Tag: Laban

The Angel’s Blessing

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וַיֹּ֣אמֶר שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִי כִּ֥י עָלָ֖ה הַשָּׁ֑חַר וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔ כִּ֖י אִם־בֵּרַכְתָּֽנִי׃

Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”
Genesis 32:27 (28) (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Why does Jacob demand a blessing from the angel in Genesis 32? There are many thoughts on this, but there may be a simple answer: Jacob can’t confirm that God has blessed him.

In Genesis 27, Isaac blesses Jacob but believes him to be Esau.
In Genesis 28, Isaac gives another blessing to Jacob and then SENDS HIM AWAY to his mother’s family. We already know that Isaac loves Esau and favors him over Jacob.
Later in Genesis 28, God meets him and says He will “bless the families of the earth” through him.
In Genesis 30 and 31, the only mentions of blessing are from Laban, who confirms that God has blessed LABAN because of Jacob, which goes back to the blessing of Genesis 28.

Perhaps Jacob is clinging to this angel and basically yelling to God, “WHAT ABOUT ME?!” Will you bless everyone around me, because of me, and not bless me as well?

And Jacob is about to face off with Esau and is afraid he’s going to die, and all he wants to know is whether or not God will love him enough to bless him.

In response, the angel changes Jacob’s name to Israel and says “this is because you have struggled against God and with men… and have won.”

And then he blesses him.

It’s quite lovely, really. I think the teaching is that when the world fails to love and bless you rightly, cling to the messengers of God and demand a blessing. In your broken-heartedness, perhaps you will experience God’s blessing.

(Important note: the angel does proceed to wrench Jacob’s leg out of socket from his hip! So, do with that what you will.)

The place of Laban

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וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֨ם לָבָ֜ן בַּבֹּ֗קֶר וַיְנַשֵּׁ֧ק לְבָנָ֛יו וְלִבְנוֹתָ֖יו וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֶתְהֶ֑ם וַיֵּ֛לֶךְ וַיָּ֥שׇׁב לָבָ֖ן לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃

Early in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward.
Genesis 32:1 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Note: In the Hebrew bibles, Genesis 32:1 is the same as Genesis 31:55 in English bibles.

In this passage, the commentators point out that the phrase at the end is a little unusual. Laban didn’t just “go home.” He “returned to his place.” And this phrase, according to the Haamek Davar, this “… foreshadowed the ascendance and subsequent decline of all the nations that hosted and then expelled the Jewish people.”

In the interpretation that views Laban as a symbol of wickedness, likening him to Egypt and other conquering nations, Laban appears to slink back into the depths, as though he is brought up for this purpose, and then returns to his right place of lowness.

This concept of “place” is very interesting, because it makes me think of the Jewish teaching about God calling to Adam. When God says “Ayeka,” (where are you?), God is not asking a question. God is making a declaration, stating that Adam is not where he is supposed to be; he is not where God placed him. This can be viewed as a statement about the relationship, not Adam’s specific GPS coordinates.

This tells me that there *IS* a place where we are meant to be in our relationship to God. If God walks through the garden, we are meant to walk with God, and not hide in the bushes.

But Laban? And the empires that enslave God’s people, rooted back to the original hissing trickster that enticed and enslaved us all? Perhaps “returned to his place” describes a place of outer darkness, where one day he will remain separated from us forever.

It’s after Laban “returns to his place” that Jacob goes on his way, and is met by God, and where Jacob declares, “This is God’s camp.”
Here, perhaps we see a glimpse into the Kingdom, where our lived reality and heavenly truth come together in a living parable.

Laban’s Profanity

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אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם וֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י נָחוֹר֙ יִשְׁפְּט֣וּ בֵינֵ֔ינוּ אֱלֹהֵ֖י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב בְּפַ֖חַד אָבִ֥יו יִצְחָֽק׃
May the God of Abraham’s [house] and the god of Nahor’s [house]”—their ancestral deities—“judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac’s [house].
Genesis 31:53 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

In Genesis 31:53, Laban presents a covenant with Isaac, calling upon a god that does not exist: “The god of Nahor.”

Laban, an idolator, the son of an idolator, doesn’t know that the God of Abraham is not merely an idol to manipulate, so he profanes the title of God (אלוהי) by making it level with his own idols.

It’s such a profanity that Jewish commentaries state “אלוהי אביהם: here too the word “elohey” is profane and may be erased from a Torah scroll if the occasion demands it.”

The Way of Women

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וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אֶל־אָבִ֗יהָ אַל־יִ֙חַר֙ בְּעֵינֵ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י כִּ֣י ל֤וֹא אוּכַל֙ לָק֣וּם מִפָּנֶ֔יךָ כִּי־דֶ֥רֶךְ נָשִׁ֖ים לִ֑י וַיְחַפֵּ֕שׂ וְלֹ֥א מָצָ֖א אֶת־הַתְּרָפִֽים׃
For she said to her father, “Let not my lord take it amiss that I cannot rise before you, for I am in a womanly way.” Thus he searched, but could not find the household idols.
Genesis 31:35 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

When Rachel prevents Laban from finding her hidden transgression, she says that she’s on her period.

In Hebrew, the phrase she uses is interesting: “for the Way of Women is upon me.”

If Laban is a precursor to the Destroying Angel of Exodus, and this mentrual blood is a precursor to the blood over the doorposts in Egypt which prevented the Angel from claiming the firstborn, then perhaps there is something about the “Way of Women” that needs to be studied.

The rabbinical teachings explain that a woman on her period was “unclean.” The tradition held that she was SO unclean that even following a menstruating woman and walking in her footsteps could make you unclean. Talking to a menstrating woman would make you unclean (hence Laban saying nothing to Rachel in this story segment).

Later, Leviticus will echo this language of “unclean,” (Lev 15:19-20), and it seems shameful. Isolating. And then consider the woman who bled for 12 years. But Jesus talking to her and touching her and saying “your faith has saved you” is a jarring contrast.

Does this contradict Leviticus, or does it tell us something powerful about the “Way of Women?”

This is definitely something to chew on.

An Arrangement of Tents

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וַיָּבֹ֨א לָבָ֜ן בְּאֹ֥הֶל יַעֲקֹ֣ב ׀ וּבְאֹ֣הֶל לֵאָ֗ה וּבְאֹ֛הֶל שְׁתֵּ֥י הָאֲמָהֹ֖ת וְלֹ֣א מָצָ֑א וַיֵּצֵא֙ מֵאֹ֣הֶל לֵאָ֔ה וַיָּבֹ֖א בְּאֹ֥הֶל רָחֵֽל׃
So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent and the tents of the two maidservants; but he did not find them. Leaving Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
Genesis 31:33 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Using Genesis 31:33, try to diagram the arrangement of the tents, or parse out the order of events and see if you can make sense of it.

How are the tents arranged? It is a mystery.

Rachel’s Curse

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עִ֠ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּמְצָ֣א אֶת־אֱלֹהֶ֘יךָ֮ לֹ֣א יִֽחְיֶה֒ נֶ֣גֶד אַחֵ֧ינוּ הַֽכֶּר־לְךָ֛ מָ֥ה עִמָּדִ֖י וְקַֽח־לָ֑ךְ וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֣ע יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֥י רָחֵ֖ל גְּנָבָֽתַם׃
But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive! In the presence of our kin, point out what I have of yours and take it.” Jacob, of course, did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
Genesis 31:32 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

There is a view among the Rabbis that Genesis 31:32 is the cause of Rachel’s death in chapter 35. Because she did possess the idols/teraphim in question, she fell under Jacob’s curse and was doomed to die.

I disagree.

I think we are meant to understand that Jacob believed this to be true, but the astute reader should recognize the careful wording.

Look at the condition of Jacob’s curse: “anyone WITH WHOM YOU FIND your gods…”

Was Rachel FOUND with the idols? Did Laben recover them? The answer is no, and therefore, the curse is not triggered.

Why did you Steal my Gods?

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וְעַתָּה֙ הָלֹ֣ךְ הָלַ֔כְתָּ כִּֽי־נִכְסֹ֥ף נִכְסַ֖פְתָּה לְבֵ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ לָ֥מָּה גָנַ֖בְתָּ אֶת־אֱלֹהָֽי׃
Very well, you had to leave because you were longing for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?”
Genesis 31:30 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

This is arguably one of the funniest passages in the whole Bible.

But actually, there’s quite a bit of depth here. In the Hebrew, “longing for your father’s house” can hint at the True Father’s house: the very dwelling place of God. In which case, the question is very relevant, if the accusation is true. Why would anyone bring idols into the house of God?

The Parable of the Adversary

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יֶשׁ־לְאֵ֣ל יָדִ֔י לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת עִמָּכֶ֖ם רָ֑ע וֵֽאלֹהֵ֨י אֲבִיכֶ֜ם אֶ֣מֶשׁ ׀ אָמַ֧ר אֵלַ֣י לֵאמֹ֗ר הִשָּׁ֧מֶר לְךָ֛ מִדַּבֵּ֥ר עִֽם־יַעֲקֹ֖ב מִטּ֥וֹב עַד־רָֽע׃
I have it in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father’s [house] said to me last night, ‘Beware of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad.’
Genesis 31:29 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

If Genesis is understood like a series of parables, perhaps Genesis 31:29 is teaching us about the nature of the Adversary.

Speak Neither Tov nor Ra

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Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Genesis 31:24 (NIV)

What’s fascinating about this passage is that the “good or bad” is the same “tov” and “ra” from the garden. It points to the deception of the serpent re: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Laban is called “the Aramean,” which we already know refers to his trickery.

The Third Day

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On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Genesis 31:22-24 (NIV)

If we allow Genesis to inform our theology, and we frame Jacob’s deliverance of the sheep and the goats to stand in as a parable about God delivering his people, what do you suppose this passage is telling us?

It seems important.