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Christian Standard Bible ®

Genesis 29:30

Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Betrothal;   Children;   Contracts;   Covetousness;   Dishonesty;   Family;   Favoritism;   Incest;   Jacob;   Laban;   Lovers;   Marriage;   Polygamy;   Rachel;   Seven;   Wages;   Wife;   Thompson Chain Reference - Conjugal Love;   Family;   Home;   Love;   Social Duties;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Hate;   Leah;   Rachel;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Hatred;   Jacob;   Laban;   Marriage;   Rachel;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Marriage;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Dowry;   Incest;   Jacob;   Laban;   Number Systems and Number Symbolism;   Service;   Sex, Biblical Teaching on;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Leah;   Marriage;   Rachel;   Tribes of Israel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hating, Hatred;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Leah ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Laban;   Rachel;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Canaan (2);   Nahor;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Law in the Old Testament;   Love;   Rachel;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Daughter in Jewish Law;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Le'ah, and served with him yet seven other years.
King James Version
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Lexham English Bible
Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.
New Century Version
So Jacob had sexual relations with Rachel also, and Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.
New English Translation
Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban for seven more years.
Amplified Bible
So Jacob consummated his marriage and lived with Rachel [as his wife], and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
New American Standard Bible
So Jacob had relations with Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
Geneva Bible (1587)
So entred he in to Rahel also, and loued also Rahel more then Leah, and serued him yet seuen yeeres mo.
Legacy Standard Bible
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
Complete Jewish Bible
So not only did Ya‘akov go in and sleep with Rachel, but he also loved Rachel more than Le'ah. Then he served Lavan another seven years.
Darby Translation
And he went in also to Rachel; and he loved also Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet seven other years.
Easy-to-Read Version
So Jacob had sexual relations with Rachel also. And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.
English Standard Version
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
George Lamsa Translation
And he went in unto Rachel also, and he loved Rachel also more than Leah, and served with Laban another seven years.
Good News Translation
Jacob had intercourse with Rachel also, and he loved her more than Leah. Then he worked for Laban another seven years.
Literal Translation
And he also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So he laye with Rachel also, & loued Rachel more the Lea, and serued him yet seuen yeares more.
American Standard Version
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Bible in Basic English
Then Jacob took Rachel as his wife, and his love for her was greater than his love for Leah; and he went on working for Laban for another seven years.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
So lay he by Rachel also, and loued Rachel more then Lea, and serued hym yet seuen yeres more.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
King James Version (1611)
And hee went in also vnto Rachel, and he loued also Rachel more then Leah, and serued with him yet seuen other yeeres.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he went in to Rachel; and he loved Rachel more than Lea; and he served him seven other years.
English Revised Version
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Berean Standard Bible
Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And at the laste he vside the weddyngis desirid, and settide the loue of the `wijf suynge bifore the former; and he seruede at Laban seuene othere yeer.
Young's Literal Translation
And he goeth in also unto Rachel, and he also loveth Rachel more than Leah; and he serveth with him yet seven other years.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
World English Bible
He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
New King James Version
Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
New Living Translation
So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.
New Life Bible
So Jacob went in to Rachel also. He loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban seven years more.
New Revised Standard
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served Laban for another seven years.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So he went in, unto Rachel also, and loved, Rachel also, more than Leah, - and he served with him, yet seven years more.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him other seven years.
Revised Standard Version
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
Update Bible Version
And he went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet another seven years.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

Contextual Overview

15Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” 16Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. 17Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. 18Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” 20So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. 21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Since my time is complete, give me my wife, so I can sleep with her.” 22So Laban invited all the men of the place and sponsored a feast. 23That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he loved: Genesis 29:20, Genesis 29:31, Genesis 44:20, Genesis 44:27, Deuteronomy 21:15, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26, John 12:25

served: Genesis 29:18, Genesis 30:25, Genesis 30:26, Genesis 31:15, Genesis 31:41, 1 Samuel 18:17-27, Hosea 12:12

Reciprocal: Genesis 33:2 - Rachel 1 Samuel 1:5 - he loved Malachi 1:3 - hated

Cross-References

Genesis 29:17
Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.
Genesis 29:18
Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Genesis 29:20
So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Genesis 29:25
When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”
Genesis 29:26
Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn.
Genesis 29:27
Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.”
Genesis 29:31
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive.
Genesis 31:15
Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? For he has sold us and has certainly spent our purchase price.
Genesis 31:41
For twenty years in your household I served you—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
Genesis 44:20
and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he went in also unto Rachel,.... Cohabited with her as his wife:

and he loved also Rachel more than Leah; she was his first love, and he retained the same love for her he ever had; as appears by his willingness to agree to the same condition of seven years' servitude more for her sake, and which he performed as follows:

and served with him, yet seven other years; that is, Jacob served so many years with Laban after he had married his two daughters, and fulfilled the weeks of feasting for each of them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Jacob’s Marriage

6. רחל rāchēl, Rachel, “a ewe.”

16. לאה lê'âh, Leah, “wearied.”

24. זלפה zı̂lpâh, Zilpah, “drop?”

29. בלהה bı̂lhâh, Bilhah, “timidity.”

32. ראוּבן re'uvbēn, Reuben, “behold a son.” A paronomasia in allusion to the phrase בעניי ראה be‛ānyı̂y rā'âh. Derivatives and compounds, being formed by the common speaker, are sometimes founded upon resemblance in sound, and not always on precise forms of the original sentence which prompted them.

33. שׁמעין shı̂m‛ôn, Shim‘on, “hearing, answer.”

34. לוי lêvı̂y, Levi, “junction, union.”

35. יחוּדה yehûdâh, Jehudah, “praised.”

In this chapter and the following, Jacob grows from a solitary fugitive with a staff in his hand Genesis 32:10 to be the father of a large family and the owner of great wealth. He proves himself to be a man of patience and perseverance, and the Lord according to promise is with him.

Genesis 29:1-8

Jacob arrives at the well of Haran. “The land of the sons of the east.” The points of the heavens were defined by the usage of practical life, and not by the standard of a science yet unknown. Hence, the east means any quarter toward the sunrising. Haran was about four degrees east of Beer-sheba, and five and a half degrees north. The distance was about four hundred and fifty miles, and therefore it would take Jacob fifteen days to perform the journey at thirty miles a day. If he reached Bethel the first night, he must have travelled about fifty miles the first day. After this he proceeds on his journey without any memorable incident. In the neighborhood of Haran he comes upon a well, by which lay three flocks. This is not the well near Haran where Abraham’s servant met Rebekah. It is in the pasture grounds at some distance from the town. On its mouth was a large stone, indicating that water was precious, and that the well was the common property of the surrounding natives. The custom was to gather the flocks, roll away the stone, which was too great to be moved by a boy or a female, water the flocks, and replace the stone. Jacob, on making inquiry, learns that Haran is at hand, that Laban is well, and that Rachel is drawing nigh with her father’s flocks. Laban is called by Jacob the son of Nahor, that is, his grandson, with the usual latitude of relative names in Scripture Genesis 28:13. “The day is great.” A great part of it yet remains. It is not yet the time to shut up the cattle for the night; “water the sheep and go feed them.” Jacob may have wished to meet with Rachel without presence of the shepherds. “We cannot.” There was a rule or custom that the flocks must be all assembled before the stone was rolled away for the purpose of watering the cattle. This may have been required to insure a fair distribution of the water to all parties, and especially to those who were too weak to roll away the stone.

Genesis 29:9-14

Jacob’s interview with Rachel, and hospitable reception by Laban. Rachel’s approach awakens all Jacob’s warmth of feeling. He rolls away the stone, waters the sheep, kisses Rachel, and bursts into tears. The remembrance of home and of the relationship of his mother to Rachel overpowers him. He informs Rachel who he is, and she runs to acquaint her father. Laban hastens to welcome his relative to his house. “Surely my bone and my flesh art thou.” This is a description of kinsmanship probably derived from the formation of the woman out of the man Genesis 2:23. A month here means the period from new moon to new moon, and consists of twenty-nine or thirty days.

Genesis 29:15-20

Jacob serves seven years for Rachel. “What shall thy wages be?” An active, industrious man like Jacob was of great value to Laban. “Two daughters.” Daughters in those countries and times were also objects of value, for which their parents were accustomed to receive considerable presents Genesis 24:53. Jacob at present, however, is merely worth his labor. He has apparently nothing else to offer. As he loves Rachel, he offers to serve seven years for her, and is accepted. Isaac loved Rebekah after she was sought and won as a bride for him. Jacob loves Rachel before he makes a proposal of marriage. His attachment is pure and constant, and hence the years of his service seem but days to him. The pleasure of her society both in the business and leisure of life makes the hours pass unnoticed. It is obvious that in those early days the contact of the sexes before marriage was more unrestrained than it afterward became.

Genesis 29:21-30

Jacob is betrayed into marrying Leah, and on consenting to serve other seven years obtains Rachel also. He claims his expected reward when due. “Made a feast.” The feast in the house of the bride’s father seems to have lasted seven days, at the close of which the marriage was completed. But the custom seems to have varied according to the circumstances of the bridegroom. Jacob had no house of his own to which to conduct the bride. In the evening: when it was dark. The bride was also closely veiled, so that it was easy for Laban to practise this piece of deceit. “A handmaid.” It was customary to give the bride a handmaid, who became her confidential servant Genesis 24:59, Genesis 24:61. In the morning Jacob discovers that Laban had overreached him. This is the first retribution Jacob experiences for the deceitful practices of his former days. He expostulates with Laban, who pleads the custom of the country.

It is still the custom not to give the younger in marriage before the older, unless the latter be deformed or in some way defective. It is also not unusual to practise the very same trick that Laban now employed, if the suitor is so simple as to be off his guard. Jacob, however, did not expect this at his relative’s hands, though he had himself taken part in proceedings equally questionable. “Fulfill the week of this.” If this was the second day of the feast celebrating the nuptials of Leah, Laban requests him to Complete the week, and then he will give him Rachel also. If, however, Leah was fraudulently put upon him at the close of the week of feasting, then Laban in these words proposes to give Rachel to Jacob on fulfilling another week of nuptial rejoicing. The latter is in the present instance more likely. In either case the marriage of Rachel is only a week after that of Leah. Rather than lose Rachel altogether, Jacob consents to comply with Laban’s terms.

Rachel was the wife of Jacob’s affections and intentions. The taking of a second wife in the lifetime of the first was contrary to the law of nature, which designed one man for one woman Genesis 2:21-25. But the marrying of a sister-in-law was not yet incestuous, because no law had yet been made on the subject. Laban gives a handmaid to each of his daughters. To Rebekah his sister had been given more than one Genesis 24:61. Bondslaves had been in existence long before Laban’s time Genesis 16:1. “And loved also Rachel more than Leah.” This proves that even Leah was not unloved. At the time of his marriage Jacob was eighty-four years of age; which corresponds to half that age according to the present average of human life.

Genesis 29:31-35

Leah bears four sons to Jacob. “The Lord saw.” The eye of the Lord is upon the sufferer. It is remarkable that both the narrator and Leah employ the proper name of God, which makes the performance of promise a prominent feature of his character. This is appropriate in the mouth of Leah, who is the mother of the promised seed. “That Leah was hated” - less loved than Rachel. He therefore recompenses her for the lack of her husband’s affections by giving her children, while Rachel was barren. “Reuben” - behold a son. “The Lord hath looked on my affliction.” Leah had qualities of heart, if not of outward appearance, which commanded esteem. She had learned to acknowledge the Lord in all her ways. “Simon” - answer. She had prayed to the Lord, and this was her answer. “Levi” - union, the reconciler. Her husband could not, according to the prevailing sentiments of those days, fail to be attached to the mother of three sons. “Judah” - praised. Well may she praise the Lord; for this is the ancestor of the promised seed. It is remarkable that the wife of priority, but not of preference, is the mother of the seed in whom all nations are to be blessed. Levi the reconciler is the father of the priestly tribe. Simon is attached to Judah. Reuben retires into the background.

Reuben may have been born when Jacob was still only eighty-four, and consequently Judah was born when Jacob was eighty-seven.


 
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