Genesis 29:29
Laban also gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant.
Sermons
Leah and Rachel: Their Trims and CompensationsT. H. Leale.Genesis 29:29-35
LessonsG. Hughes, B. D.Genesis 29:29-35
Worth Better than BeautyM. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.Genesis 29:29-35
Jacob Among His Mother's KindredR.A. Redford Genesis 29














And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, &c.

I. THE INWARD SPRING OF THE OUTWARD LIFE. Power of the heart over the will, over the circumstances, over flesh. Time measured by the motions of our thought. The world needs to be taught that the material rests on the immaterial.

II. THE SERVICE OF LOVE THE CONSECRATION AND CONSUMMATION OF HUMAN ENERGY. Christ the highest object of affection. The life of his servant compared with the life of selfish caprice.

III. THE GREAT EXAMPLE OF LOVE SUGGESTED. Jacob a type of Christ; Rachel, of his Church. He served for her. His love made obedience, even unto death, his delight.

IV. SPECIAL TRIAL HAS ITS SPECIAL REWARD. Jacob served doubly for Rachel; but his service was amply paid afterwards, although for a time the veil of disappointment hid the purpose of God. While Leah, as the mother of Judah, was the true ancestress of Messiah, still it was in Joseph, the son of Rachel, that Jacob's heart was satisfied, and that the history of the kingdom of God was most manifestly carried on and its glory set forth. As in the case of Sarah and Rebekah, so in that of Rachel, the birth of the representative seed is connected with special bestowments of grace. - R.

He loved also Rachel more than Leah.
I. THEIR TRIALS. Leah was "hated " (ver. 31), i.e., she was loved less than Rachel By becoming a party to a heartless fraud she lost her husband's affections. And Rachel, the beloved wife, was denied the blessing of children, so coveted by the ancient Hebrew mothers (ver. 31). Both had trials, though of a different kind.

II. THEIR COMPENSATIONS. Leah was blessed with children, which compensated her for the loss of her husband's love. The names of the four sons successively born to her were all significant, and betoken that pious habit of mind which recognized the hand of God in all that befel her. She called the first-born, Reuben (Hebrews) "see ye a son." The second, Simeon (Hebrews) "hearing," for God had heard her prayer and seen her affliction. The third was named Levi (Hebrews) "joined." Now, surely, would the breach be healed and the husband and wife joined together by this threefold cord. The fourth she called Judah (Hebrews) "praise," as if recording her thankfulness that she had won the affections of her husband by bearing to him so many sons. Rachel, on the other hand, continued barren. But she was compensated by her beauty, and by the thought that she was first in her husband's affections. Thus with the evils which fall to the lot of individuals, there are compensations.

(T. H. Leale.)

1. God doth not see as men, not as good men see sometimes in accepting persons.

2. God's providence may be regardful of them who are neglected by men.

3. Undervalued and hated mercies may, under God's ordering, prove most fruitful to men.

4. The most regarded by men may be disrespected upon some accounts with God.

5. The most lovely mercies in man's eye may prove barren and unfruitful to him (ver. 31),

(G. Hughes, B. D.)

The cultivation of the beautiful is, indeed, the first step towards civilization; but it is no more than a means of education; it has accomplished its purpose when it has contributed to awaken the interest for thought and truth; the Greeks were an element in the development of mankind; but their mission ceased when they had opened the minds of men for the reception of abstract ideas; and the sentence which a Greek sage wrote over his door: "nothing ugly must enter," was to be superseded by the Biblical maxim: "deceitful is gracefulness, and vain is beauty; a woman who feareth the Lord, she alone deserveth praise" (Proverbs 31:30). While the first woman was merely " she who gives life" (Eve); the daughter of Lamech, seven generations later, was the "beautiful" (Naamah); this was certainly a progress; but many centuries were required to elapse before men ceased to regard beauty both as the test of worth, and a proof of special Divine favour. To contribute towards this important lesson is the end of this portion; for, "when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren"; by the same act He taught Jacob wisdom, and procured justice to Leah. The latter was clearly aware of this turning-point in her life; for when she gave birth to a son, she exclaimed: "Surely, the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me." Nor does she seem to have been unworthy of being blessed with offspring; the love of her husband was the sole object of her thoughts and feelings.

(M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.).

People
Bilhah, Haran, Jacob, Laban, Leah, Levi, Nahor, Rachel, Rebekah, Reuben, Simeon, Zilpah
Places
Paddan-aram
Topics
Bilhah, Daughter, Girl, Giveth, Handmaid, Laban, Maid, Maidservant, Maid-servant, Rachel, Servant, Servant-girl, Waiting-woman
Outline
1. Jacob comes to the well of Haran.
9. He becomes acquainted with Rachel.
13. Laban entertains him.
18. Jacob covenants for Rachel.
23. He is deceived by Laban with Leah.
28. He marries also Rachel, and serves for her seven years more.
32. Leah bears Reuben;
33. Simeon;
34. Levi;
35. and Judah.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 29:29

     5654   betrothal
     5679   dowry

Genesis 29:16-30

     5095   Jacob, life

Genesis 29:18-30

     5659   bride

Genesis 29:20-30

     4926   delay, human

Genesis 29:21-30

     8716   dishonesty, examples

Genesis 29:27-29

     5742   wedding

Genesis 29:28-29

     5501   reward, human

Genesis 29:28-30

     5710   marriage, customs

Library
The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. )
Ver. 8. "Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father. Ver. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up? Ver. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him the people shall adhere." Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Dispensation of the Divine Favours Reconciled with the Goodness of God.
O God, whose thunder shakes the sky, Whose eye this atom globe surveys, To thee, my only rock, I fly; Thy mercy in thy justice praise. Then why, my soul, dost thou complain? Why drooping seek the dark recess? Shake off the melancholy chain, For God created all to bless.--CHATTERTON. In the preceding part, we considered the doctrine of predestination, under the name of necessity, in its relation to the origin of evil. We there endeavoured to show that it denies the responsibility of man, and
Albert Taylor Bledsoe—A Theodicy, or, Vindication of the Divine Glory

Jesus Works his First Miracle at Cana in Galilee.
^D John II. 1-11. ^d 1 And the third day [From the calling of Philip (John i. 43). The days enumerated in John's first two chapters constitute a week, and may perhaps be intended as a contrast to the last week of Christ's ministry ( John xii. 1). It took two days to journey from the Jordan to Cana] there was a marriage [In Palestine the marriage ceremony usually began at twilight. The feast after the marriage was at the home of the bridegroom, and was sometimes prolonged for several days (Gen. xxix.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Epistle v. To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor. Gregory to Theoctista, &c. With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in your heart your own sense of my devotion. I wonder, however, that you withdrew your countenance, till of late bestowed on me, from this my recent engagement in the pastoral office; wherein, under colour of episcopacy, I have been brought
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Question of the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Contemplative Life wholly confined to the Intellect, or does the Will enter into it? S. Thomas, On the Beatific Vision, I., xii. 7 ad 3m II. Do the Moral Virtues pertain to the Contemplative Life? S. Augustine, Of the City of God, xix. 19 III. Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts? S. Augustine, Of the Perfection of Human Righteousness, viii. 18 " Ep., cxxx. ad probam IV. Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Departure from Ireland. Death and Burial at Clairvaux.
[Sidenote: 1148, May (?)] 67. (30). Being asked once, in what place, if a choice were given him, he would prefer to spend his last day--for on this subject the brothers used to ask one another what place each would select for himself--he hesitated, and made no reply. But when they insisted, he said, "If I take my departure hence[821] I shall do so nowhere more gladly than whence I may rise together with our Apostle"[822]--he referred to St. Patrick; "but if it behoves me to make a pilgrimage, and
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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