Genesis 29-31

Genesis Chapter 29

After his dream, Jacob sets out and travels about 400 miles in search of his mother’s family. Providence directs Jacob’s steps and he find that which he seeks. And he was received by Laban’s family. Jacob saw Rachel and fell in love with her. He agreed to work for Laban for seven years to purchase his bride. Jacob was deceived by Laban and is given Leah, Rachel’s sister as his bride.

Jacob confronts Laban and was told to finish his week long marriage wedding feast with Leah and then he will be given Rachel whose price will be another seven years of labor for Laban.

Jacob now has two wives. And the Lord saw that Leah was not loved and made Leah able to bear children while Rachel is barren. The sons of Jacob are listed in the table above and are in chronological order of birth. The names the women chose for their children are indicative of their emotions. Leah was well aware Jacob loved Rachel.

Genesis Chapter 30

Rachel was in despair because she was barren. And Rachel gave her maid Bilhah to her husband so that Bilhah might have children for her. (Sound familiar?) And Bilhah has two male children with Jacob for Rachel.

Leah stopped bearing children and gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a secondary wife. Zilpah bore two sons for Jacob.

Leah made a trade with Rachel to sleep with Jacob. Leah became pregnant again and bore another son she called Zebulun. And then she bore him a daughter she named Dinah.

But God hears and answers prayer and gave her the desire of her heart. Rachel bore a son that she named Joseph. (Gen 30:24) This is a truth that is proven throughout Genesis. There are many parallels between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus. These will be discussed shortly. Keep this in mind as you read the biography of Joseph.

Jacob bargained with Laban as it was nearly time for him and his family to depart with their possessions. The outcome of this bargaining did cause trouble. Laban attempted to be deceitful with Jacob again. There is the account of the speckled and spotted among the goats and the sheep.

Genesis Chapter 31

Because the speckled and spotted sheep and goats increased so greatly making Jacob rich there were difficulties between Jacob and Laban.

The Lord told Jacob to return to the land of his fathers and leave Laban. Jacob had a dream from God and knew to take the speckled and spotted sheep and goats. Jacob and his family fled with their possessions. Unknown to Jacob, Rachel had stolen her families’ (Laban's) idols.

Laban follows but has a dream where he was told, by God, to deal with Jacob peacefully. Laban found Jacob the next day and they deal peacefully with one another and make a covenant together. Laban bid goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren and returned to his land.

Historical Insert:

“The Nuzi tablets show that family gods were like title-deeds, with symbolic legal value; we now understand that Rachel stole Laban’s teraphim-gods to redress what she felt to be an unfair legal provision.” (Johnson, p. 13)