Genesis 29

1 people. Literally, “sons of the East,” along the waters of the Euphrates. Judges vi. 3, 33; vii. 12; viii. 10.

2 well’s mouth. To protect it from waste, and from drifting sand.

5 son. Or descendant—Laban, son of Bethuel (xxiv. 15, 29), was Nahor’s grandson.

9 kept them. A laborious employment in which women of rank were, and still are, often occupied. Exod. ii. 16.

12 father’s brother. Jacob was Laban’s sister’s son, i.e., his nephew: the term “brother” is often used for a near kinsman.

17 tender-eyed. That is, weak-eyed; a physical defect.

18 serve thee. A wife is generally purchased in the East; and if her husband has not money, he obtains her by service to her father.

21 my days. The days here spoken of may be days of service; meaning that Jacob’s seven years of service had expired: or they may be days of betrothal, or of marriage festivity. This latter supposition assumes that the marriages took place at the commencement of the seven years of servitude; and taking it thus, it would extend the period before Jacob’s departure into Egypt to a length which seems to be required by the number of his grandchildren. In this case, ver. 20 is to be considered as a parenthesis.

23. Leah. The bride being wholly concealed by a large veil, this deception was easily practised. Jacob, who cheated Esau, is in turn cheated by Laban (Matt. vii. 2).

26 younger. A similar prejudice still prevails in the East, and has led to similar impositions. The sting of the reply lay in the reference to the right of the first-born. Recall Gen. xxvii. 35, 36.

27 week. That is, her week or marriage festivity. Laban probably practised this deception in order to secure Jacob’s valuable services for a longer time. It seems, however, that Jacob married Rachel immediately after Leah’s nuptial feast, and that the second (if not the first) seven years of servitude were subsequent to the double marriage. See on ver. 21.

29 maid. See on xxiv. 59.

32 affliction. The word Reuben means “Behold a son.” But it seems to be a case of paronomasia by no means infrequent in the Hebrew Scriptures, and to refer to the phrase “hath looked upon my affliction.”

love me. Knowing the importance attached to a son, especially in Abraham’s family.