Genesis 35:16-35:29

     Then they journeyed from Bethel;¹ and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son."² As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.
     Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine³; and Israel heard of it⁴.
     Now the sons⁵ of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn),⁶ Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
     Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens. Now the days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. And Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days;⁷ and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

^[1] Why did they leave?
^[2] A blessing will result from her suffering. But the implication is that having a son (rather than a daughter) is worth great suffering and even death to the mother. The low status of women is emphasized again.
^[3] Mother of his child and exclusive sexual partner (until now), but still only considered a concubine. Once again, women have low status.
^[4] And would condemn Reuben for it and take away his inheritance at his deathbed.
^[5] Daughter not even mentioned.
^[6] Two things determine the respectful listing of the sons: status of mother, and birth order.
^[7] Not very dramatic. His life had been full, and now it's over.


Take-home: A series of facts about the family are listed together to tie up loose ends. The low status of women is repeated emphasized, a subtle, likely non-intentional connection that I did not notice fully until several readings.

Genesis 35:9-35:15

     God appeared¹ to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.²" So he was called Israel. God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."³ Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.
     Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.⁴ So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

^[1] Appearing very regularly to Jacob now!
^[2] The renaming of Jacob had already happened several passages ago, so why is it now repeated? My Study Bible says that this is the "priestly account", while the previous account was the Yahwist account.
^[3] Once again, a patriarch is promised fertility, power, and land.
^[4] Jacob responds to the appearance of God with worship and sacrifice.


Take-home: God's blessing on the family is reiterated and cemented in a name. This follows Jacob's obedience in putting away the foreign gods - no promises had been made for his obedience, but several blessings have followed.

Genesis 35:1-35:8

     God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel¹, and settle there. Make an altar² there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
     So Jacob said to his household and to all³ who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods⁴ that are among you, and purify yourselves,⁵ and change your clothes; then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever⁶ I have gone." So they gave to Jacob all⁷ the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.
     As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them.⁸ Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.

^[1] Perhaps as a way out of the potential local strife?
^[2] God reminds Jacob to worship.
^[3] Not just his family, but his extended family group and servants.
^[4] An explicit condemnation of the household gods that Rachel stole, which were never directly condemned in that passage. Perhaps also an indication of things that had entered their practices among the people here?
^[5] Does "purify yourselves" refer to the putting away of the gods, or to additional acts of purification? Since it is followed by "change your clothes", I'm guessing that it's an additional purification ritual.
^[6] Jacob takes God's command and makes it his own, expanding God to the one who has been with him "wherever" he has gone.
^[7] They follow thoroughly.
^[8] God hadn't promised anything when he gave the command to move, put away foreign gods, and build an alter to him. But when the people follow his commands, he protects them so that they may carry it out safely.


Take-home: The focus is brought back to God as he tells Jacob and his people to put away foreign gods, purify themselves, and move to a new place to worship him. They follow, and he protects them on their way. Further violence is avoided.

Genesis 34:1-34:31

      Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force¹. And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved² the girl, and spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this girl³ to be my wife."
     Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter⁴ Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him, just as the sons of Jacob came in from the field. When they heard of it, the men were indignant and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel⁵ by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.⁶ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The heart of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. Make marriages with us;⁷ give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.⁸ You shall live with us; and the land shall be open to you; live and trade in it, and get property⁹ in it." Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor with you, and whatever you say to me I will give. Put the marriage present and gift as high as you like, and I will give whatever you ask me;¹⁰ only give me the girl to be my wife.¹¹"
     The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully¹², because he had defiled their sister Dinah. They said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.¹³ Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male among you be circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.¹⁴ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone."
     Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter.¹⁵ Now he was the most honored of all his family. So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, "These people are friendly with us; let them live in the land and trade in it, for the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will they agree to live among us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock, their property, and all their animals be ours?¹⁶ Only let us agree with them, and they will live among us." And all who went out of the city gate heeded Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
     On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed¹⁷ all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away. And the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered¹⁸ the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives,¹⁹ all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey²⁰.
     Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me²¹ by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed,²² both I and my household."
     But they said, "Should our sister be treated like a whore?²³"

^[1] Brutal. I believe that this is the first forceful rape in the Bible, though Lot's daughters did take advantage of their father in a very different way. (And, of course, the men of Sodom wanted to.)
^[2] Loved her, spoke "tenderly" to her, yet took her by force. Not the first man to combine those, at least by a twisted form of "love".
^[3] Speaks to the status of women at that time.
^[4] What an awful thing to hear.
^[5] The story is obviously being written in a later period, where "in Israel" means something.
^[6] An understatement.
^[7] This is alluding to the issue the Israelites have with ethnic mixing, which Hamor appears unaware of.
^[8] Makes them sound like property.
^[9] Tries to make it financially appealing to them.
^[10] Adds to the attempt at material appeal.
^[11] He's rather desperate for her.
^[12] More deceit - what a pattern in this family!
^[13] Scent of a half-truth in this deceit.
^[14] Complete deceit.
^[15] Lust/love blinds him.
^[16] So they entice their own people by material rewards as well.
^[17] Now murder is added to deceit. Only Shechem, and perhaps Hamor, were culpable - the rest of the men were completely innocent but were killed anyway.
^[18] Seeking after material goods that had nothing to do with the crime.
^[19] Their "little ones" and "wives" are wrapped up with the other property as if they are things to be taken and plundered, with no respect. How many other rapes followed the initial one?
^[20] Made "their prey". The wives and little ones were made their prey. Just sick to me.
^[21] Jacob clearly is against their actions.
^[22] Is he against what they did because it was wrong, or because he wants to save himself from attack? Either way, he sees why violence was not a good answer.
^[23] So this was the only solution?


Take-home: A horrific story that highlights the potential for violence among the sons of Jacob and the low status of women in the society. Treatment of women as property and tools by both sides, without their own say in their fate, is understood throughout the story. Money and property is also an impure motive for both sides. Jacob makes clear that their action was wrong - on his deathbed, he will disqualify Simeon and Levi from their inheritances because of their violence. Once again we see that a violent solution is not a good solution. But there are deep issues here beyond the practical questions of resolving disputes with violence.
My Study Bible points out that this story also explains the current (well, current to the author) relationship between Shechem and Israel.

Genesis 33:18-33:20

     Jacob came safely¹ to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan², on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city.  And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for one hundred pieces of money the plot of land on which he had pitched his tent.  There he erected an altar³ and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

^[1] All is well now.
^[2] The promised land.
^[3] One of his first acts there is to build an alter to God.


Take-home: Like his grandfather Abraham had earlier, Jacob finally returns to the promised land in peace and builds a home, building an alter to acknowledge God's providence in his presence there.

Genesis 33:1-33:17

     Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.¹ He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times,² until he came near his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him,³ and they wept⁴.
     When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, "Who are these with you?"⁵
     Jacob said, "The children⁶ whom God has graciously given your servant."
     Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.⁷
     Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company that I met?"
     Jacob answered, "To find favor with my lord."⁸
     But Esau said, "I have enough,⁹ my brother; keep what you have for yourself."
     Jacob said, "No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand;¹⁰ for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God--since you have received me with such favor. Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.¹¹" So he urged him, and he took it.
     Then Esau said, "Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you."¹²
     But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."¹³
     So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me."
     But he said, "Why should my lord be so kind to me?"¹⁴
     So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Succoth,¹⁵ and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called Succoth.

^[1] Wow...a callous reading of who he was afraid to lose? Or just a traditional ranking of honor?
^[2] Showing humility and deference. Does it matter whether it's "real humility" here, or is the action the important part?
^[3] What a surprise!
^[4] Wow...emotional. Esau's feelings for his brother far overwhelmed his anger. Once again a dispute is resolved nonviolently.
^[5] Interested in his brother's family.
^[6] What about the wives?
^[7] Everyone showing deference/humility.
^[8] Honestly admits that he was trying to gain favor.
^[9] Is he just following the polite cultural non-acceptance, or does he really see himself as not having need? Or does he not want to be in debt to his brother or to show that his brother has gained more than him?
^[10] Wants the security of having his gift accepted.
^[11] Attributes his success to God, and says that he also has enough.
^[12] Esau wants to continue the relationship.
^[13] But Jacob wants to maintain some separation. Is his answer the real reason, or does he still hold some fear of Esau? Or does he just want to continue to make his own way?
^[14] The same dynamic continues.
^[15] All is forgiven, but not relationship appears to be continued.


Take-home: In a great surprise, Jacob and Esau reconcile and conflict is yet again resolved nonviolently. My Study Bible states that one purpose of this story is to explain the "peace with separateness" relationship between the Israelites and the Edomites.

Genesis 32:22-32:32

     The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids¹, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.² He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
     Jacob was left alone; and a man³ wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail⁴ against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go,⁵ for the day is breaking."
     But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me."⁶
     So he said to him, "What is your name?"
     And he said, "Jacob."
     Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel⁷, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed."
     Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name."
     But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?"⁸ And there he blessed him.
     So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face,⁹ and yet my life is preserved." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.¹⁰

^[1] "maids", not wives
^[2] Interesting that he took them across in the night. Did he know what was coming?
^[3] "a man" here
^[4] I have always wanted to know what "did not prevail" means. Does it just mean that Jacob did not back down? Or that "the man" was lacking in something and really couldn't defeat Jacob?
^[5] I think this is a test of Jacob - he does not want to be let go, but wants to see if Jacob will refuse to let him go.
^[6] Jacob knows that this man he is wrestling is in a position to bless him.
^[7] The origins of the word "Israel" is explained. This sounds like a planned test, and not just a happenstance that the man did not expect.
^[8] So cryptic. Why?
^[9] God! So strong. Does the fact that he had "striven with God" really mean that it was God he was seeing face-to-face?
^[10] Interesting connection.


Take-home: Jacob has an epic encounter with what appears to be a supernatural being, which appears to symbolize both his endurance in struggling with God and his ultimate prevailing (though in some ways he is still at God's mercy). It is interesting to think about what all of this has to do with Jacob's coming encounter with Esau.

Genesis 32:1-32:21

     Jacob went on his way and the angels of God¹ met him; and when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's camp!" So he called that place Mahanaim.
     Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau² in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord³ Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, 'I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now; and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.'"
     The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."⁴
     Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed;⁵ and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, thinking, "If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape."⁶ And Jacob said, "O God⁷ of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,' I am not worthy⁸ of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. Deliver me,⁹ please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. Yet you have said,¹⁰ 'I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.'"
     So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.¹¹ These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and drove."¹² He instructed the foremost, "When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?' then you shall say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.'" He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, and you shall say, 'Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me."¹³ So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.

^[1] Wow. Met him for what? Just comfort/reassurance?
^[2] Intelligently avoids just showing up.
^[3] Very respectful.
^[4] Pretty unclear for messengers! You would have thought they would seek more clarification.
^[5] Afraid that his previous plotting/deception will come back to haunt him.
^[6] Dang...really expecting a worst-case scenario.
^[7] Goes to God in his distress.
^[8] Humility.
^[9] Trusts in God.
^[10] Reminds God of his promises.
^[11] Adds appeasing gifts to his posture of respect.
^[12] Staggers gifts to increase impact.
^[13] Deeply desires acceptance by his brother...but does he want reconciliation of the relationship or just his own safety?


Take-home: Jacob enters his encounter with Esau in a place of great fear. He does his best, through respect and gifts, to appease Esau without violence, and asks God to remember his promises and protect him in his time of distress.

Genesis 31:17-31:55

     So Jacob arose, and set his children and his wives on camels; and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods.¹ And Jacob deceived² Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
     On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. So he took his kinsfolk with him and pursued him³ for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, "Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad."⁴
      Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsfolk camped in the hill country of Gilead. Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done?⁵ You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword.⁶ Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre.⁷ And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish. It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.'⁸ Even though you had to go because you longed greatly for your father's house, why did you steal my gods?"
     Jacob answered Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me⁹ by force. But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live.¹⁰ In the presence of our kinsfolk, point out what I have that is yours, and take it."
     Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods. So Laban went into Jacob's tent¹¹, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent, and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt all about in the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me."¹² So he searched, but did not find the household gods.
     Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided¹³ Laban. Jacob said to Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? Although you have felt about through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsfolk and your kinsfolk, so that they may decide between us two. These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. It was like this with me: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night."¹⁴
     Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine.¹⁵ But what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about their children whom they have borne? Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me."
     So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsfolk, "Gather stones," and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.¹⁶
     Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he called it Galeed, and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, "The LORD watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other. If you ill-treat my daughters¹⁷, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and me." Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and see the pillar, which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm¹⁸. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor"--the God of their father--" judge¹⁹ between us."
     So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the height and called his kinsfolk to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill country.²⁰ Early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.

^[1] Wow! Whatever happened to "do whatever God has said to you"? First stealing is involved, and second it is a stealing of idols!
^[2] Yet more deception added on deception.
^[3] Being deceived leads him to seek revenge.
^[4] But God calms him towards a peaceful resolution. What does words "not good or bad" mean though?
^[5] So he's definitely willing to say some words...
^[6] Is he implying that his daughters belong to him like property, or does he think that Jacob has forced them to go with him unwillingly?
^[7] Is this honest?
^[8] So he is still holding to what God had said, but it means something different than what I would assume. Perhaps it means "do not speak or judge evil or good upon him"?
^[9] Is that true? I had interpreted that he was more concerned with making off with all his property than thinking Laban threatened the women.
^[10] Strong promise!
^[11] He certainly is being given full freedom to look.
^[12] Rachel is hoping that she will be saved from her deception by even more deception.
^[13] Jacob is acting on his anger because he believes it is righteous...but Laban was right. The only reason Laban has not been shown to be right is because of the deception of Rachel. This is a strong reminder to us to be slow to anger, even when we believe it to be righteous.
^[14] He certainly is equating God's provision with God's judgement on his enemies...not always a safe assumption.
^[15] "my", "my", "my", "mine", even the women and children.
^[16] Agreeing to set aside their disagreements, but clearly not one in spirit.
^[17] First priority is his daughters.
^[18] Second priority is not harming one another.
^[19] God is agreed upon as the judge.
^[20] It is settled, and no violence or bloodshed occurred.


Take-home: Jacob, Laban, and Rachel have a great net of deception and betrayal that they have wrapped each other in. Possession of Rachel/Leah and of the animals/property is at the center of much of it. Violence appears likely, but God intervenes and leads them to seek a peaceful solution. My Study Bible states that this story helps to explain the peaceful relations between the Israelites and the Arameans (descendants of Laban).

Genesis 31:1-16

     Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father's; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father."¹ And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before.²
     Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you."³
     So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, and said to them, "I see that your father does not regard me as favorably as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.⁴ You know that I have served your father with all my strength; yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, 'The striped shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore striped.⁵ Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father, and given them to me. During the mating of the flock I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats that leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!⁶' And he said, 'Look up and see that all the goats that leap on the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.⁷ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.'"
     Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners?⁸ For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. All the property⁹ that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

^[1] Jacob's trickery, which had been in response to Laban's trickery, now leads to more conflict.
^[2] Duh.
^[3] God suggests a peaceful means of avoiding the conflict.
^[4] I read this as Jacob laying all the blame on Laban here, using his own chosen status as evidence of his own moral supremacy. Since I assume that someone who explicitly points out their favored status is implying that they deserve it, I see Jacob's actions as bragging. But they could actually be just a detailing of the facts in this case.
^[5] This is not the same story we just heard. My Study Bible explains that the previous passage was a Yahwist account, while this is an Elohist passage.
^[6] "Here I am" is clearly the favored way to respond to a personal call from God, much more prevalent than I had thought before.
^[7] Certainly establishes who is in the right!
^[8] Strong words.
^[9] Focus is on the family wealth, the means of security.


Take-home: A different account of Jacob's acquisition of wealth tells it to be a direct result of God's judgement of Laban's actions. God speaks to Jacob, telling him to avoid more conflict by returning home. Jacob's primary wives are taken into his confidence and stand with him in solidarity.

Genesis 30:25-43

      When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.¹ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you."
     But Laban said to him, "If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination² that the LORD has blessed me because of you;³ name your wages, and I will give it."
     Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned.⁴ But now when shall I provide for my own household also?"
     He said, "What shall I give you?"
     Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen."⁵
     Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said." But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons; and he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban's flock.⁶
     Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods. He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted.⁷ Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban's flock. Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.⁸ Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.⁹

^[1] Does Jacob desire independence to make his own household, or just the homeland he grew up in?
^[2] What kind of divination?
^[3] Laban expresses deep gratitude, at least outwardly.
^[4] Jacob plays up his contribution to Laban's wealth - in some ways he appears to be taking some of the credit for what God has done around him.
^[5] Jacob seems to find a way to be paid that should minimize dispute.
^[6] Laban cheats Jacob, despite previously claiming to be willing to pay great wages.
^[7] Jacob's using an odd form of...magic? Pseudoscience? Either way, he is countering Laban's cheating very effectively.
^[8] In fact, he cheats Laban right back.
^[9] Once again, a patriarch is blessed with wealth.


Take-home: Jacob wants to go home, but knows that he will have trouble from Laban in the process. Jacob and Laban were very generous to each other on the outside, but are deceptive behind each-other's backs. Jacob gets the better of Laban and becomes rich in the process.

Genesis 29:31-30:24

     When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved,¹ he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren². Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben; for she said, "Because the LORD has looked on my affliction;³ surely now my husband will love⁴ me." She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am hated⁵, he has given me this son also"; and she named him Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me,⁶ because I have borne him three sons"; therefore he was named Levi. She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This time I will praise the LORD";⁷ therefore she named him Judah; then she ceased bearing.
     When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied⁸ her sister; and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!"
     Jacob became very angry⁹ with Rachel and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
     Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her,¹⁰ that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her." So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "God has judged¹¹ me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son"; therefore she named him Dan. Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister,¹² and have prevailed"; so she named him Naphtali.
     When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her¹³ to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, "Good fortune!" so she named him Gad. Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me happy";¹⁴ so she named him Asher.
     In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
     But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?¹⁵ Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?"
     Rachel said, "Then he may¹⁶ lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."
     When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have hired¹⁷ you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that night. And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, "God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband";¹⁸ so she named him Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor¹⁹ me, because I have borne him six sons"; so she named him Zebulun. Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.²⁰
     Then God remembered²¹ Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach²²"; and she named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD add²³ to me another son!"

^[1] God is looking out for the lonely.
^[2] The theme of initial barrenness in the matriarchs continues - striking in a family whose blessing included fertility.
^[3] She attributes the gift to God.
^[4] What she wants is not just a son, but even more the love of her husband.
^[5] Even stronger words regarding Jacob's feelings for her.
^[6] Leah still holds the hope that the sons will make a difference in her husband's feelings.
^[7] Sudden switch from husband's feelings to focus on God.
^[8] Pain from lack of children leads to envy of Leah leads to anger at Jacob.
^[9] And now leads to anger from Jacob towards her.
^[10] Because of the wifely envy, yet another wife is brought in to the marriage.
^[11] Rachel attributes Bilhah's fertility to God's addressing of her cause.
^[12] Rather than healing the sibling/wifely rivalry, the births of sons on both sides only intensifies the feelings.
^[13] Yet another wife because of envy! And the last two appear in some sense to be pawns of the first two.
^[14] Now the praise is phrased in terms of general happiness.
^[15] Wifely rivalry colors everything in their interactions.
^[16] Sex (leading to fertility) is used as a bartering tool between them.
^[17] Straight-up honest!
^[18] What a strange justification to apply to God.
^[19] Once again she seeks the good graces of her husband, though now it is "honor" instead of "love".
^[20] The daughter's birth appears less significant.
^[21] As with Leah, Rachel's fertility is attributed to God.
^[22] Barrenness called "reproach".
^[23] Hope for more!


Take-home: Desire for sons and envy of sister/fellow wife drives the lives of Rachel and Leah. They both receive the sons they desire from God, but carry much bitterness for each other and for Jacob in the process. Yet again a family with multiple wives sees much strife. In addition to fleshing out that dynamic, this narrative of the 12 sons set up the 12 tribes of Israel, explaining the roots of all their people.

Genesis 29:15-29:30

     Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
     Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful.¹ Jacob loved² Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
     Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."
     So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had³ for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go in to her,⁴ for my time is completed."
     So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah⁵ and brought her to Jacob;⁶ and he went in to her. (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.)
     When morning came, it was Leah!⁷ And Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"⁸
     Laban said, "This is not done in our country--giving the younger before the firstborn.⁹ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years."
     Jacob did so,¹⁰ and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah.¹¹ He served Laban for another seven years.

^[1] Description of daughters focuses on physical attributes.
^[2] I would like to understand the connotations of the original language here.
^[3] This sounds very much like the "in love" sort of relationship that some people argue was meaningless to marriages 3,000 years ago.
^[4] He's getting anxious!
^[5] What was Leah thinking here? I've read a couple novelizations of this story, and some extrapolations sound much more believable than others.
^[6] As Jacob deceived his father, he is now being deceived by his uncle.
^[7] Implies Jacob had no idea beforehand. Was he drunk? Overcome by desire? Are Rachel and Leah very similar in the dark?
^[8] He feels very upset about deception when it happens to him.
^[9] Justifies his decision based on custom, but he was the one who agreed to the marriage in the first place. Did he perhaps once hope that Leah would get married off in the intervening seven years?
^[10] Laban gets what he wanted, though at the cost that he has upset Jacob.
^[11] A multiple-wife story again, and the stage is immediately set for conflict.


Take-home: The story of Jacob's marriage to Rachel is a love story, but it ends in Jacob's deception, just as he had earlier deceived. The stage is now set for marital conflict.

Genesis 29:1-29:14

     Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east. As he looked, he saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying there beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large, and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.
     Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where do you come from?"
     They said, "We are from Haran."
     He said to them, "Do you know Laban son of Nahor?"
     They said, "We do."
     He said to them, "Is it well with him?"
     "Yes," they replied, "and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with the sheep."¹
     He said, "Look, it is still broad daylight; it is not time for the animals to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them."²
     But they said, "We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well;³ then we water the sheep."
     While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she kept them. Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother's brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother's brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of his mother's brother Laban.⁴ Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.⁵ And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father. When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran to meet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him a month.⁶

^[1] The second marriage meeting to occur at a well.
^[2] Trying to get them away? ;)
^[3] Sets up the opportunity for Jacob to do something impressive.
^[4] He both impresses her and serves her.
^[5] Then he kisses her and gets emotional.
^[6] Hospitality


Take-home: As his father and mother had, Jacob meets his wife at the well. The circumstance was set up especially fortuitously - as he had promised, God was with him, guiding events in his journey.

Genesis 28:10-28:22

     Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.¹ And the LORD² stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac;³ the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.⁴ Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,⁵ and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
     Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
     So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.⁶ He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If⁷ God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace,⁸ then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you.⁹"

^[1] How does this part of the vision relate to everything else? Is the physical place important as a connection between heaven and earth? I wouldn't have picked it up myself, but my study Bible points out that a major theme of the passage is setting up the sacredness of the temple that now existed at Bethel when this was written. In fact, the "ladder" (also means stairway in Hebrew) may be a direct reference to the stairway up to the Bethel temple.
^[2] My study Bible points out that God appears to Jacob when he enters the promised land and when he leaves it, symbolically demonstrating that he is with him in his journey there.
^[3] As God personalized himself to his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham, he meets Jacob in person as well.
^[4] The promises of land, fertility, and blessedness to the nations are repeated.
^[5] Such a personal promise.
^[6] As his father and his grandfather before him, he builds and alter and worships upon encountering God.
^[7] Adds an "if" condition on his commitment to God. At first this bothered me, and it still might. However, God had already said that he would be with him and keep him on this journey, so perhaps the "if" is only his language for referring to what God has already promised to do.
^[8] Such simple things - God with him, God keeping him safe and in peace on his journey, God providing food and clothing.
^[9] His response to God's presence and provision is to claim God as his God, claim this place as God's house, and promise to tithe to him.


Take-home: Jacob is given his personal encounter with God, where God repeats the family promises to him and Jacob makes promises in return. I'm struck by the clear indication that even though the connection to God is a family connection, each patriarch has a personal relationship with God and chooses to own that membership in God's family.

Genesis 28:6-28:9

     Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed¹ Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women," and that Jacob had obeyed² his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac, Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife³ in addition to the wives he had.

^[1] Esau still deeply wants to be blessed.
^[2] So in some respect, Esau wants to be like Jacob.
^[3] Esau does what he thinks will gain the pleasure and blessing of his father.


Take-home: Esau had been denied the blessing of his father, and now tries to find other ways to gain his father's blessing after seeing how Jacob gets blessed.