Jacob wants to leave Laban
Laban and his sons took notice of what Jacob was doing, and were getting angry, and God told Jacob to return to his homeland. Jacob told Rachel and Leah that they had to leave. Here we have a new interpretation of what happened with the spotted flocks:
“I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
“In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”
Here, Jacob’s version of events is that God made the animals have spotted babies – he says nothing of his clever selective breeding. Weird.
Rachel and Leah agree to leave, but Rachel steals gods
Rachel and Leah agree with Jacob’s decision to leave, so they leave to meet Isaac in Canaan. But before leaving, Rachel steals some gods from her father’s house. I thought the Canaanite women were the evil ones, but here we have the beloved woman from Isaac’s homeland stealing false gods. Also weird!
Laban chases Jacob, and wants his gods back
When he realizes Jacob left with his family, Laban follows after him, and after catches up, asks what the deal is.
“What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps? You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”
Jacob replies:
I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.
Rachel was able to hide the gods from Laban, so Laban’s search leaves him empty handed. Seeing this, Jacob goes on a rant against him.
“I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
Laban replies:
“The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
Jacob and Laban go their separate ways
Jacob and Laban set up a pile of stones as a sign of their covenant
Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”
Laban says his goodbyes, and returns home
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I love the human dialogue in some of these stories. It’s so relatable and unexpected, at least to me, compared to the dull stories I was taught when I was young. How interesting that Laban does not want Jacob to have any wives besides his daughters. I wonder if this is because he is concerned for their well being, or if it is more about the blood line.
It is still very strange to me to see mention of false gods in Isaac’s homeland, with no mention of them being “false” gods. The only negativity associated with the gods is the fact that Rachel stole them, and lied about it. What are these gods? Why isn’t the god of Jacob and Isaac also the god of Laban, and why is it not a problem?