Genesis 29:13-20

"And it came to pass when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month. And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for naught? 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. And Leah's eyes were tender; but Rachel was beautiful and well-favored. And Jacob loved Rachel; and he 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 I should give her to another man: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had to her."

"Embraced him and kissed him ..." This was the customary greeting among Hebrew families in those days and even down until the present time. It is a mistake to view Jacob's kiss of Rachel as the type of osculation seen in romantic movies. The early church itself manifested the same type of greeting seen here in the actions of Jacob and Laban.

"He told Laban all these things ..." probably refers to the meeting between Rachel and Jacob at the well. It is not necessary to suppose that Jacob rehearsed the events regarding his deception of Isaac and Esau and the facts of his being, at the time, a fugitive from the murderous wrath of Esau.

"What shall thy wages be ... ?" The crafty Laban, having no doubt observed the infatuation that Jacob had for Rachel, might have anticipated that he would make some kind of bold and extravagant offer. This may therefore be supposed on the basis of what Laban later did as the beginning of his unscrupulous deception and exploitation of Jacob. By any consideration, it would appear that "seven years" was a long period of servitude.

CONCERNING LEAH AND RACHEL

This is an appropriate place to consider the character of these two mothers of the Twelve Tribes. Without doubt, Leah was the stronger and more suitable wife for Jacob, and that must be allowed as the reason God permitted the deception and greed of Laban to succeed, thus making Leah the principal wife of the patriarchal family. (See under Genesis 29:26 for the comment on the custom of marrying the firstborn daughter before giving the younger ones in marriage, as claimed by Laban as an excuse). Her pre-eminence consisted of the following:

1. She was the actual mother of six sons (Genesis 30:19), half of the twelve patriarchs, and one daughter (Dinah).
   
2. Her son Judah succeeded to the headship of the Chosen Nation, through whom the Messiah was born.
   
3. Her posterity became the principal element in the true Israel, following the defection and loss of the Northern Israel.
   
4. David the king who gave his name and title to Christ himself ("the son of David") was her descendant.
   
5. She was the first, and therefore the lawful, wife of Jacob.
   
6. Her son Judah gave his name and title to Christ, "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah."
   
7. She is here mentioned first and was at last buried by Jacob's side in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, "presumably before Jacob's descent to Egypt."[12]
   

Rachel, being more beautiful than Leah, was the special object of Jacob's love, that being the principal element in her place in Scripture, and in the history of the Chosen People. It is possible that she consented to the fraud and deception committed against Jacob in the matter of Leah. Her honor in the history of Israel was inferior to that of Leah in the following:

1. She was the second, not the first, wife of Jacob.
   
2. She was impatient and demanding (in the matter of her barrenness).
   
3. Through her posterity, homosexuality found its beginnings in Israel (See Hosea 9:9; Judges 19:10).
   
4. Her descendant, Ephraim, led the rebellion that divided Israel, usurped the very name of the Chosen Nation as his own, and led the majority of Jacob's descendants into apostasy and destruction.
   
5. Her body was not placed beside that of Jacob's in Machpelah.
   
6. Apparently, she sponsored and kept alive pagan idolatry among the Israelites (Genesis 31:32-35).
   
7. Although having full knowledge of Abraham's introduction of concubinage into his family and of the terrible consequences of it, Rachel, nevertheless, fell into the same error, re-introducing concubinage into the families of the covenant people.
   

The names of Leah and Rachel were said to have the following meanings:

1. Leah was defined by Beeching as meaning "wild cow."[13] However, we prefer the meaning of "gazelle,"[14] as affirmed by Dummelow.
   
2. Rachel means "ewe."[15]
   

"And Leah's eye's were tender ..." Scholars and translators have had no end of trouble with this word rendered here as "tender." A hundred and fifty years ago, Clarke was of the definite opinion that, "The word means just the reverse of the signification usually given to it";[16] and Speiser and Willis, along with many other modern scholars, agree with this. It is likely that what is meant is that her principal beauty lay in the luster and softness of her beautiful eyes. Therefore, the contrast with Rachel in which it is stated that she "was beautiful and well-favored" should be applied as a description of her excellent figure and exquisite delicacy of her features. Her appearance was more sensational than that of Leah.