Genesis 29:15 - Meaning and Application

Here is, I. The fair agreement made between Laban and Jacob during the month Jacob spent there as a guest (Genesis 29:14). Jacob was not idle, and he did not spend his time in play. He worked like a man who knew his business, even though he had no property of his own. He had already shown this spirit when he watered the flock (Genesis 29:10). It is good to stay busy with useful work wherever we are, because it can help us or help others.

Laban was so impressed with Jacob’s skill and hard work with the flocks that he wanted him to stay. He reasons fairly: “Because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing?” (Genesis 29:15). That is, “What is right about that?” If Jacob is willing to serve his uncle without asking for pay, Laban must not take advantage of Jacob’s need or kindness. Lower-ranking relatives should not be used unfairly. If it is their duty to serve us, then it is our duty to reward them.

This also gave Jacob a chance to speak openly about his love for Rachel, Laban’s daughter. Since Jacob had no wealth to give as a bride-price, he offered seven years of service if Laban would give him Rachel as his wife at the end of that time. Jacob was about seventy-seven years old when he bound himself to work for a wife. Scripture later reminds Israel of this, as a lowly beginning for their nation (Hosea 12:12). Rachel was probably still young, and perhaps not yet ready for marriage, when Jacob first arrived, so he was willing to wait.

II. Jacob honestly carried out his part of the agreement (Genesis 29:20). He served seven years for Rachel. If Rachel was still tending her father’s sheep, as she had been before (Genesis 29:9), then their time together in the fields would have deepened their friendship and love. If she had already stopped that work, then Jacob’s willingness to take that burden from her was a kindness. He faithfully finished the seven years and did not fail in his service, even though he was old.

He also served with joy. The seven years seemed like only a few days to him because he loved her so much. It was as if he cared more about earning her than simply about having her. Love makes hard and long service seem light. That is why Scripture speaks of “the labor of love” (Hebrews 6:10). If we truly value heaven, then the pains of this life will seem small beside it. A lifetime of work will seem like a few days to those who love God and long for Christ’s coming.

III. The cruel trick Laban played on him after the time was finished. He put Leah in Jacob’s arms instead of Rachel (Genesis 29:23). This was Laban’s sin. He wronged Jacob and Rachel, whose love had clearly been set on each other. If Leah herself was misled in the matter, that was also a wrong done to her. For Jacob, it was a bitter disappointment, spoiling the joy of the wedding feast. In the morning, he discovered that it was Leah (Genesis 29:25).

We can see here how Jacob was paid back in his own coin. He had deceived his own father by pretending to be Esau, and now his father-in-law deceived him. However unfair Laban was, the Lord was still righteous, as in Judges 1:7. Even righteous people, when they take a false step, are sometimes repaid for it in this life. Many people are not disappointed, like Jacob, in the person they marry, but they later find, to their sorrow, that they are disappointed in the character. So both sides should choose such a close relation with care and good advice, so that any disappointment is not made worse by poor judgment.

IV. Laban’s excuse and weak attempt to make up for the deceit. His excuse was flimsy: “It must not be done so in our country” (Genesis 29:26). There is no good reason to think this was truly a local custom. He was likely mocking Jacob and brushing off the wrong with a joke. Those who do evil and then try to laugh it off may fool themselves and others, but they will learn that God is not mocked. If such a custom really existed, Laban should have told Jacob when the agreement was first made.

His attempt to settle the matter only made things worse: “We will give you this one also” (Genesis 29:27). In doing that, he drew Jacob into the sin and trouble of having more than one wife, which remained a stain on Jacob’s record. Jacob did not plan this. He had likely meant to stay faithful to Rachel as his father had been faithful to Rebekah. A man who had gone without a wife until he was eighty-four could certainly have been content with one. But Laban, wanting to marry off both his daughters without dowries and gain seven more years of Jacob’s labor, trapped him by deceit. Because the matter had not yet been settled by the later divine law (Leviticus 18:18), and more fully by our Lord’s teaching (Matthew 19:5), Jacob had some reason to go through with both marriages. He could not refuse Rachel, because he had already promised himself to her. He could not refuse Leah, because he had already married her. So he was forced into a hard and tangled situation (2 Kings 5:23).

One sin often opens the door to another. Those who go in by one path of wickedness seldom find their way out except by another. The many wives of the patriarchs were, in some degree, excusable in them because there was no direct command against it, even though the marriage of Adam already showed the principle against it (Malachi 2:15). In their case, it was a sin of ignorance. It did not come from wild desire, but from God’s providence bringing good out of it for the building up of the church. Still, it does not justify the same practice now, since God has clearly shown that one man and one woman are to be joined together (1 Corinthians 7:2). Having many wives fits the fleshly spirit of Islam, which permits it, but we have not learned Christ that way.

Dr. Lightfoot sees Leah and Rachel as pictures of the two churches, the Jews under the law and the Gentiles under the gospel. Rachel, the younger, was more beautiful and more in Christ’s thoughts when he came in the form of a servant. Leah, like the older sister, was received first. Yet the picture does not fully fit here, because the Gentiles, the younger group, were the more fruitful (Galatians 4:27).