†. Gen 29:9-10 . .While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came
with her father's flock; for she was a shepherdess. And when Jacob
saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his
uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the
well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban.
That was a foolish thing to do. The shepherds were there ahead of Rachel,
and no telling how long they'd been waiting. Word of Jacob's poor sense of
fair play would surely spread.
Jacob got off on the wrong foot in Haran from day-one. Coming from a
privileged family; he was accustomed to doing pretty much as he pleased.
But arriving in Haran, Jacob was a nobody: a homeless drifter. Now he's
going to learn what it's like to be just another guy; and he is going to learn
what it's like to do as you're told. Unkie Laban is just the bull o' the woods
for some long overdue rich-kid attitude adjustment.
†. Gen 29:11 . .Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.
Poor Jacob. He was under a lot of stress lately; and probably feeling very
alone in the world. His cousin must have seemed to him like an angel of
mercy come to rescue his soul from the abyss. First he helped water her
flock; for no apparent reason to Rachel other than courtesy; which she
seemed to accept without any fuss. But then he impulsively kissed her (on
the cheek I hope) and started sobbing. Rachel must have stared at Jacob
like a man gone mad from a brain tumor.
†. Gen 29:12 . . Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman,
that he was Rebecca's son; and she ran and told her father.
Zoom! Out of there like a bottle rocket. Boy that girl sure takes after auntie
Becky. Rachel lit out of there like the critters sent from Jessie the Cowgirl to
fetch Sheriff Woody in Toy Story2.
†. Gen 29:13a . . On hearing the news of his sister's son Jacob,
Laban ran to greet him;
I seriously doubt that Laban sprinted. The man was over 100 by now and
near the age of Jacob's mom; maybe even older than her. Isaac and
Rebecca were married twenty years before she became pregnant for the
very first time, and Jacob is around 75 at this point. For a man Laban's age
"rushed" seems more reasonable than ran.
†. Gen 29:13b . . he embraced him and kissed him,
Foreign customs often offend Americans. I was visiting the home of a
Portuguese man in San Diego a number of years back when his son and
daughter-in-law showed up unexpectedly. Dad and son greeted each other
with a hug; and kissed full on the lips. I just about died; it was so gross. And
then he kissed the daughter-in-law full on the lips too. I think you have to
grow up in those kinds of customs to really be comfortable with them.
†. Gen 29:13c-14a . . and took him into his house. He told Laban all
that had happened, and Laban said to him; You are truly my bone
and flesh.
Adam said the very same thing about Eve at Gen 2:23 because she wasn't
created from the dust as he had been, but was manufactured from already
existing human tissue amputated from his own side. Thus Eve was just as
much Adam as Adam; viz: Laban was saying that he and Jacob were one
man just as Adam and his wife had been one man because when Uncle
Laban heard how Jacob tricked Isaac and supplanted his brother Esau, he
was elated. Just the thing he would have thought of himself had he been in
Jacob's shoes.
†. Gen 29:14b . .When he had stayed with him a month's time,
Well now . . isn't that a coincidence? Just when the rent was due.
†. Gen 29:15 . . Laban said to Jacob: Just because you are a
kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your
wages be?
I have no doubt Jacob was already helping out and making himself useful
around the place to compensate Laban for room and board. Being
industrious just came natural to Jacob. If anybody could spot a conscientious
worker, it was Laban. He wanted Jacob on the payroll, and probably with the
intent of keeping him on permanently.
Unfortunately, some people are prone to take advantage of their relatives.
My dad was a home-delivery milk man back in the late forties and all
through the fifties. During Summer vacation, He took my brother and I along
to help him. We alternated. My brother was on Mon-Wed-Fri, and I was on
Tues-Thurs-Sat. Dad got us up at 4 am and we returned home around 6 or 7
pm. We were just kids, putting in twelve to fourteen-hour days. You know
what my dad paid us? Two dollars. That amounts to roughly 14 to 17 cents
an hour. Our friends were earning more money than that just by trading in
pop and beer bottles they found along the road.
†. Gen 29:16-17a . . Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the
older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah
had weak eyes;
According to Jewish folklore, Leah had weak eyes from crying all the time at
the prospect of being forced to marrying Esau.
The word for "weak" is from rak (rak) which means: tender (literally or
figuratively); by implication: weak.
The same word is used at Gen 18:7
"Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, "tender" and choice, and gave it
to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it."
And in Job 40:27
"Will he speak soft words to you?"
So rak doesn't necessarily mean that something is feeble. It can also mean
that something is kind and/or gentle as opposed to harsh and/or cruel. And
in this case, where the beauty of two girls is being compared, I think the
author of Genesis meant that Leah had nice eyes, but little else to offer.
Pity. Leah was a good girl; but just about bankrupt in what really matters to
most guys; and as any woman with assets can vouch; most men think better
with their eyes than with their brains. In other words: when it comes to
women, men's brains switch off and it's all about the view after that: if you
know what I mean.
Cont.
/
with her father's flock; for she was a shepherdess. And when Jacob
saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his
uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the
well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban.
That was a foolish thing to do. The shepherds were there ahead of Rachel,
and no telling how long they'd been waiting. Word of Jacob's poor sense of
fair play would surely spread.
Jacob got off on the wrong foot in Haran from day-one. Coming from a
privileged family; he was accustomed to doing pretty much as he pleased.
But arriving in Haran, Jacob was a nobody: a homeless drifter. Now he's
going to learn what it's like to be just another guy; and he is going to learn
what it's like to do as you're told. Unkie Laban is just the bull o' the woods
for some long overdue rich-kid attitude adjustment.
†. Gen 29:11 . .Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and broke into tears.
Poor Jacob. He was under a lot of stress lately; and probably feeling very
alone in the world. His cousin must have seemed to him like an angel of
mercy come to rescue his soul from the abyss. First he helped water her
flock; for no apparent reason to Rachel other than courtesy; which she
seemed to accept without any fuss. But then he impulsively kissed her (on
the cheek I hope) and started sobbing. Rachel must have stared at Jacob
like a man gone mad from a brain tumor.
†. Gen 29:12 . . Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman,
that he was Rebecca's son; and she ran and told her father.
Zoom! Out of there like a bottle rocket. Boy that girl sure takes after auntie
Becky. Rachel lit out of there like the critters sent from Jessie the Cowgirl to
fetch Sheriff Woody in Toy Story2.
†. Gen 29:13a . . On hearing the news of his sister's son Jacob,
Laban ran to greet him;
I seriously doubt that Laban sprinted. The man was over 100 by now and
near the age of Jacob's mom; maybe even older than her. Isaac and
Rebecca were married twenty years before she became pregnant for the
very first time, and Jacob is around 75 at this point. For a man Laban's age
"rushed" seems more reasonable than ran.
†. Gen 29:13b . . he embraced him and kissed him,
Foreign customs often offend Americans. I was visiting the home of a
Portuguese man in San Diego a number of years back when his son and
daughter-in-law showed up unexpectedly. Dad and son greeted each other
with a hug; and kissed full on the lips. I just about died; it was so gross. And
then he kissed the daughter-in-law full on the lips too. I think you have to
grow up in those kinds of customs to really be comfortable with them.
†. Gen 29:13c-14a . . and took him into his house. He told Laban all
that had happened, and Laban said to him; You are truly my bone
and flesh.
Adam said the very same thing about Eve at Gen 2:23 because she wasn't
created from the dust as he had been, but was manufactured from already
existing human tissue amputated from his own side. Thus Eve was just as
much Adam as Adam; viz: Laban was saying that he and Jacob were one
man just as Adam and his wife had been one man because when Uncle
Laban heard how Jacob tricked Isaac and supplanted his brother Esau, he
was elated. Just the thing he would have thought of himself had he been in
Jacob's shoes.
†. Gen 29:14b . .When he had stayed with him a month's time,
Well now . . isn't that a coincidence? Just when the rent was due.
†. Gen 29:15 . . Laban said to Jacob: Just because you are a
kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your
wages be?
I have no doubt Jacob was already helping out and making himself useful
around the place to compensate Laban for room and board. Being
industrious just came natural to Jacob. If anybody could spot a conscientious
worker, it was Laban. He wanted Jacob on the payroll, and probably with the
intent of keeping him on permanently.
Unfortunately, some people are prone to take advantage of their relatives.
My dad was a home-delivery milk man back in the late forties and all
through the fifties. During Summer vacation, He took my brother and I along
to help him. We alternated. My brother was on Mon-Wed-Fri, and I was on
Tues-Thurs-Sat. Dad got us up at 4 am and we returned home around 6 or 7
pm. We were just kids, putting in twelve to fourteen-hour days. You know
what my dad paid us? Two dollars. That amounts to roughly 14 to 17 cents
an hour. Our friends were earning more money than that just by trading in
pop and beer bottles they found along the road.
†. Gen 29:16-17a . . Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the
older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah
had weak eyes;
According to Jewish folklore, Leah had weak eyes from crying all the time at
the prospect of being forced to marrying Esau.
The word for "weak" is from rak (rak) which means: tender (literally or
figuratively); by implication: weak.
The same word is used at Gen 18:7
"Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, "tender" and choice, and gave it
to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it."
And in Job 40:27
"Will he speak soft words to you?"
So rak doesn't necessarily mean that something is feeble. It can also mean
that something is kind and/or gentle as opposed to harsh and/or cruel. And
in this case, where the beauty of two girls is being compared, I think the
author of Genesis meant that Leah had nice eyes, but little else to offer.
Pity. Leah was a good girl; but just about bankrupt in what really matters to
most guys; and as any woman with assets can vouch; most men think better
with their eyes than with their brains. In other words: when it comes to
women, men's brains switch off and it's all about the view after that: if you
know what I mean.
Cont.
/
