What is the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel?

Jacob kept Laban's sheep for one month. Laban asked, "Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou serve me for nought, tell me what shall thy wages be?" Laban had two daughters; the older, Leah, had bad eyes, but the younger, Rachel, was beautiful. So Jacob said, "I will serve thee seven years for Rachel." And Laban agreed. Because Jacob loved Rachel so much these seven years seemed to him like a few days. At the end, Laban cheated Jacob, and gave his older daughter, Leah, for his wife. Jacob had deceived his father. Now he reaped what he had sown. Jacob was very angry, but Laban said that if he would work another seven years, then he would give him Rachel too. And Laban gave his daughters two maids.

The beautiful daughter of Laban, for whom Jacob served seven years, which seemed to him but a few days, because of his great love for her. When the time was expired Jacob was cheated by Laban, and Leah was given him instead. He served another seven years for Rachel. She was at first childless, and foolishly said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die"; for which she was duly rebuked by her husband. Apparently she prayed to God, for we read that He 'hearkened' to her: she bore Joseph and then Benjamin, at whose birth she died. Jacob set up a pillar at her grave.

"And Laban said to Jacob, Because thou [art] my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what [shall be] thy wages? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder [was] Leah (Weariness), and the name of the younger [was] Rachel (Ewe). And the eyes of Leah:[were] tender; but Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of countenance. And Jacob loved Rachel, and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy youngest daughter. And Laban said, Better [that] I give her to thee than [that] I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they were in his eyes a few days, for his love to her. And Jacob said to Laban, Give [me] my wife for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her. And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in to her. And Laban gave to her Zilpah his maid-servant [for] maid-servant to Leah his daughter. And it came to pass in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, What [is] this thou hast done to me? Have I not served with thee for Rachel? Why then hast thou deceived me? And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the first-born. Fulfil the week of this one; and we will give thee the other also for the service that thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled the week; and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife. And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his maid-servant for her maid-servant. And he went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years" (vers. 15-30).

It is no small contrast to remember Isaac the heir, the son abiding in his father's house, and the honoured servant Eliezer sent to represent him and his father, with suited equipage and costly gifts for the bride. Here the outcast wanderer has nothing to recommend him but his relationship and his service. Nor was Laban slow to discern the value of so capable a man for interests dearer to him than all other considerations. So the bargain was soon struck, and the warm offer of Jacob instantly accepted. But when the full time of service for his bride arrived, the crafty uncle, under all his show of the wedding-feast to Jacob's honour, felt no scruple in the cruel deceit of substituting Leah for Rachel, the object of his heart from the first.

He deceived his nearly blind father, Isaac, by taking the blessing that rightly belonged to Esau, his brother. He had to flee from the wrath of Esau. For over twenty years he was an exile in the home of Laban, his mother's brother. Laban was just as shrewd as Jacob. He was a hard taskmaster and Jacob worked hard for very small wages. Rachel was one of Laban's two daughters and Jacob loved her. A bargain was struck; he was to work for seven years for Rachel. When the years were completed, through Laban's trickery, it was not Rachel he had worked for, it was her sister Leah. This cost Jacob another seven years labour for the daughter he loved.

"And Jacob continued his journey, and went into the land of the children of the east...... ...... 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 had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. 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 saw the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as previously. And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return into the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee..... And Jacob was angry, and he disputed with Laban...... I have been these twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Had not the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, been with me, it is certain thou wouldest have sent me away now empty. God has looked upon my affliction and the labour of my hands, and has judged last night. And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; but as for my daughters, what can I do this day to them, or to their sons whom they have brought forth? And now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones. And they took stones, and made a heap, and ate there upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed, - and Mizpah; for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and thee, when we shall be hidden one from another: if thou shouldest afflict my daughters, or if thou shouldest take wives besides my daughters, - no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee! And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee: let this heap be witness, and the pillar a witness, that neither I pass this heap to go to thee, nor thou pass this heap and this pillar to come to me, for harm. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us! And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. And Jacob offered a sacrifice upon the mountain, and invited his brethren to eat bread: and they ate bread, and lodged on the mountain. And Laban rose early in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban went and returned to his place." (Gen.29:1,15-20; 31:2-3,36a,41-55)

"And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, [Am] I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold, my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I may also be built up by her. And she gave him Bilhah her bondmaid as wife; and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and also heard my voice, and given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan (Judge). And Bilhah Rachel's bondmaid again conceived and bore Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, Wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed; and she called his name Naphtali (my Wrestling). When Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she took Zilpah her bondmaid, and gave her to Jacob as wife. And Zilpah Leah's bondmaid bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, What fortune! and she called his name Gad (Fortune). And Zilpah Leah's bondmaid bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, With my happiness; for the daughters will call me happy! and she called his name Asher (Happy)" (Gen. 30:1-13).

"And Reuben went out in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field; and he brought them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said to her, Is it little that thou hast taken my husband, that thou wilt take my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. And when Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, Thou must come in to me, for indeed I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God hearkened to Leah; and she bore Jacob a fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I gave my bondmaid to my husband; and she called his name Issachar (There is hire). And Leah again conceived, and bore Jacob a sixth son; and Leah said, God hath endowed me with a good dowry: this time will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his name Zebulun (Dwelling). Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah (Judged). And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph (He will add); and said, Jehovah will add to me another son" (vers. 14-24).

The righteous government of Jehovah is clearly seen here also. Jacob was grossly wronged by Laban in what must deeply touch a man's heart, and Leah was beyond doubt a consenting party to the cheating breach of the marriage compact as to Rachel. She might and ought to have told Jacob the unworthy trick her father was playing by her means. But God would have His servant Jacob learn more deeply in his own wounded affections the vileness of self-seeking deceit; and hence He permitted what He would use for chastening and good in the end.

"And when Jehovah saw that Leah [was] hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel [was] barren. And Leah conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Reuben (See! a son); for she said, Because Jehovah hath looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me. And she again conceived, and bore a son, and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I [am] hated, he hath therefore given me this one also; and she called his name Simeon (Hearing). And she again conceived, and bore a son, and said, Now this time will my husband be united to me, for I have borne him three sons; therefore was his name called Levi (United). And she again conceived, and bore a son, and said, This time will I praise Jehovah; therefore she called his name Judah (Praise). And she ceased from bearing" (vers. 31-35).

The elder daughter of Laban, given to Jacob as wife through the artifice of her father. She was 'tender eyed,' and not as beautiful as Rachel; but she was blessed of God in bearing to Jacob six sons and one daughter, and was thus the mother of the heads of the important tribes of Reuben, Levi, and Judah, as well as of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun. Gen. 29:16-35; Gen. 30:9-21; Gen. 31:4, 14, 33; Gen. 33:1-2, 7; Gen. 49:31.

Jacob's arrival at Padan-aram (29:1-14) His service for Rachel (29:15-20) Laban's deception (29:21-25) Jacob receives Rachel 29:26-31) Leah's sons (29:32-35)

The Lord brought him to Padan-aram, where he was to dwell as an exile for twenty years. During these twenty years Jehovah did not manifest Himself to him, even as Israel dispersed among the nations has no communications from the Lord. His sojourn in Padan-aram produced suffering, the disciplinary dealings of God with him. He reaps in a measure what he had sown. He deceived his father Isaac and now Laban deceives him in different ways, especially by substituting Leah for the beloved Rachel. A week after he received Leah, Rachel was given to him. But though he possessed her, he had to serve seven years for her.