Genesis Chapter 28, 29, 30, 31 Commentary by Mark Dunagan

Genesis Chapters 28-31

Chapter 28 28:1-5 Isaac, fully knowing that he is speaking to Jacob, now blesses him once again. “It is noteworthy that Isaac made no mention of the deceit that Jacob had used in order to secure the blessing. No doubt Isaac was sensitive to the fact that he had not been without fault in this whole matter himself. He had tried to withhold the blessing from Jacob, even after God had announced that Jacob was the one who should receive it (25:23)” (Aalders p. 103). The term “PaddanAram” (PAD uhn AH rem) means, the plain of Aram, and refers to the land around the city of Haran in northwest Mesopotamia. This was Rebekah’s homeland, and it was situated between the upper Euphrates and Habur rivers.

“Before Jacob departed, Isaac gave him the pure and legitimate blessing. There was no holding back now” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 73). The title “God Almighty” (El Shaddai), was specially associated with the covenant with Abraham (17:1). Rebekah’s father is called an “Aramean” (AIR ah mee unz) in verse 5. They were an ancient desert people, who later established a kingdom in Damascus and would often be at war with Israel (Judges 3:8-10).

28:6-9 Esau never seemed to get the point. “Ironically the unchosen son of Isaac married into the unchosen line of Ishmael! So Esau tried to better his marital reputation by marrying a third wife” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 74). He may have reasoned that at least this wife meet the requirement of being a descendant of Abraham. “Whether she held to Abraham’s religion was probably a matter of no concern to Esau, and he still did not understand the nature of Isaac’s grief in this whole matter” (Aalders pp. 103-104). The woman that he married is called Mahalath (MAY huh lath). This is one more reason why we need to be diligent in teaching our children. Just growing up in a god-fearing home does not make one a believer.

28:10-22 About 70 miles north of Beersheba, Jacob arrived at a place which he would rename, “Bethel”. “He was alone and traveling light, hastening to escape 1

the wrath of his brother. He had no caravan to sustain him, not even a tent under which he could rest. There were no armed servants to protect him against beasts and bandits, and he was not a huntsman like Esau, experienced in living off the land…presumably he had money with which to purchase the necessities as he traveled” (Morris p. 445). Jacob’s journey to Haran would cover a distance of more than 400 miles.

“His use of stones for pillows seems strange, but in ancient times a pillow was more of a headrest than what we consider a pillow” (Davis p. 243). The dream which Jacob had is alluded to by Jesus in John 1:51. “The stairway (ladder) symbolized the genuine and uninterrupted fellowship between God in heaven and His people on earth. The angelic messengers reflect God’s constant care of His own. Whatever loneliness and despair Jacob may have felt, his dream certainly lifted and encouraged him” (Davis p. 244). This dream certainly contradicts the claims of Deism, which views God as distant, removed and uninvolved with His creation. This dream reveals that God takes an intense interest in what happens on earth, and that at times angels are constantly coming and going (Hebrews 1:14). God confirms to Jacob, that he is the heir to the promises of Abraham (28:13-14). In addition, there is also the promise of protection and that God will bring Jacob back to the land of Canaan (15). Jacob felt a definite sense of awe and wonder following the dream. The pillar that Jacob set up (18), was not an idol or object of worship, rather it was a memorial, or a marker to remind him and his ancestors of this event. “Standing stones---these are different from altars. Memorials were set up to recall divine visitations so that others might learn about God when they would ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ (Joshua 4:6)” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 74). The name Bethel, means “house of God”, a when Jacob returns to the land (35:7) he will build an altar here. While Jacob’s words in verses 20-22 might sound like he is trying to make a bargain with God, I am told that the word “if” in verse 20 can also be translated “since”. Thus, Jacob could be saying, “Because you have blessed me, I will follow you”.

God’s promise that had been offered to Abraham and Isaac is here offered to Jacob as well, yet it was not enough to be Abraham’s grandson; Jacob had to establish his own personal relationship with God. God has no grandchildren. It is not enough to hear wonderful stories about the Christians in your family. You need to become part of the story yourself.

2

Chapter 29 “These three chapters (29-32) cover the twenty years of Jacob’s exile: Fourteen years’ service for his two wives, and six for flocks of his own. The years hold little joy for Jacob, who meets a crooked dealer after his own kind in his uncle Laban. The deceit over Leah leads to an intolerable home life. The unloved wife hopes with each new son to win her husband’s affection. Rachel, lovely and loved, is embittered by continuing childlessness. And Jacob finds himself traded between the two. Small wonder the law later forbade a man to marry his wife’s sister during the wife’s lifetime” (Eerdman’s pp. 144-145). “In Laban (Jacob) met his match and his means of discipline. Twenty years (31:41) of drudgery and friction were to weather his character; and the reader can reflect that presumably… Jacob is not the only person to have needed a Laban in his life” (Kidner p. 159). Jacob is around 75 when he left home and will be almost 95 when he return to Palestine. “After a long, rugged journey requiring perhaps three weeks, Jacob reached the vicinity of Haran” (Davis p. 244).

29:2-10 Jacob appears to have been a man of some strength (2,10), and was not impressed by the excuses of these shepherds. “In contrast with Laban’s lazy shepherds, Jacob was generous, zealous, and industrious” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 75). “It also portrays Jacob to us, characteristically full of thrust and enterprise….Further, he knows how to present his actions to the best advantage, capping the feat of strength with one of service, and this in turn with the dramatic announcement. It is a superb entry” (Kidner p. 160).

29:11 Kissing relatives was a typical custom.

29:12-20 Laban immediately seeks to employ Jacob. The sons of Laban are not mentioned until some twenty years later (31:1). It appears that either they were very young or not even born until after Jacob arrived. “We have already come to know Laban as a shrewd, avaricious man. Laban soon recognized Jacob’s great skill as a herdsman, so he sought to devise some way to keep this young man in his employ” (Aalders p. 114). Leah’s weak eyes apparently mean that her eyes were either weak in sight, or they were apparently pale and lacked luster. On the other hand, Rachel had a beautiful face and figure. Jacob was clearly captivated

by Rachel’s beauty at first sight. The next seven years passed by swiftly for Jacob (20). Following these seven years, the rest of his life will be anything but peaceful. “One might have expected the seven years to seem tantalizingly long; the point is that as a price for such a bride they seemed a trifle” (Kidner p. 160).

3

Here we are given a good insight into true love—it can wait! Patience is hardest when we need it the most, but it is the key to achieving our goals.

29:21 Apparently, Jacob had to remind Laban of their bargain.

29:22-29 One wonders why Leah went along with Laban’s plan, and where was Rachel on this wedding night? Or, had Laban deceived them as well? Laban appeals to local custom in the attempt to vindicate himself, but his excuse is pitiful. He knows that he can get away with such a terrible trick, because Jacob is an honorable man who won’t embarrass Leah or her family by giving her back.

Jacob consents to serve for seven more years-- probably because he knew that for the moment, Laban had the upper hand. Laban appears to us as a man who is all business and who has no time for the feelings of others, even his own daughters!

He had in his mind succeeded in making a great business deal, he had married off both daughters, one of them who looked like she would never find a husband, and he still had the best shepherd in the country tending his flocks for free. Jacob probably had not recognized Leah that night, because the two sisters might have been alike in stature and tone of voice. Yet note at least the honor on the part of Jacob for the moment. We do not find him rebuking Leah for the role that she had played in the deception, and “Out of respect to Leah, apparently (if Rachel was worth seven years of service, was not her older sister also worth as much?), Jacob consented” (Morris p. 463).

Jacob got a good taste of his own medicine. As Leah had been the pawn for Laban, Jacob had been the pawn in Rebekah’s plan, and like Esau, Jacob found himself thoroughly exploited. “The words, behold, it was Leah, are the very embodiment of anticlimax, and this moment a miniature of man’s disillusion, experienced from Eden onwards” (Kidner p. 160). Even though he had been tricked, Jacob kept his part of the bargain, because there was more to think, there was Rachel and also God’s plan for his life. When we are tricked by others, keeping our part of the bargain may still be wise. Nursing our wounds or plotting revenge makes us unable to see from God’s perspective.

29:30-35 Jacob made the same mistake with his wives that his parents had made with him and his brother. Jacob’s coolness to Leah was to be expected, but 29:31 reveals that God saw it! While Jacob was justified in being upset with the part that Leah had played in the deception, on the other hand this didn’t give him the right to make her unhappy after he had accepted her as his wife. “The desire for affectionate approval often leads down dangerous paths. The contest of childbearing between Rachel and Leah shows just such a struggle within a 4

family. The story is about the craving of human beings for love and recognition, and the price of thwarting it” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 76). The names of Leah’s first three sons, demonstrate the depth of her pain: Reuben, “surely now my husband will love me”; Simeon, “the Lord has heard that I am unloved”, Levi, “this time my husband will become attached to me”. While Jacob had ignored Leah, and while Laban had simply discarded her, God used the despised Leah to become mother of, among others, the priestly and kingly tribes of Levi and Judah.

Chapter 30 30:1-2 Even though Rachel was the object of Jacob’s special love, Rachel begins to envy her sister, Leah’s fertility had become a source of deep jealousy for Rachel. “Give me children, or else I die”, is a sad statement. Rachel is so preoccupied with having children that she forgets that she has and will always have her husband’s special love. In desperation she resorts to the same strategy that Sarah had used in Genesis 16, and offers her maid to Jacob (30:3). The expression “on my knees”, means “children accounted as my own”.

30:6 The name Dan means, “God has vindicated me”, and Naphtali, “With mighty wrestling I have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed”. This really reveals what was on Rachel’s mind. She did not like sharing Jacob with her sister, and she certainly did not like being outdone in the ultimate test (in her mind) of bearing children. The word “vindicated” seems to suggest that Rachel felt wronged over her barrenness and that her relationship with her sister was viewed as a bitter struggle.

30:9-13 Leah’s fertility stopped for a while, and she became anxious that Rachel might catch up, so she resorted to the same game plan. “Our own culture today is so different that it is difficult for us to understand the attitude of mind which would give Leah and Rachel vicarious satisfaction when their husband would have sexual relations with their respective maids. The matter of productively was apparently of such overriding concern that the question of physical jealousy of their maids did not enter much into it” (Morris p. 467). And yet, we do see the same thing happening today. We hear about two unmarried and pregnant women fighting over the same boyfriend who is the father of both children to be born. Neither one of the women seems to ever think about being angry with the boyfriend!

5

30:14-21 A few years have passed, for Reuben is old enough to go out into the field unattended. In this part of the world, the wheat harvest happened typically in May or June. The Mandrake is an herb with white and reddish blossoms. Its yellow fruit is similar in size to a small apple. It was commonly believed in this culture that mandrakes stimulated sensual desire and aided conception. It is interesting, that while Rachel got the mandrakes, Leah gained another son!

“The outcome was ironical, the mandrakes doing nothing for Rachel, while Leah gained another son by parting with them. It is a further example, in this family, of trading in things that should be above trade, and resorting in trouble only half-heartedly to God” (Kidner p. 162). This demonstrates that conception is given by God and not manipulated by people, yet God demonstrates His mercy by remembering Rachel, even though her motives weren’t always pure (22-25).

Jacob’s bargain with Laban 30:27 The word “divined” should not surprise us, for Laban also had household idols (31:19,30). “Though related to Abraham and knowing about Jehovah, (Laban) had become to some degree a pagan mystic” (Morris p. 471). Like some professed believers, Laban also held to certain superstitious and pagan practices.

With no more daughters to offer as wives, Laban knows that he cannot keep Jacob any longer without offering wages or compensation. It also seems clear that Jacob’s care of Laban’s flocks had made Laban a wealthy man (30:29-30).

30:31-43 Jacob’s proposal to Laban, was that he would receive as compensation all the spotted animals that would be born. Yet Laban quickly attempts to see that Jacob ends up with as few animals as possible. Before Jacob can enact his plan, Laban went through the animals under Jacob’s care and removed all the spotted sheep and goats (35). In addition, he made sure that these animals could not interbreed with animals left in Jacob’s care (36). Thus Laban was seeking to ensure that his own son-in-law would have a difficult time acquiring a large herd. Both Laban and Jacob understood the basic laws of heredity. Jacob implements selective breeding techniques (40-42). He also did everything he could to speed up the breeding process, including placing striped branches in the water troughs. Finally, as Jacob would later admit, God also had intervened (31:7-12; 32:10), and had in fact given him the idea of choosing the spotted animals as his wages. God saw into the genetics of the flock and knew that within the purely white and purely black sheep and goats, many of them had recessive, but strong genes for producing spotted offspring. 1 1

See the article at the end of this handout for more concerning Jacob’s breeding practices.

6

Chapter 31 31:1-3 Prosperity does bring its own problems (Ecclesiastes 4:4). The sons of Laban did not really have anything to complain about, for they had been given their own flocks to shepherd. God at this point lets Jacob know for sure that it is time to leave. One red flag concerning anger is that sinful anger typically blames others, without taking responsibility.

31:4-13 Yet first, Jacob must convince his wives that they needed to leave and that he was justified in going back home. In this speech we see additional treachery on the part of Laban (7). Jacob’s speech was more than self-defense, rather he wanted to take with him a willing family. He also made it very clear to Rachel and Leah that God was the cause for his prosperity. The repeated changes of his wages by Laban, could be well attested by both Rachel and Leah.

Jacob isn’t exaggerating in the least. Yet carefully observe that despite Laban’s treachery, God still prospered Jacob. God’s ability is not limited by the lack of fair play on the part of others.

31:14-16 The response on the part of Jacob’s wives is even more interesting.

“Laban’s capitalizing of his daughters had not escaped their notice. In losing their goodwill he was paying part of the hidden price of all covetousness” (Kidner p. 165). For the first time it appears that the two sisters agree about something! There is a great lesson here. People know when they are being used and Laban had used Rachel and Leah for his own profit. Friends, co-workers, neighbors, wives, and children know when you are placing things and wealth ahead of them. Life is now starting to unravel for the shrewd Laban. “The exorbitant price which Jacob had paid for them---fourteen years of free service to Laban---made them love Jacob but resent their father” (Morris p. 481). The words in this section are strong, these two daughters felt that their own father had treated them like foreigners. And they also knew that he was man filled with greed.

31:17-21 If Jacob’s flocks were still three days journey from the flocks of Laban and his sons (30:36), then Jacob may have had an 80 or 90 mile head start at the moment he left. A day’s journey was usually reckoned at about 30 miles, for men traveling unencumbered. Once they started moving however with their flocks, they probably could only cover about 15 miles per day. Jacob chose to leave without telling Laban, and when Laban and his sons were off shearing sheep.

7

In verse 19 we learn that Rachel took the household idols, which was not viewed

by Laban as being a trivial matter. “Perhaps she told herself she deserved them since Laban had turned the tables on her in the name of custom and had deprived her of her right to marry first. Whatever the reason, her hardheaded self-interest almost brought disaster. To have the teraphim (household idols) may have meant the right to inheritance…it certainly meant Laban was without what he thought was his protection. This is why Laban pursued Jacob. It was one thing for Jacob to take his flocks and family; but his gods too? Perhaps Jacob would try to steal back to Haran someday and claim all of Laban’s estate” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 78). In addition, people also consulted such idols and felt that they could protect one. Here is one of those occasions when Laban should have stopped and mid-sentence and said to himself, “Wait a minute, if these are real gods and who could someone steal them?”

31:23 The hill country of Gilead is east of the Jordan River. This region is 3000 ft above sea level, it is bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the south by the land of Moab, on the north by the Yarmuk River, and on the east by the desert.

31:24 God is looking out for Jacob. “The hand of God is again decisive. On the human level Laban might well have won every business deal, and the present physical encounter as well. It was only by divine prospering and protection that Jacob brought anything, even this life, back from exile” (Kidner p. 165). There is a tremendous lesson here for us. Often it seems that we are so vulnerable and powerless in our society, yet God’s providential care can frustrate the plans of very wicked and powerful individuals. If we get frustrated, think of the frustration of those who are so powerful---and yet they still can’t seem to achieve their own personal agenda. Like Laban, there are many worldly people who do not get the last laugh. Our relationship with God will make the difference.

31:26-30 Laban’s speech, although eloquent, is also dishonest. Are we really to believe that Laban would have given Jacob a big send off party? The speech also informs us as to what Laban would have done to Jacob, if God hadn’t intervened.

31:31-35 Unwittingly, Jacob has placed Rachel’s life on the line. “Jacob’s blissful ignorance makes the search unbearably tense” (Kidner p. 166). Rachel while actually sitting on a saddle bag which contained the idols asked to be excused from standing, claiming that she was in the midst of her monthly period (35).

8

31:36-42 Jacob felt that he had been falsely accused and was greatly insulted.

From his tongue-lashing of Laban we learn what the last 20 years of his life had been like, and what type of boss Laban had been. “The tale of hardships is an astringent corrective to romantic ideas of the biblical shepherd” (Kidner p. 166).

31:43 Laban remains arrogant to the end! From him we find no word of apology or regret. He actually had the nerve to claim that everything for which Jacob had worked so hard, was his, yet, still remembering God’s warning, he realized he had been beaten.

31:44-55 Laban proposes a covenant. Carefully note the language in verse 50.

“In expressing the stipulations of the agreement, Laban used many words to cover up his untrustworthiness. The undependable man was trying to convey that Jacob was the slippery character who had to be bound by a whole series of stipulations. Laban tried to terrify Jacob as though he were ungodly and needed to be threatened” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 79). Laban even took credit for building the heap of stones, though it had been Jacob’s initiative and his labor (46,51). Morris notes, “It is sad and strange that Laban’s hypocritical and suspicious statement (49) has been so often appropriated in the present day by Christians as the so-called “Mizpah Benediction”. It was not intended by Laban as a blessing in any sense at all” (p. 491).

9