(R) And he worked for Laban another seven years.(S). At Jacobs request, they buried him next to Leah in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron beside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah (Gen. 49:29-31; 50:13). Jacob had two wives, they were the daughters of Laban, their names were rachel and Leah. He went straight to Laban and started asking him so many questions. Browse other questions tagged, Like any library, Christianity Stack Exchange offers great information, but, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. Laben got Jacob snockered at the wedding feast and pulled a switcheroo, giving his older daughter, Leah, instead. By this time, these women had borne him 11 sons and a daughter. WOW! In the end, we cannot be certain of why Jacob failed to notice that he had Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. If you feel that certain things should be changed, what should you do? We also know that by the time Joseph was 17 years old (Gen 37:2) his mother had been dead for some unknown time before. Article Images Copyright , How Jacob and Rachels Bible Story Show's us God's Love in Action. We can, however, follow the chronology and the geography to know within about a year how long Jacob and Rachel were married. One, we can understand thatlike Jacobin spite of our sins and weaknesses, we can still be reconciled to God. Hollywood has given us some good evidence for that thesis. What characteristics in your mate bring you the greatest contentment? When Jacob confronted Laban, Laban was resolutein their culture, the younger daughter never marries before the older daughter. Seven years?! In desperation over her barrenness, Rachel begged Jacob to lie with her servant, Bilhah, and thereby give her sons through this union (Genesis 30). Some of these things are important and need to be talked out. She had a beautiful face and gorgeous long hair. He is going to have her, and nothing else matters. At one point a decade passes between 2 verses (Genesis 33:17-18), then the narration continues forward without mentioning Joseph being sold by his brothers. Benjamin was born, but Rachel didn't survive. One great test of true love, therefore, is the ability to wait. At long last, the strangeran angel of the Lord, or perhaps God himselfrelented, and declared that Jacob would be known as Israel (he who prevails with God) (Genesis 32:28). Isaac was the son of Abraham, the miracle child borne of Sarah in their old age. Laban warmly welcomed him to his family, but asked a steep price for Rachels hand in marriage: Jacob would first have to work as a shepherd for seven years, tending Labans flocks. And Yaquuv worked for Rakhyl seven years, and they were in his eyes as a few days, because he loved her. And Jacob served for Rachel seven years, and they were before him as a few days, by reason of his loving her. Jacob worked seven years for Laban, but the time seemed like only a few days, because he loved Rachel so much. The Lord stood above the ladder and said to Jacob, Behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (Gen. 28:15). But more so he could have refused. 5:25). Thats right, Laban. But Laban told Jacob hed give Rachel, too, as his wife if Jacob agree to seven more years of labor. Are there any details that make it possible to estimate (with any accuracy) how long Jacob and Rachel were married before her death? In time, Jacob was able to acquire a flock of sheep, camels, and goats of his own. If you inserted some improved circumstance or material possession, how might you finish the statement to be more consistent with the principles of Gods Word? Jacob worked for his uncle Laban 7 years, then married Leah & Rachel He worked another 7 years for Rachel Now they've been married 7 years. What is the symbol (which looks similar to an equals sign) called? We know that a relationship based primarily on physical attraction rests on a shaky foundation. He continued, Do you know Laban the son of Nahor? We know him, they said. Rachel proved that. Isnt that so crazy??? God told Jacob that it was time to leave Uncle Laban and go back home to Canaan. Genesis 30:26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. 18:18; 1 Tim. What is the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel? Finally, after 7 long years, the time had come for Jacob to marry Rachel. Thats right! 4. 3. (Note: This is the case still with the Bedouins, the Druses, and other Eastern tribes (Burckhardt, Voleny, Layard, and Lane). Jacob was so shocked! Tricked by his father-in-law into marrying his true loves sister, Jacob waited 14 years before he could be with Rachel. What part did your kids seem to like the most in this Bible Lesson??? The physical attraction was still there, but he could not live in such close contact with her through a seven-year engagement period and not learn a great deal about her, both good and bad. The Cross And Our Response to Trials (1 Peter 4:12-19), 8. He has instructed us to be content with what we have, for while the circumstances of life change daily, He is unchanging and ever with us (Heb. How to reconcile the number of people that went down to Egypt with Jacob? While traveling south, close to the Jabbok River, Jacob came upon a stranger who challenged him to a struggle. So one day Jacob went to Laban and told him that the 7 years is up and he was ready to marry his daughter. Jacob worked for his uncle Laban 7 years, then married Leah & Rachel, He worked the next 6 years for his uncle's flocks, then he left Haran, Jacob stayed in Succoth, built shelters for his livestock, then he built a house there and settled down to raise his 12 kids, As Jacob's sons got older they worked with the flocks. She said, With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed (Gen. 30:8). Unexpected uint64 behaviour 0xFFFF'FFFF'FFFF'FFFF - 1 = 0? 1. Glenn ::Yes, it is an awful lot of money, he was in love. That's great, thanks! Jacobs concubine Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali (Genesis 30:3-8), while another slave, Zilpah, gave him Gad and Asher (Genesis 30:9-13). Give me children or Ill die, she exclaimed to Jacob. Some women try to buy a man with sex, or trap him with a baby, or lure him with family fortune. We get the idea that he was so fascinated by Rachels beauty, and so enchanted by her charm, that he failed to recognize her shortcomings or even to consider the will of God in his relationship with her. Genesis: Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Pentateuch by John Goldingay. May I suggest another alternative; Jacob could have accepted his marriage to Leah as the will of God for his life and learned to love her alone. He wrestles with God one night and endures, and God renames him Israel, because as God said, You have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome (Genesis 32:28). 18Jacob was in love with Rachel(A) and said, Ill work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.(B), 19Laban said, Its better that I give her to you than to some other man. Jacob worked a total of 20 years for Laban (Gen 31:38). At the end of this, Joseph is 6 years old. At the end of 20 years, Jacob had to deceive Laban (Gen 31:20) and flee for his life and left to return to Beersheba but actually settled in Shechem (Gen 33:18). At this point, Joseph was the youngest son (Gen 33:2) and the only child of Rachel. Richard L. Strauss authored nine books, and served as pastor of churches in Fort Worth, TX, Huntsville, AL. They whine and scold because the men dont pay enough attention to them, dont spend enough time with the children, wont do little jobs around the house, stay out too late, or think more of their jobs, their cars, their hobbies, television, or sports than they think of them. Likewise, we too are never too far gone for the redeeming love of God. 7. So Jacob said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? My best guess (that is all) is that they were married for about 18 years on the basis that it was about 5 years between Paddan-aram and Ephrath and about 6 years before Joseph's 17 birthday. The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25), Living in Love: Secrets from Bible Marriages. Jacob requested that he work for Laban and in return for him to marry Labans youngest daughter, Rachel. But Laban told Jacob hed give Rachel, too, as his wife if Jacob agree to seven more years of labor. The emotion of the moment overwhelmed him. 21 Eventually, Jacob told Laban, Bring me my wife, now that my time of service has been completed, so I can go be with her. 22 So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival. We have seen Jacobs love at first sight and his love under great stress. How do the interferometers on the drag-free satellite LISA receive power without altering their geodesic trajectory? To save chestnut trees, we may have to play God, Why you should add native plants to your garden, What you can do right now to advocate for the planet, Why poison ivy is an unlikely climate change winner, The gory history of Europes mummy-eating fad, This ordinary woman hid Anne Frankand kept her story alive, This Persian marvel was lost for millennia. How to subdivide triangles into four triangles with Geometry Nodes? But the end is not yet. God told them to go to Bethel (Genesis 35:1,5), The family repented, buried their idols and moved to Bethel. Joseph and Dinah are 6 years old. THEN, after all that time, Jacob wakes up to find that he had married the wrong woman! So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her (Gen. 29:20). The answer may be simply that the seven years totaled up to a reasonable value of Jacob's labor which he was willing to "pay" eventually for Rachel and ultimately Sly, deceitful old trickster that he was, he substituted Leah for Rachel on Jacobs wedding night. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. God always keeps His promises no matter what. The next morning when he woke up and saw the woman he married, he realized that is was LEAH!!!! Then, after seven years, Jacob was ready to receive his wife, Rachelonly to be tricked by his father-in-law. The Cross And Christs Suffering For Sins (1 Peter 3:18-22), 6. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. But can you imagine Jacobs utter consternation when the morning light exposed Labans chicanery? Jacob tore his clothes and refused to be consoled and said, Judah did not approve of his brothers' dealings with Joseph, and lying to their father letting him think Joseph was dead. 24 Laban also gave his servant woman Zilpah to Leah to be her maidservant. Your email address will not be published. Part boulder, part myth, part treasure, one of Europes most enigmatic artifacts will return to the global stage May 6. She was a lovely girl, beautiful of form and face (Gen. 29:17). Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.. Oh my goodness, guys! Rachel, in Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), one of the two wives of the patriarch Jacob. I don't know why I didn't think of running through the chronology myself! But he had to work seven more years without pay after marrying her. 2 hours of sleep? Did Jacob placing branches in front of his flock really result in the offspring being speckled and spotted? New International Version (NIV). She did bear another son. Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he told Laban he would work for seven years in exchange for Rachels hand in marriage. What do I do about calling a priest father at my Catholic University? When Rachel was near, his heart pounded faster and a wonderful feeling swept over him. Genesis 29:15-30, Jacob dreams about a ladder and angels at Bethel, Jacob marries Rachel the daughter of Laban, The Cup that held the wine for the King of Egypt, Josephs brothers first trip to Egypt for food, A silver cup belonging to Joseph was put in a Sack, 12 sons of Jacob whom he blesses before he dies, Death of Jacob at one hundred and forty-seven years old, Death of Joseph at one hundred and ten years old, Timeline for the book of Genesis parts one and two . 29 Laban also gave his woman servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maidservant. Which reverse polarity protection is better and why? That gnawing discontentment kept her from enjoying anything totally, and it kept others from enjoying her. Forced to serve Rachels father, Laban, for seven years to win her, Jacob was tricked at the end of that time into marrying her sister, Leah. He was then allowed to marry Rachel as well, in return for seven more years of labour. At first childless, Rachel eventually gave birth to Joseph and died giving birth to Benjamin. We first meet Jacob in Genesis 25, when he is born as the second of twin boys who comes from the womb grasping his older brothers heel. Discuss some of the values of a lengthy and close acquaintance before marriage. Leah, not to be outdone, realized she had stopped bearing children, so she gave over her servant, Zilpah, to Jacob, and Zilpah bore two sins: Gad and Asher (v. 11-13). His twin Esau is a man of the land, a hunter, and the favorite of their father, while Jacob, who preferred to remain at home, was the favorite of their mother. What are the arguments for/against anonymous authorship of the Gospels. (g) Meaning after the years were accomplished. Jacob soon fell in love with Labans younger daughter, Rachel, and agreed to work for Laban seven years in exchange for marriage to her ( Genesis 29:1620 ). Finding the distance from a corner of a cube to the midpoint of an edge. Here's how we get that number: Now they've been married 13 years. No matter how hard some wives try, they can never please their husbands. Through his son, Jesus, God gave us a path to redemption. She wanted her husband rather than her brothers to have the largest share of the family inheritance so she could benefit from it too. Joseph at this point must have been at least 8 years old. This means that it was a minimum of 13 years in Paddan-aram plus at least 2 more years that Jacob was married to Rachel. Then a few chapters later (Genesis 37) it goes back to that point (at the end of the fast-forwarded decade) and picks up the narrative from a Joseph's perspective and shows the events that led to Jacob abandoning his house in Succoth. The child lived. The Scripture says that Jacob loved Rachel and offered to serve Laban seven years for her hand in marriage (Gen. 29:18). WebRachel Jacobs (October 3, 1975 May 12, 2015) [1] [2] was an American businesswoman and social entrepreneur. She could not fully enjoy his love. Laban promised to give Rachel to Jacob for the work he did. Indeed, the Bible tells us those seven years of labor seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her (Genesis 29:20). Even the range of 15-22 years is pretty precise, all things given, and pins it down much more than I would have thought possible. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? True love requires thorough knowledge. Please be respectful of copyright. Now Rachel was the most beautiful woman Jacob had ever seen. She cooperated willingly with her fathers scheme but found very little satisfaction in the husband she had gained by deceit. And most of us have moments like that. Unexpected uint64 behaviour 0xFFFF'FFFF'FFFF'FFFF - 1 = 0? If Rachel died just (say) two years before Joseph was 17, that is at the age of (say) 15, then Jacob and Rachel would have been married for 13 years in Paddan-aram plus another 9 years, a total of no more than 22 years.