry, envy, and dispute. Could be that the writers are portraying something much larger than the supplanter, Jacob. Perhaps we are seeing a bird’s eye view of the future history of the tribes of Israel through Jacob and the characters of the story. [1]

Jacob Told Him His Story (29:14 NLT) - How much of “the story” did Jacob divulge to Laban? Did Jacob tell everything? How about the part where he tricked Esau from his firstborn blessing? Or the time when he deceived, and thus, dishonored Isaac so he could grasp the firstborn inheritance from Esau? If Jacob told all, given the extraordinary welcome he received from Laban initially, Uncle Laban may have felt justified in doing unto nephew as he has done to kin. [2]

What great practical joke did you play on a friend? A great joke played on you?

What is similar about Isaac’s and Jacob’s quest for a wife-including Laban’s common role in both?

How do you think Jacob and Rachel handled waiting seven years to get married?

This story has been narrated from a patriarchal perspective; step into the female character roles tell what must have been part of their story.

Do us a favor and tell Leah’s story. Include her unloved, powerless, female, pawn-on-the-chess-board status. But also finish her story: tell of how she did not give up but used the own resource available to her-her womb. With each naming of her babies, we catch an insight to how her self-esteem and power grows!

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[1] Such a view Walter Brueggemann holds in Interpretation  Series: Genesis (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), page 253.
[2] Such is suggested by the commentator of The New Interpreter’s Bible I (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), page 553.