Fleeing Laban
Fleeing Laban
Image by Peter Forster from Unsplash
Animosity
Now Jacob found out Laban’s sons were complaining about him. “Jacob has taken everything our father had! He gained all his wealth from what belonged to our father!” Jacob also noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him had changed.
Then Yahweh told Jacob, “Return to your homeland and to your people, and I will be with you.”
Image by Peter Forster from Unsplash
Jacob’s prosperity came at Laban’s expense, which inevitably led to trouble with Laban and his sons. The tension steadily grew until it reached a dangerous level. Jacob perceived their animosity and realized it was time to go home.
Laban’s sons felt cheated by Jacob because the large numbers of animals he acquired from Laban’s flock reduced the inheritance each could expect to receive. But that didn’t justify their attitude. They exaggerated in claiming Jacob took everything Laban had.1 Laban still had plenty of animals, including those he had stolen from Jacob.2 And though all of Jacob’s wealth did derive from the young born to Laban’s flock, Laban’s sons conveniently failed to mention the two decades of work Jacob had done to earn what he had.
Laban had viewed Jacob favorably as long as he could manipulate him and prosper off of him. He may have even felt some natural affection for his sister’s son. But Jacob had worn out his welcome, and he could see in Laban’s face. To Laban, Jacob had become a threat.
In the midst of the breakdown in Jacob’s relationship with his in-laws, Yahweh spoke again to reassure him. He affirmed the time had come for Jacob to return to Canaan, but he also renewed the promise to be with him. Jacob could return home knowing God would protect him.
A Secret Meeting
So Jacob called for Rachel and Leah to come out to the field where his flock was. He told them, “I’ve noticed your father’s attitude toward me has changed. But my father’s God has been with me.
“You know how I’ve served your father with all my strength. Yet your father has cheated me by repeatedly changing my wages. But God hasn’t allowed him to harm me. When he made the spotted animals my wages, the whole flock gave birth to spotted young. When he made the striped animals my wages, the whole flock gave birth to striped young. So God took your father’s livestock away and gave them to me.”
Image by Kristina Flour from Unsplash
After Yahweh spoke to him, Jacob didn’t immediately leave Harran. He waited for the right moment and took some precautions to protect himself. Most importantly, he needed to convince his wives to leave their home and family. So he called Rachel and Leah to the field where he tended the flock. Out in the open, he could make sure no one overheard their conversation.
In his speech to his wives, Jacob mentioned how hard he had worked but not what he had done to weaken Laban’s flock.3 Instead, he focused on the contrast between what “your father” had done and what “my father’s God” had done. Because of God’s blessing, Laban’s flock gave birth to a far higher number of spotted kids than normal. According to the original agreement between Jacob and Laban, these animals belonged to Jacob.4 So Laban changed Jacob’s wages so he received the striped animals instead. But then God made the flock give birth to striped young. Laban changed Jacob’s wages several times, but each time God turned the situation to Jacob’s advantage.
Laban’s unjust treatment of Jacob put Laban under God’s curse.5 By focusing on this, Jacob allayed any concerns his wives may have had about the rapid growth of their flock. Jacob didn’t take Laban’s livestock. God gave them to him.
The God of Bethel
“Now during the breeding season, I had a dream. I saw that the male goats mating with the females were striped, spotted, and dappled. In the dream, God’s messenger called to me, ‘Jacob!’
“‘Yes? I’m here.’
“‘Please look! All the male goats mating with the females are striped, spotted, and dappled because I’ve seen what Laban has done to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a sacred pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land and return to your homeland.’”
Edited from Image by CCXpistiavos from Pixabay
While explaining the situation to his wives, Jacob gave more details about God’s command to return to Canaan. The command had come during the previous breeding season. In a dream, Jacob saw multicolored male goats mating with the females in Laban’s flock. This would naturally result in a larger percentage of multicolored kids. God’s messenger then explained the dream.6
In his explanation, God’s messenger never mentioned Jacob’s flawed human efforts.7 His wealth didn’t come from his trickery. He prospered because of God’s intervention on his behalf. Because of Laban’s abusive treatment of Jacob, God made it as if the males in Laban’s flock were multicolored so they passed down the recessive trait.
God’s messenger then identified himself as the God of Bethel, who appeared to Jacob as he fled Canaan.8 At Bethel, God had promised to return Jacob to Canaan. And now the time had come.
A Family United
Rachel and Leah answered, “Do we have any share of the inheritance from our father left? Doesn’t he consider us foreigners? He sold us and has completely used up the money! All the wealth God has taken from our father belongs to us and our children. So do everything God has told you.”
Image by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
As it turned out, Jacob didn’t need to worry about his wives not wanting to leave Harran. Rachel and Leah fully supported him. They resented how their father had treated them and vented their indignation.
Rachel and Leah’s complaint revolved around the wealth Laban had lost. The animals gained from Jacob’s first fourteen years of service constituted their bride-price, intended to protect them should Jacob die or divorce them.9 They felt as if Laban had sold them not because of the bride-price itself but because he had completely it used up, like money received for selling a foreign slave. A master could do whatever he wanted with money received for a slave, but a father didn’t have the right to squander his daughter’s bride-price.
Nothing remained for Rachel and Leah in Harran, and they clearly trusted their husband to care for them better than their father had. They didn’t agree on much, but they could agree that by cheating Jacob, their father had also cheated them. The wealth God had given Jacob rightfully belonged to them and their children. Laban’s greed proved to be the one thing that could unite Jacob’s family.
Family Idols
Then Jacob put his wives and children on camels and left to return to his father, Isaac, in the land of Canaan. He drove ahead of him all his livestock and everything he had acquired—his own animals he acquired in Paddan Aram. Since Laban had left to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the family idols belonging to her father.
Image by Phaidros Krugmann from Pixabay
God’s command to leave came during the fall breeding season.10 But Jacob waited until the next spring, when Laban left to shear his sheep.11 This opened the door for Jacob’s stealthy departure. Laban wasn’t there to try to stop him.
The text repeatedly states Jacob left with his livestock that he acquired. He took only what rightfully belonged to him. Unfortunately, not everyone followed his example. Rachel took advantage of her father’s absence to steal the family idols. People in the ancient Near East commonly worshiped minor deities associated with the family or clan, in addition to national deities. They believed these small figurines, called teraphim in Hebrew, could bless and protect the family, and they consulted them on important decisions through divination.12
Rachel may have stolen the family idols purely out of spite, but more likely, she didn’t feel as comfortable leaving home as she let on. Her culture taught that the idols protected the family, yet Jacob had none. He worshiped only Yahweh. So she took her father’s idols to protect her in a strange new land.
Fooled
So Jacob fooled Laban the Aramean by not revealing his intention to flee. He fled with everything he owned and crossed the Euphrates. Then he headed toward the hills of Gilead.
Image by Sweet Publishing from Free Bible Images, CC BY-SA 3.0
Jacob managed to keep his plans secret. When Laban left to shear his sheep, he had no idea Jacob intended to flee. In cheating Jacob, Laban had moved the flocks his sons tended a three-day journey from Harran.13 Initially, this had prevented Jacob from claiming his wages.14 But Jacob turned the tables on Laban by using the distance to gain the significant head start he needed.
Jacob and his family traveled south and crossed the Euphrates. From there, they traveled southwest toward Gilead, a mountainous area east of the Jordan. Because he had flocks and small children with him, Jacob couldn’t travel quickly. If Laban decided to pursue them, he could travel much faster and would surely catch up before Jacob reached Canaan. Jacob probably hoped Laban wouldn’t follow at all, which may have worked but for one complication. Jacob didn’t know Rachel had her father’s gods.
- See Hyperbole.
- Genesis 30:35; see Laban’s Deception.
- See Jacob’s Wealth.
- See Spots and Patches.
- Genesis 12:3.
- See Yahweh’s Messenger.
- See Imitative Magic.
- See Stairway to Heaven.
- See Dowry and Bride-Price.
- Family Farm Livestock, “When Do Sheep Breed?,” by Kathy McCune, accessed October 7, 2022, https://familyfarmlivestock.com/when-do-sheep-breed/.
- Family Farm Livestock, “Why Do Sheep Need Shearing? A Beginners Overview of Shearing Sheep,” by Kathy McCune, accessed October 7, 2022, https://familyfarmlivestock.com/why-do-sheep-need-shearing/.
- Pritz, Human-made Things, 4.6.1 Teraphim, Household Idol; see Ezekiel 21:21; Zechariah 10:2.
- Genesis 30:35–36; see 31:22.
- See Laban’s Deception.