I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 29-30.

    There are two intertwined stories in this passage. There is Jacob’s complicated, and difficult, marriage to Leah and Rachael (and their maids). Then there is the deception and trickery which occurred between Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban (who was also his uncle). The first story I mentioned actually begins with Laban using trickery to get Jacob to marry Leah. I am not quite sure what Laban’s end game was in this maneuver. Did he do this in order to marry off Leah, for whom he apparently had no other offers? Or did he do this to get seven more years of labor out of Jacob? I am not sure that it matters.

    However, the result of Laban’s deception was that Leah entered into a somewhat loveless marriage where she witnessed her husband express his love to her sister, to whom he was also married. This story was always used when I was growing up as an example of why it was best to be monogamous. Leah and Rachael went back and forth in their competition for Jacob’s affection, potentially making matters worse by bringing their maids into the marriage as well (although, there is no record of this causing further complications, except in competition between the various sons). Could Jacob have done more to calm the conflict in his household? Perhaps, but this is one of the few stories of trouble for Jacob where he was relatively innocent.

    As I said, the previous story started with Laban substituting Leah for Rachael on Jacob’s wedding night. Once Jacob had worked off the bride price for both Leah and Rachael, he and Laban negotiated a new deal for Jacob’s labor. While Jacob almost certainly exaggerated the impact he had on Laban’s wealth, even Laban admitted that Jacob had been good for his bottom line. As part of their new deal, Laban agreed that all of the striped and spotted goats and black sheep in his herds would be Jacob’s (although reading between the lines suggests that this was only to apply to the herds which were managed by Jacob himself). Immediately upon concluding this deal, Laban removed all such animals from the flocks to which it applied. Which demonstrates Laban’s deception and trickery once more. Jacob, on the other hand, did not protest such treatment because he had some tricks of his own. I ma not sure how Jacob’s trick would actually work in real life, certainly, it would not effect the genetics of the animals. However, there are a few studies which suggest that the characteristics in question can be influenced by environmental factors. Ultimately, Laban and Jacob deserved each other.