the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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New King James Version
Genesis 29:20
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So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel. And they were like a few days in his eyes, for the love he had to her.
So Jacob worked for Laban seven years so he could marry Rachel. But they seemed like just a few days to him because he loved Rachel very much.
So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him [but] a few days, for the love he had to her.
Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
So Jacob served [Laban] for seven years for [the right to marry] Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Therfor Jacob seruyde seuene yeer for Rachel; and the daies semyden fewe to hym for the greetnesse of loue.
and Jacob serveth for Rachel seven years; and they are in his eyes as some days, because of his loving her.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.
Jacob worked seven years for Laban, but the time seemed like only a few days, because he loved Rachel so much.
So Ya‘akov worked seven years for Rachel, and it seemed only a few days to him, because he was so much in love with her.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
And Jacob did seven years' work for Rachel; and because of his love for her it seemed to him only a very little time.
And Iacob serued seuen yere for Rachel: and they seemed vnto hym but a fewe dayes, for the loue he hadde to her.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they were in his eyes as single days, because he loved her.
So Jacob stayed and worked for Laban for seven years. But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachel very much.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
And Iacob serued seuen yeeres for Rachel: and they seemed vnto him but a few dayes, for the loue hee had to her.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. It was only like a few days to him, because of his love for her.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
So Jacob served for Rachel - seven years, - and they became, in his eyes, as single days, for his love to her.
And Iaakob serued seuen yeres for Rahel, and they seemed vnto him but a few dayes, because he loued her.
Thus Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him but a few days because he was in love with her.
Jacob worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but a few days, because of the greatness of his love.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
And Jacob served for Rachel seven years, and they were before him as a few days, by reason of his loving her.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Ya`akov served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they were in his eyes like a few days, in his love for her.
So Iacob serued seuen yeare for Rachel, and they semed vnto him but few dayes, he loued her so well.
So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. But it only seemed like a few days, he loved her so much.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days because of his love for her.
So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they were in his sight but a few days because of his love for her.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
am 2251, bc 1753
served: Genesis 30:26, Hosea 12:12
for the love: Genesis 24:67, Song of Solomon 8:6, Song of Solomon 8:7, 1 Corinthians 13:7, 2 Corinthians 5:14, Ephesians 5:2
Reciprocal: Genesis 29:18 - loved Genesis 29:21 - my days Genesis 29:27 - we will Genesis 29:30 - he loved Genesis 34:19 - because Deuteronomy 21:15 - two wives Judges 16:15 - when thine 1 Samuel 18:20 - loved David 2 Samuel 13:1 - loved her Proverbs 18:22 - findeth a wife Song of Solomon 5:2 - my head 1 Thessalonians 1:3 - and labour
Cross-References
Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
So he said to them, "Is he well?" And they said, "He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep."
Then he said, "Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them."
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you."
Jacob fled to the country of Syria; Israel served for a spouse, And for a wife he tended sheep.
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel,.... The whole term of time, diligently, faithfully, and patiently. Reference is had to this in Hosea 11:12:
and they seemed unto him [but] a few days, for the love he had to her; for though to lovers time seems long ere they enjoy the object beloved; yet Jacob here respects not so much the time as the toil and labour of service he endured in it; he thought that seven years' service was a trifle, like the service of so many days, in comparison of the lovely and worthy person he obtained thereby; all that he endured was nothing in comparison of her, and through the love he bore to her: besides, the many pleasant hours he spent in conversation with her made the time slide on insensibly, so that it seemed to be quickly gone; which shows that his love was pure and constant.
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.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 29:20. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel. — In ancient times it appears to have been a custom among all nations that men should give dowries for their wives; and in many countries this custom still prevails. When Shechem asked Dinah for wife, he said, Ask me never so much - dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me. When Eliezer went to get Rebekah for Isaac, he took a profusion of riches with him, in silver, gold, jewels, and raiment, with other costly things, which, when the contract was made, he gave to Rebekah, her mother, and her brothers. David, in order to be Saul's son-in-law, must, instead of a dowry, kill Goliath; and when this was done, he was not permitted to espouse Michal till he had killed one hundred Philistines. The Prophet Hosea bought his wife for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer and a half of barley. The same custom prevailed among the ancient Greeks, Indians, and Germans. The Romans also had a sort of marriage entitled per coemptionem, "by purchase." The Tartars and Turks still buy their wives; but among the latter they are bought as a sort of slaves.
Herodotus mentions a very singular custom among the Babylonians, which may serve to throw light on Laban's conduct towards Jacob. "In every district they annually assemble all the marriageable virgins on a certain day; and when the men are come together and stand round the place, the crier rising up sells one after another, always bringing forward the most beautiful first; and having sold her for a great sum of gold, he puts up her who is esteemed second in beauty. On this occasion the richest of the Babylonians used to contend for the fairest wife, and to outbid one another. But the vulgar are content to take the ugly and lame with money; for when all the beautiful virgins are sold, the crier orders the most deformed to stand up; and after he has openly demanded who will marry her with a small sum, she is at length given to the man that is contented to marry her with the least. And in this manner the money arising from the sale of the handsome served for a portion to those whose look was disagreeable, or who had any bodily imperfection. A father was not permitted to indulge his own fancy in the choice of a husband for his daughter; neither might the purchaser carry off the woman which he had bought without giving sufficient security that he would live with her as his own wife. Those also who received a sum of money with such as could bring no price in this market, were obliged also to give sufficient security that they would live with them, and if they did not they were obliged to refund the money." Thus Laban made use of the beauty of Rachel to dispose of his daughter Leah, in the spirit of the Babylonian custom, though not in the letter.
And they seemed unto him but a few days — If Jacob had been obliged to wait seven years before he married Rachel, could it possibly be said that they could appear to him as a few days? Though the letter of the text seems to say the contrary, yet there are eminent men who strongly contend that he received Rachel soon after the month was finished, (see Genesis 29:14,) and then served seven years for her, which might really appear but a few days to him, because of his increasing love to her; but others think this quite incompatible with all the circumstances marked down in the text, and on the supposition that Jacob was not now seventy-seven years of age, as most chronologers make him, but only fifty-seven, (Genesis 31:55,) there will be time sufficient to allow for all the transactions which are recorded in his history, during his stay with Laban. As to the incredibility of a passionate lover, as some have termed him, waiting patiently for seven years before he could possess the object of his wishes, and those seven years appearing to him as only a few days, it may be satisfactorily accounted for, they think, two ways:
1. He had the continual company of his elect spouse, and this certainly would take away all tedium in the case.
2. Love affairs were not carried to such a pitch of insanity among the patriarchs as they have been in modern times; they were much more sober and sedate, and scarcely ever married before they were forty years of age, and then more for conveniency, and the desire of having an offspring, than for any other purpose.
At the very lowest computation Jacob was now fifty-seven, and consequently must have passed those days in which passion runs away with reason. Still, however, the obvious construction of the text shows that he got Rachel the week after he had married Leah.
