וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֔ם הַיְדַעְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־לָבָ֣ן בֶּן־נָח֑וֹר וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ יָדָֽעְנוּ׃
He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “Yes, we do.”
Genesis 29:5 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
The careful reader will note that Laban is not the son of Nahor, but the son of Bethuel.
At this time, Bethuel is believed to be dead.
The rabbis maintain that Bethuel was wicked and an outcast. What we may have here is the act of blotting out his name by his people.
עוֹדֶ֖נּוּ מְדַבֵּ֣ר עִמָּ֑ם וְרָחֵ֣ל ׀ בָּ֗אָה עִם־הַצֹּאן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לְאָבִ֔יהָ כִּ֥י רֹעָ֖ה הִֽוא׃
While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock—for she was its shepherd.
Genesis 29:9 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
When Genesis introduces Rachel, it doesn’t tell us how beautiful she is. It tells us her role: she is a shepherdess. Her name means “ewe.”
She is shown as both a sheep and as a good shepherd leading her father’s flock, in contrast to the hired hands from the previous verses.
Then Jacob [a]set out on his journey, and went to the land of the people of the east.
Genesis 29:1 (NASB)
[a] Lit lifted up his feet
Genesis 29 starts out with a curious phrase that is often rendered “set out on his journey.” It is literally “picked up his feet.”
This is not just an idiom. It may connects to the last verse in the previous chapter.
And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, will be God’s house, and of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”
Genesis 28:22 (NASB)
At the end of Genesis 28, Jacob makes a vow to give God a tithe, or a 10th of all he has, but it is written in the imperfect, or “future” tense.
(In Hebrew, the imperfect tense is the “not yet completed” version of a verb)
He doesn’t give a tithe *right now* because he doesn’t have anything. He fled his home without any possessions.
So when the text says he “lifted up his feet,” the rabbis say this could mean he picked up “all his possessions.” Literally nothing but his feet.