This year I switched from using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible reading to the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net”.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 31-32.

    Over time, Jacob’s success aroused jealousy from his brothers-in-law. In addition, as Jacob’s wealth increased, Laban became less and less friendly. So, Jacob decided to return to the land of his father and grandfather (the passage tells us that God promised to be with him if he did so). So, Jacob told Rachel and Leah of his plans. They both fully supported his decision. Leah and Rachel expressed no concern over leaving their father. As a matter of fact, they seemed convinced that their father had no concern for their well-being, or that of their sons. Once again, we see it hinted that Laban considered women to be just another asset to be used to increase his wealth.

    We even see that in Laban’s reaction to Jacob leaving. While the passage does not give us numbers, the description of Laban’s action is very similar to what Abraham did when Lot was taken captive. Laban was not concerned about the well-being of his daughters or grandchildren. He set out to reclaim what he thought was his own. We see this in Laban’s statements after he failed to find his stolen idols. He told Jacob that everything Jacob had was really his, not Jacob’s. It is clear that the only reason Laban did not reclaim what he believed was actually his property was because he did not believe that he could do so.

    I may be reading too much into this but Jacob and Laban appear to have had different attitudes toward women. Laban viewed them as assets to be used to gain wealth. Jacob viewed his wives as partners to be consulted when he made important life decisions.