April 2, 2024

After nearly 20 years of deception by his father-in-law, Jacob had finally had enough. First, he agreed to work for seven years for Rachel, only to wake up one morning and find himself married to Leah. Then, he agrees to work another seven years for Rachel (again), only to be swindled into working six more […]

With his eyes and his face fully set towards his homeland, Jacob forgot one important detail in his departure: Not saying goodbye to Laban. The Text plainly states this as a deception (Genesis 31:20). Curiously though, the Hebrew literally states that Jacob “stole the heart” of Laban in fleeing. Whether “heart” is personified as Rachel,

After Jacob, Leah, and Rachel decide to leave Laban’s house, the only question that remains is when. The cynic in us would say that they should just leave whenever. They’re all adults, after all, and Jacob is a much wealthier person than he was when he first arrived. Genesis 30:42-43 states that Jacob had become

After Laban’s double-dealing with Jacob in forcing him to marry both of his daughters and work for 14 years for the right to do even that, it’s fair to say that there is a bit of a mistrust between Laban and Jacob. Are they friendly? Sure. As a matter of fact, Genesis 31:2 clearly states

If the timeline is to be believed, then the fourteen years that Jacob agreed to work for Laban ends right after the birth of Joseph (Genesis 30:25). It’s at this point that Jacob asks for the release of his debt from Laban and permission to take his family into his own country. Laban is appropriately

Most of the names we read about in Scripture have a meaning attached to them. Eventually, God will change Jacob’s name to Israel to reflect the Abrahamic promises given through him (Genesis 35:9-12). In the New Testament, Jesus changes Simon’s name to Cephas (which is also Peter).  In Genesis 30:24, Rachel hands her son the