(Click this link for a more thorough exploration by Kate Birss of what Genesis 29 and 30 say about the relationships of Jacob and his wives and his sons.)
Let the soap opera begin!
All of the elements of Jacob’s story are turned around on him in the next few chapters. In an almost comedic parody of his life so far, he experiences the deceptions and traps that he has so far been inflicting on others.
Jacob deceived his father by pretending to be his brother. He is deceived by Leah, who is pretending to be her sister. Yikes.
Against tradition, Jacob was given preference as the younger son because of his deception. According to tradition, but against expectation, Leah is given preference over Rachel as the older daughter.
Jacob’s preferential treatment by his mother over his brother was to his advantage. Now he has two wives, sisters to each other, who covet his . . . attention. The story reads like he’s being torn in half.
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IMPORTANT - Click here to read Genesis 29
Jacob liked Rachel immediately. She was his mother's niece. Maybe she was as beautiful as his mother.
The shepherds explained that everyone needed to be present to move the stone, probably because it was very heavy. But when Jacob saw Rachel, he was suddenly "inspired", and moved the rock himself. He then boldly moves in for a kiss. Smooth.
Then he cries. Not so smooth.
Uncle Laban received Jacob warmly.
Leah had weak eyes - Leah wasn't easy on the eyes.
OR
Leah had delicate eyes, which was nice enough, but RACHEL, she had a lovely form all over.
After seven years of labour, he was ready to make love to his wife, and was eager to do so.
IMPORTANT – “It is not our custom to put the younger before the elder”
How would Jacob have heard this, as the younger son living with the stolen blessing and inheritance of the elder? Is Laban’s character aware of this irony, or only the readers?
He only had to wait another seven days for Rachel, but he had to work another seven years in debt to pay for her.
Barrenness becomes important to the story again.
Jacob and Esau were each favourites of different parents. Now Jacob has a favourite of his wives.
Leah is obviously very distressed by her husband's preference of her sister. It could have taken no less than four years to have these four sons (assuming no daughters), and she is no closer to confidence in her husband's affections by the end than at the beginning.
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IMPORTANT - Click here to read Genesis 30
Abraham and Sarah were patient for children in barrenness. Isaac prayed for children. Jacob is angry.
Rachel’s demand in verse one, that she be given children or die, is a dark foreshadowing. It remains as ironic as the rest of Jacob’s story.
Both of Jacob’s wives think that having children is a sign of the Lord's favour, and will heal their marriage.
This chapter is weird, again. Jacob seems like a pawn in a game his wives are playing.
Isaac's wife hires him to sleep with her, like a male prostitute, and he does. Leah is as manipulative as Jacob.
Laban uses divination, another manipulation, like his daughter Leah.
Why is Jacob still around and working for him? Has he continued manipulating him to stay this long?
If Jacob had tried to leave before Rachel had had a child, Laban may have still had some right to her as his daughter. Jacob may have lost her. Once she had Joseph, he was free to go with all his wives and children, without fear that Laban would take them. The text shows that the fear was real, since even when he did go, he left secretly.
Jacob is involved in some sort of genetic manipulation combined with witchcraft, or perhaps just witchcraft. Either way, it is more manipulation. Whatever Jacob thought he was doing, the simple breeding details would have worked out as he hoped, without the superstition. Later, God reveals that it was he who directed the process.
The chiastic structure is used again in Jacob’s story, just as it had been in Abraham’s. The beginning and end events in Jacob’s life match each other. The second and second last match, etc, until a central event in the middle of his story. This story of manipulating the breeding of the sheep matches his marriages to Rachel and Leah, whose names sound the same as the Hebrew for “Ewe” and “Cow”.
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