(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)
So we hear that Laban welcomes Jacob as a house guest and calls
him his own flesh and blood. One can’t
read this after all the symbolism that just took place in this story by the
well, without thinking of how Jesus came down to earth and took on flesh and
blood, so that he could be like us, yet live without sin. Laban was saying to Jacob “You are like
me! I will show you favor because you
are like my own family!”
So Jacob stayed awhile.
After he had been there for a month Laban said to him “Just because you
are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
Laban had two daughters.
The oldest was named Leah and the youngest was Rachel whom Jacob had met
at the well. The scriptures describe
Leah as one with weak eyes. This isn’t
as harsh as it sounds. The Hebrew word for weak is rakkot and it’s plural form is rak. It means soft and tender. Instead of meaning she was unattractive; it
means she probably cried a lot. Her eyes
were most likely red and swollen from constant crying. Jewish legend has it that since Jacob was the
younger son of Rebekah and he wanted to marry Rachel, that Rebekah’s older son
should marry Leah. Perhaps this was yet
another “to his own gain” plan that Laban was cooking up behind the scenes. Maybe Leah overheard him discussing this plan
with someone else and she became afraid of whatever arrangement Laban might
make for her eventually with Rebekah’s older son. The bible does not mention this at all, it is
just the way that the Rabbi’s have used to describe the odd definition of
Leah’s eyes.
So the sages say Leah did not want to marry Esau; hence she cried
all the time that Jacob knew her and he noticed her “weak” eyes.
We are told that Rachel’s eyes sparkled and
lit up a room whenever she entered it.
This indicates to me that Leah probably had a serious and introverted
personality and Rachel had an outgoing extroverted personality. Jacob’s mother had been such an extrovert and Jacob would have probably preferred the type of personality that Rachel
had. Once again, it is all
speculation. All the scriptures actually
tell us is that Leah had weak eyes and Rachel was beautiful to look at.
So, with all of Laban’s schemes going on in the background, Jacob naively
stayed awhile. After he had been there
for a month Laban said to him “Just because you are a relative of mine, should
you work for me for nothing? Tell me
what your wages should be.”
Jacob was in love with Rachel and he said to Laban: “I’ll work for you seven years in return for
your younger daughter Rachel.”
Laban said, “It’s better
that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.”
So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed
like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
