Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) turns to Jacob With Laban.
Apparently, the locals were shocked by such displays of affection, and they criticized Jacob for it. According to Ginzberg, their strictness stemmed from a desire to avoid the immorality that had led to the Flood. The gossip and judgment even brought Jacob to tears!
Why the tears? Was it just from the reprimand? No, there was more to it than that. Jacob couldn't help but compare himself to Eliezer, his grandfather Abraham's servant. Eliezer had arrived in Haran with ten camels laden with gifts when seeking a bride for Isaac. Jacob, on the other hand, had nothing. Nothing to offer Rachel. As if that wasn't bad enough, Jacob also foresaw that Rachel wouldn't be buried beside him, a thought that filled him with sorrow.
Upon learning that Jacob was her cousin, Rachel rushed home to tell her father, Laban. Now, Laban...he was a character. He immediately thought of Eliezer’s lavish arrival and assumed Jacob must be carrying a fortune. When he saw Jacob was empty-handed, Laban suspected he might be hiding riches in his girdle or even his mouth! He hugged and kissed Jacob, all in a desperate attempt to find hidden treasure. Can you imagine?
When Jacob explained that he had been robbed by Eliphaz (Esau's son!), Laban was dismayed. Jacob recounted how he'd convinced Eliphaz to spare his life and instead take all his possessions, arguing that the descendants of Abraham were destined for servitude and that it was better for him to fulfill that destiny by losing his wealth than by losing his life. (This idea of the "descendants of Abraham" being obligated to serve for four hundred years is a fascinating one, found also in (Genesis 15:13) and (Exodus 12:40).)
Laban, now realizing Jacob had no money, consulted his teraphim (household idols) for advice. These idols, as Ginzberg tells us, warned Laban to keep Jacob around, saying his presence would bring good fortune. So, Laban, ever the schemer, sought a way to keep Jacob in his service. The teraphim suggested offering Jacob a wife, knowing his interest in women would keep him from leaving.
Laban then asked Jacob what he wanted as wages. Jacob, completely smitten with Rachel, declared that he only wanted her as his wife. Rachel, aware of her father's cunning, warned Jacob that he was no match for Laban's trickery, to which Jacob replied, "I am his brother in cunning!" (A playful echo of their ancestor's, Abraham, dealings perhaps?)
Rachel then revealed Laban's plan to marry off her older sister, Leah, first. To avoid being tricked, Jacob and Rachel devised a secret sign so he could identify her on their wedding night. Despite all precautions, Laban, as we know, was not easily outsmarted. Jacob’s careful wording of the marriage agreement – specifying “Rachel, not Leah; your daughter, so you don't bring me some other woman named Rachel; the younger daughter, so you don't exchange their names in the meantime” – proved futile. As the saying goes, "It profits not if a villain is cast into a sawmill."
Laban deceived not only Jacob but also the wedding guests, setting the stage for a dramatic and complicated family saga.
So, what does this all mean for us? Maybe it's a reminder that even auspicious beginnings can have their challenges. That even when fate seems to be on our side, we still need to be cautious and prepared. And perhaps, most importantly, it's a lesson in the enduring power of love, even in the face of deception and hardship. After all, it was Jacob's love for Rachel that drove this whole story forward, shaping the destiny of generations to come.
Rachel's coming to the well at the moment when Jacob reached the territory belonging to Haran was an auspicious omen. To meet young maidens on first entering a city is a sure sign that fortune is favorable to one's undertakings. Experience proves this through Eliezer, Jacob, Moses, and Saul. They all encountered maidens when they approached a place new to them, and they all met with success. Jacob treated Rachel at once as his cousin, which caused significant whispering among the by-standers. They censured Jacob for his demeanor toward her, for since God had sent the deluge upon the world, on account of the immoral life led by men, great chastity had prevailed, especially among the people of the east. The talk of the men reduced Jacob to tears. Scarcely had he kissed Rachel when he began to weep, for he repented of having done it. There was reason enough for tears. Jacob could not but remember sadly that Eliezer, his grandfather's slave, had brought ten camels laden with presents with him to Haran, when he came to sue for a bride for Isaac, while he had not even a ring to give to Rachel. Moreover, he foresaw that his favorite wife Rachel would not lie beside him in the grave, and this, too, made him weep. As soon as Rachel heard that Jacob was her cousin, she ran home to tell her father about his coming. Her mother was no longer among the living, else she would naturally have gone to her. In great haste Laban ran to receive Jacob. He reflected, if Eliezer, the bondman, had come with ten camels, what would not the favorite son of the family bring with him, and when he saw that Jacob was unattended, he concluded that he carried great sums of money in his girdle, and he threw his arms about his waist to find out whether his supposition was true. Disappointed in this, he yet did not give up hope that his nephew Jacob was a man of substance. Perhaps he concealed precious stones in his mouth, and he kissed him in order to find out whether he had guessed aright. But Jacob said to him: "Thou thinkest I have money. Nay, thou art mistaken, I have but words." Then he went on to tell him how it had come about that he stood before him empty-handed. He said that his father Isaac had sent him on his way provided with gold, silver, and money, but he had encountered Eliphaz, who had threatened to slay him. To this assailant Jacob had spoken thus: "Know that the descendants of Abraham have an obligation to meet, they will have to serve four hundred years in a land that is not theirs. If thou slayest me, then you, the seed of Esau, will have to pay the debt. It were better, therefore, to take all I have, and spare my life, so that what is owing may be paid by me. Hence," Jacob continued, "I stand before thee bare of all the substance carried off by Eliphaz." This tale of his nephew's poverty filled Laban with dismay. "What," he exclaimed, "shall I have to give food and drink for a month or, perhaps, even a year to this fellow, who has come to me empty-handed!" He betook himself to his teraphim, to ask them for counsel upon the matter, and they admonished him, saying: "Beware of sending him away from thy house. His star and his constellation are so lucky that good fortune will attend all his undertakings, and for his sake the blessing of the Lord will rest upon all thou doest, in thy house or in thy field." Laban was satisfied with the advice of the teraphim, but he was embarrassed as to the way in which he was to attach Jacob to his house. He did not venture to offer him service, lest Jacob's conditions be impossible of fulfilment. Again he resorted to the teraphim, and asked them with what reward to tempt his nephew, and they replied: "A wife is his wage; he will ask nothing else of thee but a wife. It is his nature to be attracted by women, and whenever he threatens to leave thee, do but offer him another wife, and he will not depart." Laban went back to Jacob, and said, "Tell me, what shall thy wages be?" and he replied, "Thinkest thou I came hither to make money? I came only to get me a wife," for Jacob had no sooner beheld Rachel than he fell in love with her and made her a proposal of marriage. Rachel consented, but added the warning: "My father is cunning, and thou art not his match." Jacob: "I am his brother in cunning." Rachel: "But is deception becoming unto the pious?" Jacob: "Yes, 'with the righteous righteousness is seemly, and with the deceiver deception.' But," continued Jacob, "tell me wherein he may deal cunningly with me." Rachel: "I have an older sister, whom he desires to see married before me, and he will try to palm her off on thee instead of me." To be prepared for Laban's trickery, Jacob and Rachel agreed upon a sign by which he would recognize her in the nuptial night. Thus warned to be on his guard against Laban, Jacob worded his agreement with him regarding his marriage to Rachel with such precision that no room was left for distortion or guile. Jacob said: "I know that the people of this place are knaves, therefore I desire to put the matter very clearly to thee. I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, hence not Leah; for thy daughter, that thou bringest me not some other woman likewise named Rachel; for the younger daughter, that thou exchangest not their names in the meantime." Nothing of all this availed: "It profits not if a villain is cast into a sawmill"—neither force nor gentle words can circumvent a rascal. Laban deceived not only Jacob, but also the guests whom he invited to the wedding.
