Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me for seven more years.”
Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. Laban gave Bilhah, his servant, to his daughter Rachel to be her servant. He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv27, 30 27. Fulfil her week. Laban now is become callous…
27. Fulfil her week. Laban now is become callous in wickedness, for he extorts other seven years from his nephew to allow him to marry his other daughter. If he had had ten more daughters, he would have been ready thus to dispose of them all: yea, of his own accord, he obtrudes his daughter as an object of merchandise, thinking nothing of the disgrace of this illicit sale, if only he may make it a source of gain. In this truly he grievously sins, that he not only involves his nephew in polygamy, but pollutes both him and his own daughters by incestuous nuptials. If by any means a wife is not loved by her husband, it is better to repudiate her than that she should be retained as a captive, and consumed with grief by the introduction of a second wife. Therefore the Lord, by Malachi, pronounces divorce to be more tolerable than polygamy. (Malachi 2:14.) Laban, blinded by avarice, so sets his daughters together, that they spend their whole lives in mutual hostility. He also perverts all the laws of nature by casting two sisters into one marriage-bed, so that the one is the competitor of the other. Since Moses sets these crimes before the Israelites in the very commencement of their history, it is not for them to be inflated by the sense of their nobility, so that they should boast of their descent from holy fathers. For, however excellent Jacob might be, he had no other offspring than that which sprung from an impure source; since, contrary to nature, two sisters are mixed together in one bed; in the mode of beasts; and two concubines are afterwards added to the mass. We have seen indeed, above, that this license was too common among oriental nations; but it was not allowable for men, at their own pleasure, to subvert, by a depraved custom, the law of marriage divinely sanctioned from the beginning. Therefore, Laban is, in every way, inexcusable. And although necessity may, in some degree, excuse the fault of Jacob, it cannot altogether absolve him from blame. For he might have dismissed Leah, because she had not been his lawful wife: because the mutual consent of the man and the woman, respecting which mistake is impossible, constitutes marriage. But Jacob reluctantly retains her as his wife, from whom he was released and free, and thus doubles his fault by polygamy, and trebles it by an incestuous marriage. Thus we see that the inordinate love of Rachel, which had been once excited in his mind, was inflamed to such a degree, that he possessed neither moderation nor judgment. With respect to the words made use of, interpreters ascribe to them different meanings. Some refer the demonstrative pronoun to the week; others to Leah, as if it had been said, that he should not have Rachel until he had lived with her sister one week. But I rather explain it of Rachel, that he should purchase a marriage with her by another seven years’ service; not that Laban deferred the nuptials to the end of that time, but that Jacob was compelled to engage himself in a new servitude.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv27–30 Gen 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give…
Gen 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
Ver. 27. We will give thee this also.] See here the guise of wicked and deceitful men: when one fetch has been born in their minds, they devise another; and make no end of overreaching; there never wanting (as the proverb hath it) a new knack in a knave’s cap. They will search the devil’s skull, but they will find out one slippery trick or another, to cheat and go beyond those they deal with. But let them look to it; "God is the avenger of all such," {1Th 4:6} whose, not heads only, but "bellies prepare deceit". {Job 15:35}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv27–28 Fulfil her week, the seven days usually devoted to…
Fulfil her week, the seven days usually devoted to the feast and solemnity of marriage, as Jdg 14:12,15,17. And this he desired, that a week’s cohabitation with Leah might either knit his affections to her, or at least confirm the contract and marriage with her.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv27–30 Fulfil her week,.... Not Rachel's week, or a week…
Fulfil her week,.... Not Rachel's week, or a week of years of servitude for her, but Leah's week, or the week of seven days of feasting for her marriage; for a marriage feast used to be kept seven days, according to the Jewish writers (t), and as it seems from Jdg 14:17; and the Targum of Jerusalem fully expresses this sense,"fulfil the week of the days of the feast of Leah;''and to the same sense the Targum of Jonathan, Aben Ezra and Jarchi:
and we will give this also; meaning Rachel that stood by; and the sense is, that he and his wife, if he had any, or his friends about him, would give to Jacob Rachel also to be his wife, upon the following condition:
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for the service which thou shall serve with me yet seven other years; which shows the avaricious temper of the man.
(t) T. Hieros. Moed Katon, fol. 80. 4. Pirke Eliezer, c. 16, 36.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v27 We will give thee this also - Hereby he…
We will give thee this also - Hereby he drew Jacob into the sin and snare, and disquiet of multiplying wives. Jacob did not design it, but to have kept as true to Rachel as his father had done to Rebekah; he that had lived without a wife to the eighty fourth year of his age could then have been very well content with one: but Laban to dispose of his two daughters without portions, and to get seven years service more out of Jacob, thus imposeth upon him, and draws him into such a strait, that he had some colourable reason for marrying them both.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv27–28 Verse 27. Fulfil her week] The marriage feast, it…
Verse 27. Fulfil her week] The marriage feast, it appears, lasted seven days; it would not therefore have been proper to break off the solemnities to which all the men of the place had been invited, Ge 29:22, and probably Laban wished to keep his fraud from the public eye; therefore he informs Jacob that if he will fulfil the marriage week for Leah, he will give him Rachel at the end of it, on condition of his serving seven other years. To this the necessity of the case caused Jacob to agree; and thus Laban had fourteen years' service instead of seven: for it is not likely that Jacob would have served even seven days for Leah, as his affection was wholly set on Rachel, the wife of his own choice. By this stratagem Laban gained a settlement for both his daughters. What a man soweth, that shall he reap. Jacob had before practised deceit, and is now deceived; and Laban, the instrument of it, was afterwards deceived himself.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v27 Gen 29:27. Fulfil her week — The seven days…
Gen 29:27. Fulfil her week — The seven days usually devoted to the feast and solemnity of marriage, Jdg 14:12-17; for it does not appear that it relates to the seven years Jacob afterward served. This Laban seems to have desired, that by a week’s cohabitation with Leah, his affections might be knit to her, and the marriage with her confirmed. We will give thee this also — Hereby he drew Jacob into the sin, and snare, and disquiet of multiplying wives. Jacob did not design it, but to have kept as true to Rachel as his father had done to Rebekah; he that had lived without a wife to the eighty-fourth year of his age, could then have been very well content with one: but Laban, to dispose of his two daughters without portions, and to get seven years’ service more out of Jacob, thus imposeth upon him, and draws him into such a strait, that he had some colourable reason for marrying them both.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv28, 30 Week. Seven days; not years, as Josephus would have…
Week. Seven days; not years, as Josephus would have it. The nuptial feast lasted a week, Judges xiv. 15.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv28–29 gave him Rachel also--It is evident that the marriage…
gave him Rachel also--It is evident that the marriage of both sisters took place nearly about the same time, and that such a connection was then allowed, though afterwards prohibited (Lev 18:18).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v27 27. Her week — The seven days of the…
27. Her week — The seven days of the marriage feast. Laban proposes, as a recompense, after the week has ended, to give him Rachel also, but on condition that he serve for her yet seven other years. Two wives in eight days, but fourteen years of service for them both. “This bigamy of Jacob must not be judged directly by the Mosaic law, which prohibits marriage with two sisters at the same time, (Lev_18:18,) or be set down as incest, (Calvin,) since there was no positive law on the point in existence then. At the same time it is not to be justified on the ground that the blessing of God made it the means of the fulfilment of his promise, namely, the multiplication of the seed of Abraham into a great nation. Just as it had arisen from Laban’s deception and Jacob’s love, which regarded outward beauty alone, and, therefore, from sinful infirmities, so did it become in its results a true school of affliction to Jacob, in which God showed to him by many a humiliation, that such conduct as his was quite unfitted to accomplish the divine counsels, and thus condemned the ungodliness of such a marriage, and prepared the way for the subsequent prohibition in the law.” — Keil.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v27 27. Fulfil the week] Laban’s proposal is that when…
27. Fulfil the week] Laban’s proposal is that when the week’s marriage festivities for Leah are over, Jacob shall take Rachel as his second wife, on condition that he gives his services for another period of seven years. Nothing would justify the interruption of the seven days’ marriage ceremonial.
Marriage with two sisters was evidently free from objection in the primitive days of the Israelites; and, perhaps for that reason, it is introduced into the prophetical symbolism of Jer_3:6 ff. and Ezekiel 23. But, in the Levitical law, marriage with two sisters simultaneously is forbidden; Lev_18:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv27–28 (27) Fulfil her week.—The marriage festival seems to have…
(27) Fulfil her week.—The marriage festival seems to have lasted a week, as was the custom in later times (Jdg_14:12), and. to have forsaken Leah during this period would have been to offer her an insult which her brothers must have avenged. Appeased, therefore, by the promise of Rachel as soon as the seven days are over, Jacob, rather than quarrel with the whole family, submits to the wrong. The Hebrew is remarkable, “Fulfil the week of this, and we will give to thee also the this for the service.” But in Hebrew this . . . this means the one and the other (Gen_31:38; Gen_31:41), and it is a mistake to suppose that the language will allow the first this to be understood of any one but Leah, and the second this of any one but Rachel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv27–30 Fulfill her week, literally, make full the week of…
Fulfill her week, literally, make full the week of this otis, i.e. of Leah, if Leah was given to Jacob on the first night of the festivities (Calmer, Rosenm Keil, Kalisch, Lange, Ainsworth); but id Leah was married at the close of the seven days, then it must refer to Rachel s week (Bush, Murphy)and we (including Laban"s wife and eldest son, as in Ge 14) will give thee this also (i.e. Rachel) for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. Almost every motive that is mean, base, and despicable appears in this behavior of Laban"s; if he attached little value to his daughters" affections, he had a keen appreciation of Jacob"s qualities as a shepherd.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v29 He loved also Rachel more than Leah
Gen_29:29-35
He loved also Rachel more than Leah
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Leah and Rachel: their trims and compensations
I.
THEIR TRIALS. Leah was hated (Gen_29:31), i.e., she was loved less than Rachel By becoming a party to a heartless fraud she lost her husbands affections. And Rachel, the beloved wife, was denied the blessing of children, so coveted by the ancient Hebrew mothers (Gen_29:31). Both had trials, though of a different kind.
II. THEIR COMPENSATIONS. Leah was blessed with children, which compensated her for the loss of her husbands love. The names of the four sons successively born to her were all significant, and betoken that pious habit of mind which recognized the hand of God in all that befel her. She called the first-born, Reuben (Hebrews) see ye a son. The second, Simeon (Hebrews) hearing, for God had heard her prayer and seen her affliction. The third was named Levi (Hebrews) joined. Now, surely, would the breach be healed and the husband and wife joined together by this threefold cord. The fourth she called Judah (Hebrews) praise, as if recording her thankfulness that she had won the affections of her husband by bearing to him so many sons. Rachel, on the other hand, continued barren. But she was compensated by her beauty, and by the thought that she was first in her husbands affections. Thus with the evils which fall to the lot of individuals, there are compensations. (T. H. Leale.)
Lessons
1. God doth not see as men, not as good men see sometimes in accepting persons.
2. Gods providence may be regardful of them who are neglected by men.
3. Undervalued and hated mercies may, under Gods ordering, prove most fruitful to men.
4. The most regarded by men may be disrespected upon some accounts with God.
5. The most lovely mercies in mans eye may prove barren and unfruitful to him (Gen_29:31), (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Worth better than beauty
The cultivation of the beautiful is, indeed, the first step towards civilization; but it is no more than a means of education; it has accomplished its purpose when it has contributed to awaken the interest for thought and truth; the Greeks were an element in the development of mankind; but their mission ceased when they had opened the minds of men for the reception of abstract ideas; and the sentence which a Greek sage wrote over his door: nothing ugly must enter, was to be superseded by the Biblical maxim: deceitful is gracefulness, and vain is beauty; a woman who feareth the Lord, she alone deserveth praise Pro_31:30). While the first woman was merely she who gives life (Eve); the daughter of Lamech, seven generations later, was the beautiful (Naamah); this was certainly a progress; but many centuries were required to elapse before men ceased to regard beauty both as the test of worth, and a proof of special Divine favour. To contribute towards this important lesson is the end of this portion; for, when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren; by the same act He taught Jacob wisdom, and procured justice to Leah. The latter was clearly aware of this turning-point in her life; for when she gave birth to a son, she exclaimed: Surely, the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me. Nor does she seem to have been unworthy of being blessed with offspring; the love of her husband was the sole object of her thoughts and feelings. (M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v29 Gen_29:31. Leah was hated.] The word is to be…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_29:31. Leah was hated.] The word is to be understood relatively, not absolutely. By the usage of the Heb. to be hated, signifies only to be loved less.
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Gen_29:32. Reuben.] The name means, “see ye a son.”
Gen_29:33. Simeon.] Heb. hearing.
Gen_29:34. Levi.] Heb. joined. Implies that the husband and wife would be bound together by this threefold cord of attachment.
Gen_29:35. Judah.] Heb. praise.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_29:29-35
LEAH AND RACHEL: THEIR TRIALS AND COMPENSATIONS
I. Their trials. Leah was “hated” (Gen_29:31), i.e., she was loved less than Rachel. By becoming a party to a heartless fraud she lost her husband’s affections. And Rachel, the beloved wife was denied the blessing of children, so coveted by the ancient Hebrew mothers (Gen_29:31). Both had trials, though of a different kind.
II. Their compensations. Leah was blessed with children, which compensated her for the loss of her husband’s love. The names of the four sons successively born to her were all significant, and betoken that pious habit of mind which recognised the hand of God in all that befel her. She called the firstborn, Reuben, Heb. “see ye a son.” The second, Simeon, Heb. “hearing,” for God had heard her prayer and seen her affliction. The third was named Levi, Heb. “joined.” Now, surely, would the breach be healed and the husband and wife joined together by this threefold cord. The fourth she called Judah, Heb. “praise,” as if recording her thankfulness that she had won the affections of her husband by bearing to him so many sons. Rachel, on the other hand, continued barren. But she was compensated by her beauty, and by the thought that she was first in her husband’s affections. Thus with the evils which fall to the lot of individuals, there are compensations.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_29:29-31. Here we have punishment tempered with mercy. This is what the cross has done for us; it prevents penalty from being simply penalty; it leaves us not alone to punishment, but mingles all with blessing and forgiveness. Through it life has its bright as well as its dark side. (Robertson.)
Rachel whom he loved is barren; Leah, which was despised, is fruitful. How wisely God weighs out to us our favours and crosses in an equal balance; so tempering our sorrows that we may not oppress, and our joys that they may not transport us; each one hath some matter of envy to others, and of grief to himself.—(Bishop Hall).
Gen_29:32-35. Children are joining mercies between husband and wife. As many children as parents have, so many bonds of love exist between them.—(Bush).
Signification of the word from which “Judah” is derived: 1 to thank; 2 to commend; 3 to praise; 4 to confess. From this Judah all Jews received their beautiful name.—(Lange).
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v28 Jacob did so, and completed Leah's week
Jacob did so, and completed Leah's week
"And Jacob did what Laban asked, and finished celebrating Leah's bridal week"
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Bilhah
This is the name of Rachel's female servant. (See: How to Translate Names)
Jacob slept with Rachel
This is a polite way to say that they had marital relations. AT: "Jacob married Rachel" (See: Euphemism)
he loved Rachel
This refers to the romantic love between a man and a woman.
translationWords
Jacob
Leah
Laban
Rachel
servant
love
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv28, 30 29:28-30 After the bridal week ended (29:27), Jacob also…
29:28-30 After the bridal week ended (29:27), Jacob also received Rachel as his wife, though he then would have to work an additional seven years (cp. 31:41). Laban seemed to have gained the upper hand.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.