(Genesis 29:01 - 30:24)
Jacob resumed his journey until he came into the land of his people who had settled in the east. Surveying the way ahead, he noticed a well in a field and three flocks of sheep resting around it, for this was the common well out of which they were watered. The mouth of the well was closed with a large stone, and it was the custom to roll away the stone when all the sheep had gathered there and to close it again after they had drunk.
Jacob asked the men he saw, "Where are you from, my friends?” and they answered, "We are from Haran." And Jacob asked of them "Do you know Laban, a descendant of Nahor?" to which they replied "Yes, we know him."
Jacob continued, "Is he well?"
"Yes," they replied “he’s quite well ... Oh, look, here's his daughter Rachel coming now with the sheep!"
Jacob observed, "There's still much of the day left. Surely it's too early to drive the flocks back to their pens. They should be given water and then led back to the pasture to graze.”
"But we can't water them until all the flocks are collected.” they answered, "Then the stone will be rolled away from the well's mouth so we can water them."
And while Jacob was conversing with them, Rachel arrived with her father's sheep -- for she was in charge of tending them. When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, approaching with Laban's sheep, he rushed up and single-handedly rolled away the large stone that sealed the well. After he had watered the flock, Jacob gave Rachel a kiss and, with his voice breaking with emotion, revealed that he was her father’s relative, a son of Rebecca.
Rachel ran home to tell her father the news. When Laban found out that Jacob, his sister's son, had come to visit, he hurried out to the field to greet him. Giving him a bear hug and kissing him, he brought him as a guest into his house. When he had heard the reason for Jacob's visit, he declared, "You are indeed my flesh and blood!"
When Jacob had stayed for a month, Laban said, “Just because you’re my relative, is it right that you should work for nothing? Tell me, what kind of wages may I pay you?"
Laban had two daughters: the oldest was named Leah, the younger, Rachel. Leah had no sparkle in her eyes, but Rachel was fair in form and face. It was Rachel that Jacob loved, and he proclaimed to Laban, "I will work for you for seven years, if I can have the hand of your younger daughter Rachel in marriage.”
Laban replied, "It's better that I give her to you, than to another. Stay then in my employ!”
Jacob, therefore, worked the seven years for Rachel, though the time seemed like a few days, so deep was his love for her. Jacob then said to Laban, “The time I have promised to serve you is over. Let me have Rachel, for I am eager to make her my wife!”
Laban invited all the men of the region to attend a marriage feast. At the end of the evening Laban presented Leah to Jacob as his bride. (As a wedding gift, he presented Leah with Zilpah, one of his slaves, to be her handmaid.) The marriage was consummated according to custom, but in the morning, Jacob discovered it was Leah who was his bride. He demanded of his father-in-law, "What have you done to me? I labored hard for you so I could marry Rachel? Why have you tricked me?"
Laban explained, "It is not the custom here to let the younger marry before the older daughter. However, after the week of wedding festivities have passed, I will let you marry Rachel as well, if, in return, you'll work for me another seven years."
Jacob accepted this, and at the end of the week, Laban gave him Rachel as his bride. (Laban presented her with his slave Bilhah to be her handmaid.) And Jacob consummated his marriage with Rachel. He loved her far more than Leah, and because of her, he worked for Laban the additional seven years.
Jehovah, when he saw that Leah, unlike Rachel, was unloved, he took pity on her and made her fruitful, while Rachel remained barren. Leah then became pregnant and gave birth to a son she called Reuben [which sounds like “seen my troubles” in Hebrew]. She declared, "Jehovah has seen my troubles: surely now my husband will truly love me!"
She conceived again and bore another son, whom she called Simeon [which sounds like “has heard” in Hebrew]. She said, "Jehovah has heard that I was despised and, therefore, has given me another son."
Again she became pregnant and gave birth to a son called Levi [which sounds like “be close to” in Hebrew]. She said, "Now, this time my husband will be really be close to me, for I have given him three sons."
She conceived a fourth time and bore a son, Judah [which sounds like “praise” in Hebrew]. "Now I will praise Jehovah!" she declared, giving off having further children.
Rachel, finding herself with no children, was jealous of her sister and complained to her husband, "If you don't give me some children, I'm going to perish!”
Jacob became angry at Rachel and told her off, “How can I do what only Jehovah is capable of doing? He’s the one who has kept you from having children.”
She suggested, "Look, I have a servant Bilhah. Why don't you have intercourse with her so that I can be the mother of her child and through her build up a family.”
Rachel gave Bilhah, her maid, as a wife to her husband Jacob, who had sexual intercourse with her. Bilhah thus became pregnant and gave birth to a son.
"Jehovah has listened to my plea and made a judgment in my favor," Rachel declared. "He has given me a son, who will, therefore, be called Dan” [which sounds like “he has judged” in Hebrew].
Bilhah conceived again and gave birth to a second son. Rachel declared, "I have struggled with my sister in a fierce competition, but I have won,” and so she called the son Naphtali [which sounds like “my struggle” in Hebrew].
Believing that she could no longer bear any more children, Leah gave her maid Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Zilpah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She declared “I am lucky,” and, therefore, called him Gad [which sounds like “lucky” in Hebrew]. When Zilpah bore a second son, Leah said, "I am happy now and women will called me blessed.” And so she called her son Asher [which sounds like “blessed” in Hebrew].”
At the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went out in the field and found some mandrakes, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel demanded, "Let me have some of your son's mandrakes."
Leah rejoined, "It was a small matter to you when you stole my husband from me; now you want to take my son's mandrakes, too."
"You can go to bed with Jacob tonight in exchange for the mandrakes," offered Rachel.
When Jacob was coming home from the fields that night, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must spend the night with me, for I have have traded your company in bed for my son's mandrakes."
Jacob lay with her that night. Jehovah answered Leah’s prayer; she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son by Jacob. Leah declared, "Jehovah has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband. Therefore, I will call my son Issachar” [which sounds like ‘paid for’ in Hebrew].
Leah conceived and gave birth to a sixth son as well. She then pronounced, "Jehovah has endowed me with a fine gift and now, because I have given my husband six sons, he will honor me.” She thus called him Zebulun [which sounds like “honor” in Hebrew].
Afterwards, she gave birth to a daughter, Dinah.
But Jehovah did not forget about Rachel. He favored her and allowed her to have children. And so she conceived and gave birth to a son. "Jehovah has wiped away my shame.” And she called him Joseph [which sounds like ‘he adds” in Hebrew], “because,” she said “I wished that Jehovah would add to me yet another son!"
Notes
1. Jacob arrives at his destination, Haran, which, though his family's ancestral home, is a strange country to him. Although he is not supposed to be an outdoor man like Esau, Jacob immediately begins telling the shepherds there how they should conduct their business. He also seems rather presumptuous and forward, to say the least, in kissing Rachel, even before he tells he is her cousin. (More than a kissing cousin, he was a first cousin.)
2. Laban would not allow his nephew to marry his daughter Rachel until he has labored for him for seven years. This arrangement does not seem unreasonable, save for the inordinate length of time, which is Jacob’s idea. (It seems odd that Laban does not wish to marry off his daughters as soon as possible.) The last-minute switch, the substitution of the older daughter Leah for Rachel is a detestable betrayal of his nephew and son-in-law. (It was probably the custom for the bride to be veiled and for the wedding chamber to be in darkness during the consummation of the marriage.) Laban, who is, at the very least, a total jerk, nevertheless allows Jacob to obtain the wife he wants if he will continuing working for him for another seven years. What a wonderful uncle and father-in-law! --- It should be mentioned that marrying off the oldest daughter first has been a common practice in many cultures, until fairly recent times. There are several well-known stories, most of a comedic nature, that have exploited this premise.
3. Again we have marriages between first cousins. It is interesting that the Catholic Church has always forbade marriages between participants sharing less close consanguinity, even if, through its long history, it made many exceptions among royal families. (In the 11th Century King Henry I of France despaired of finding a bride he was not related to and so sent an ambassador to Kiev to arrange a marriage with Anna Yaroslovna who was of Russian and Swedish descent.) Nevertheless, first cousin marriages have been common until recent history among all classes of society in the West and elsewhere. Unusual today, they are, at present, outlawed in fully half of U.S. states.
4. The two sisters, married to the same man, are rivals and seem to be engaged in a child-bearing contest. Their competitive teams include their handmaidens. The children born to Bilhah count as points for Rachel's team and those of Zilpah are credited to Leah's team. Both sides claim victory, with the result that Jacob ends up with 11 sons and a daughter. It gives the probably not too inaccurate impression that for a wife at that time producing children was all that mattered. The story (and petty argument) about the exchange of mandrakes for a night in Jacob's bed rather trivializes the husband-wife relationship, but it's not surprising that having four wives takes away something of the specialness of the marriage bed.
5. There is the impression given that Hebrews are incapable of having children except through the intervention of Jehovah. Every pregnancy or barren womb is the result of his personal wishes. Jacob specifically sites this belief as an explanation for Rachel’s inability to conceive.
6. In summary, Jacob's children are:
1. Reuben, son by Leah
2. Simeon, son by Leah
3. Levi, son by Leah
4. Judah, son by Leah
5. Dan, son by Rachels' maid Bilhah
6. Naphtali, son by Rachel's maid Bilhah
7. Gad, son by Leah's maid Zilpah
8. Asher, son by Leah's maid Zilpah
9. Issachar, son by Leah
10. Zebulun, son by Leah
11. Dinah, daughter by Leah
12. Joseph, son by Rachel
No comments:
Post a Comment