Genesis 29:21-30 - Behold, it was Leah!

29:21-24

The time comes for Jacob to get his prize, but he is in for a big surprise. The ESV has an interesting way of putting things, “that I may go into her”. Leaving that aside, we now learn that Jacob gets the wrong wife! We naturally wonder how on earth such a thing could happen. The wedding ceremony was rather different than what we are used to. He would not receive his bride until evening/night time when it was pitch black. She may have been veiled, it is also possible that Jacob had had something to drink. Even so, you think they may have spoken to each other. However, getting Leah rather than Rachel would have been the last thing that Jacob was expecting. So however this happened, it was Leah he ended up marrying!

29:25-30

Not unnaturally, Jacob is rather put out by the matter. So he confronts Laban. Laban’s defence is that it is the custom of his people to give the elder daughter away first. No doubt this was true, but he had clearly given Jacob the impression that it was Rachel that he was going to marry. The outcome is that Jacob ends up with two wives. Two for the price of one, but not quite for Jacob has to work another seven years. “Complete the week”. The week would be a mixture of wedding celebrations and honeymoon. Leah is glad to get Leah off his hands. Having more than one wife is not a good idea, though it is not Jacob’s fault in this case, and Jacob loves Rachel more than Leah. In Laban, Jacob has met someone who is as much a twister as he is.