Page 232 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

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CHAPTER 15 LABAN: THE CASE OF A LOST IDENTITY
CHAPTER 15 LABAN: THE CASE OF A LOST IDENTITY 211
is the only speaker (his name appeared first), and he speaks on behalf

of both himself and his father. Bethuel is not speaking al all. He has no
say, contrary to the likely custom in those days, when permission for an
arranged marriage would be granted by the father. In short, the father is
not important at all.
• Who is the real father of Laban ? As one may realize by an earlier quote,
Laban is definitely the son of Betuel (refer to Gen. 28:5). Yet Laban

ignores that and appears in public as the son of Nachor (the grandfa-

ther). Thus, when Jacob arrives at Charan, on a mission to find a spouse
for himself at the command of his parents, Isaac and Rebecca , he asks

the shepherds, at a well in the field near Charan, whether they know of

“Laban the son of Nachor.” They answer briefly with an unfriendly “we
know” (Gen. 29:5). Several verses later, the biblical narrator repeatedly
reminds us that Laban is the brother of Jacob’s mother, just to make sure
that the reader understands that Laban cannot possibly be the son of
Nachor (Gen. 29:10).

• Laban later makes a “strategic” covenant with Jacob (Gen. 31:48–55).

Jacob swears to be loyal to the covenant in the name of his father, Isaac .
Laban swears in the name of the Gods of Abraham and Nachor , the

grandparents, again skipping the fathers (Gen. 31:53).
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15.3 Mixing Laban s Children

As with parents, so with children: Laban mixes his daughters too. No remorse is

expressed; many nonrelevant explanations are given. After Jacob has worked for
Laban for seven years, he asks Laban to give him, as his compensation mutually
agreed upon in advance, Laban’s daughter, Rachel, “whom Jacob loved,” for a
wife (Gen. 29:20–21). Laban is making a feast, and deceptively brings Lea, his
other daughter, to Jacob (instead of Rachel). Jacob unknowingly sleeps with Lea.
The next morning, Laban gives a post-factum explanation that this is not the
custom to let the younger marry before the firstborn (Gen. 29:25–27). Jacob has

no choice but to work another seven years to fulfill his desire to take Rachel to be

his wife.
’
The story of Laban s daughters, and how he swapped one with the other, has
one common thread with the story of Laban’s parents: Laban does not hesitate to
confuse one with another. From his point of view, everything belongs to the same

mixture; nothing is identifiable.