May the mumbling commence!
The deceiver is deceived. Laban pulls a fast one on Jacob on wedding
day. Read from Peterson’s The Message:
Laban invited
everyone around and threw a big feast. At evening, though, he got his daughter Leah and brought
her to the marriage
bed, and Jacob slept with her. (Laban gave his
maid Zilpah to his
daughter Leah as
her maid.)
Morning
came: There was Leah in the marriage bed!
Jacob
confronted Laban,
“What have you done to me? Didn’t I work
all this time for the hand of Rachel? Why did you cheat
me?”
“We don’t do
it that way in our country,” said Laban. “We don’t marry off
the younger daughter before the older. Enjoy your week of honeymoon, and
then we’ll give you the other one also. But it will cost you
another seven years of work.”
Jacob
agreed. When he’d
completed the honeymoon week, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as
her maid.) Jacob then slept with her. And he loved
Rachel more than Leah. He worked for
Laban another seven years. (Genesis 29:22-30)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
So Laban brought together all the people
of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave
her to Jacob,
and Jacob lay
with her.
And Laban
gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.
When morning came, there was
Leah! So Jacob
said to Laban,
"What is this you have done to me? I served
you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?"
Laban replied, "It is not our
custom here to give the younger daughter
in marriage before
the older one.
Finish this daughter's bridal week;
then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another
seven years of work."
And Jacob did so. He finished the
week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter
Rachel as her maidservant. Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved
Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. (Genesis
29:22-30)
Of all the difference between Peterson’s work and the
NIV, I have no major issues. The only
slight question I have is why Peterson used the singular feminine pronoun “her”
rather than Leah and Rachel when Jacob slept with his new wives. The “her” creates unnecessary ambiguity
because the text also mentions the maids given to both Leah and Rachel. Peterson’ work does not make it clear that
Jacob slept with Laban’s daughters rather than Laban’s maids.
I also prefer the reference to one of the meanings of
Jacob’s name – the deceiver. The NIV has
Jacob telling Laban that the uncle deceived the nephew. The deceiver was deceived. I love the irony – the irony somewhat lost
with Peterson’s use of “cheat” instead of deceive.
This bait and switch did not change the feelings of
Jacob. He loved Rachel more than
Leah. This marriage to two sisters would
cause numerous problems, as we will see as the story continues to unfold.
And I wonder… did the custom of that land really
prescribe that the older daughter must be married before the younger? I wonder if Laban, a shrewd man, wanted to
procure another seven years of basically free labor from his nephew Jacob. And I am sure it would also save him money to
hold only one marriage feast rather than two.
It seems that shrewdness and deception run in the
family!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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