Genesis
Chapter 29
Jacob and Rachel
Jacob set out and arrived at the land of the people of the east.
There he saw a well, and beside the well lay three flocks of sheep, for it was at this well that the flocks were watered, and a large stone covered the mouth of the well.
Then, when all the flocks gathered there, the shepherds rolled away the stone from the entrance of the well, watered their flocks, and replaced the stone at the mouth of the well.
Jacob said to them: “Brothers, where are you from?” “We are from Haran,” they replied.
He then asked: “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s son?” “Yes, we know him,” they answered.
And Jacob inquired: “Is he well?” “Yes, he is well,” they said, “and here is Rachel, his daughter, coming with the sheep.”
Jacob then said: “Look! The sun is still high; it’s not yet time for the flocks to be gathered together. Water the sheep and let them graze.”
But they said: “We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well; it’s then we water the sheep.”
He was still speaking when Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, which she tended.
As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, he went forward, rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and then watered Laban’s flock.
Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.
Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman and Rebekah’s son, and she ran to inform her father.
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob being his sister’s son, he ran to meet him. After embracing and kissing him, he brought him into his house. Jacob explained to Laban everything that had happened.
Laban said to him: “Truly you are my bone and flesh!” And Jacob stayed with him for a month.
Laban asked Jacob: “Even if you are my kinsman, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what wages do you want?”
Now Laban had two daughters; the older one was Leah, and the younger one was Rachel.
Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.
Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, and he said: “I will work for you for seven years in return for your younger daughter, Rachel.”
Laban said: “It is better for me to give her to you than to any other man; stay with me.”
To win Rachel, Jacob worked for seven years, which seemed to him only a few days, because he loved her so much.
Jacob then said to Laban: “Give me my wife, for I have served my time and I want to lie with her.”
So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and held a feast.
But when night came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he lay with her.
Laban gave his slave girl, Zilpah, to Leah to be her maid.
When morning came, there was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban: “What have you done to me? Haven’t I worked with you for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?”
Laban replied: “It is not our custom to give the younger daughter before the firstborn.
As soon as the marriage week is over, I will give you my younger daughter as well, but you must work with me for another seven years.”
Jacob agreed to this, and when he completed the week with Leah, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.
Laban gave Rachel his slave girl, Bilhah, to serve as her maidservant.
Jacob also slept with Rachel and loved her more than Leah. He continued to work for Laban for another seven years.
Sons of Jacob
As the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he allowed her to have children, but Rachel was barren.
Leah gave birth to a child and named him Reuben, for she said: “Because the Lord has seen my affliction; my husband is sure to love me now.”
She gave birth to another son and said: “The Lord saw that I was neglected and has given me this son as well,” and she called him Simeon.
Again, she gave birth to a son and said: “This time, my husband will be united to me because I have borne him three sons.” That is why he was called Levi.
She gave birth to a son again and said: “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. After that, she had no more children.
Commentaries
Jacob and Rachel.
The narration of the conflicts between Esau and Jacob transitions into a cycle of stories about the initial challenges of Jacob’s life, as he travels without major issues from Bethel to Haran, the land of his ancestors. Almost parallel to the experiences of Abraham’s servant, who found Isaac’s wife with remarkable ease (cf. 24:1-67), Jacob quickly connects with his relatives; his uncle Laban will become his father-in-law. This familial closeness does not guarantee Jacob’s safety, as he falls victim to the deceit of Leah and Rachel’s father (23-29). This serves as the counterpoint, the retribution for the deception that began when Jacob, aided by his mother, stole the blessing intended for his brother Esau. Nonetheless, Laban’s actions are implicitly condemned. They receive just compensation in 31:22-54, where God’s preference for Jacob over the other inhabitants of the region is once again evident. Through this narrative device, the Bible creates a definitive separation between the Jewish nation and its Aramean ancestors from Mesopotamia.
Sons of Jacob.
The people of Israel recognize their diverse origins. Although they all share the same father, they do not have the same mother; thus, the redactors need to emphasize the maternal lineage of each individual who will become the father of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Along similar lines as Laban, who married the eldest daughter first, the redactor points out that it is Leah, the eldest sister and the fertile one, who first begins to conceive and fulfill the promise of offspring.
Rachel takes a dim view of the fact that her sister, who is not strictly Jacob’s legitimate wife, is the one giving birth to her husband’s children. In response, she resorts to adoption by giving her slave Bilhah the opportunity to conceive and give birth on her behalf (30:1-3). Not one, but two sons, Dan and Naphtali, are born from this union between Jacob and Rachel’s handmaid (30:4-8).
Leah, who, despite having already given birth to four children, feels jealous of her sister, proposes to Jacob the same procedure: to lie with her slave Zilpah, who gives Jacob two new sons (30:9-13). A family incident between Rachel and Leah serves as a framework for Rachel to “authorize” her sister to sleep with her husband again (30:14-16); from this, two new sons and a woman, Dinah, are born (30:17-21).
At this moment, God remembers Rachel and grants her the grace to conceive, increasing the number of Jacob’s children to eleven. The birth of Joseph concludes the cycle of stories and legends about Jacob and his children in the land of their ancestors, preparing us for the return of the patriarch and his family to the Promised Land.
The names of the sons and the circumstances surrounding each birth designate their origins and describe the types of relationships that the twelve tribes experienced in the land of Canaan during that historical event.