the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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New King James Version
Genesis 29:15
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
And Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?
Then Laban said to Jacob, "You are my relative, but it is not right for you to work for me without pay. What would you like me to pay you?"
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative? Tell me what your wages should be."
And Laban said to Jacob, Because thou [art] my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for naught? tell me, what [shall] thy wages [be]?
Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?"
`Whethir for thou art my brothir, thou schalt serue me frely? seie thou what mede thou schalt take.
And Laban saith to Jacob, `Is it because thou [art] my brother that thou hast served me for nought? declare to me what [is] thy hire.'
Laban said to him, "Just because you are my relative, should you work for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be."
Laban said to him, "You shouldn't have to work without pay, just because you are a relative of mine. What do you want me to give you?"
Lavan said to him, "Why should you work for me for nothing, just because you are my relative? Tell me how much I should pay you."
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother are you to be my servant for nothing? say now, what is your payment to be?
And Laban said vnto Iacob: Though thou be my brother, shouldest thou therfore serue me for naught? Tell me what shall thy wages be?
And Laban said to Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou serve me for nothing? tell me, what shall be thy wages?
One day Laban said to Jacob, "You are a relative of mine. It is not right for you to continue working for me without pay. What should I pay you?"
And Laban said unto Jacob: 'Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?'
And Laban said vnto Iacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serue me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are one of my family, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what do you want to be paid?"
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
Then said Laban to Jacob, Is it because my brother, thou art, that thou shouldst serve me for naught? Come tell me! What shall be thy wages?
For Laban sayde vnto Iaakob, Though thou be my brother, shouldest thou therfore serue me for nought? tell me, what shalbe thy wages?
And Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore work for me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?
Laban said to Jacob, "You shouldn't work for me for nothing just because you are my relative. How much pay do you want?"
He said to him: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me without wages? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
And Laban said to Jacob, Surely thou shalt not serve me for nothing, because thou art my brother; tell me what thy reward is to be.
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
Lavan said to Ya`akov, "Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?"
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Just because you are my brother should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wage should be."
And Laban said to Jacob, are you not my brother? And should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall be your wages?
But after that saide he vnto Iacob: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou therfore serue me for nought? Tell me, what shall thy wages be.
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
Laban said to him, "You shouldn't work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be."
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
tell me: Genesis 30:28, Genesis 31:7
Reciprocal: Genesis 29:14 - art my Genesis 31:15 - sold us Judges 9:3 - our brother
Cross-References
Then he said, "Name me your wages, and I will give it."
Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Laban said unto Jacob, because thou [art] my brother,.... Or nephew, his sister's son, :-:
shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? nearness of kin was no reason why he should serve him freely, or for nothing, but rather why he should be more kind to him than to a stranger, and give him better wages:
tell me, what [shall] thy wages [be]? by the day, or month, or year; signifying he was willing to give him anything that was just and reasonable, which was very well spoken; and this gave Jacob a fair opportunity of opening his mind more freely to him, and for answering a principal end for which he came, as follows:
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Jacobâs Marriage
6. ר×× raÌcheÌl, Rachel, âa ewe.â
16. ××× leÌ'aÌh, Leah, âwearied.â
24. ×××¤× zıÌlpaÌh, Zilpah, âdrop?â
29. ×××× bıÌlhaÌh, Bilhah, âtimidity.â
32. ר××Ö¼×× re'uvbeÌn, Reuben, âbehold a son.â A paronomasia in allusion to the phrase ××¢× ×× ×¨×× beâaÌnyıÌy raÌ'aÌh. 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. ש×××¢×× shıÌmâoÌn, Shimâon, âhearing, answer.â
34. ××× leÌvıÌy, Levi, âjunction, union.â
35. ×××Ö¼×× yehuÌdaÌh, Jehudah, âpraised.â
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. âThe land of the sons of the east.â 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 Abrahamâs 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 fatherâs 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. âThe day is great.â A great part of it yet remains. It is not yet the time to shut up the cattle for the night; âwater the sheep and go feed them.â Jacob may have wished to meet with Rachel without presence of the shepherds. âWe cannot.â 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
Jacobâs interview with Rachel, and hospitable reception by Laban. Rachelâs approach awakens all Jacobâs 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. âSurely my bone and my flesh art thou.â 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. âWhat shall thy wages be?â An active, industrious man like Jacob was of great value to Laban. âTwo daughters.â 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. âMade a feast.â The feast in the house of the brideâs 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. âA handmaid.â 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 relativeâs hands, though he had himself taken part in proceedings equally questionable. âFulfill the week of this.â 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 Labanâs terms.
Rachel was the wife of Jacobâs 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 Labanâs time Genesis 16:1. âAnd loved also Rachel more than Leah.â 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. âThe Lord saw.â 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. âThat Leah was hatedâ - less loved than Rachel. He therefore recompenses her for the lack of her husbandâs affections by giving her children, while Rachel was barren. âReubenâ - behold a son. âThe Lord hath looked on my affliction.â Leah had qualities of heart, if not of outward appearance, which commanded esteem. She had learned to acknowledge the Lord in all her ways. âSimonâ - answer. She had prayed to the Lord, and this was her answer. âLeviâ - 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. âJudahâ - 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.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 29:15. Because thou art my brother, &c. — Though thou art my nearest relative, yet I have no right to thy services without giving thee an adequate recompense. Jacob had passed a whole month in the family of Laban, in which he had undoubtedly rendered himself of considerable service. As Laban, who was of a very saving if not covetous disposition, saw that he was to be of great use to him in his secular concerns, he wished to secure his services, and therefore asks him what wages he wished to have.
