37 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban said,.... Deceitfully, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, pretending great respect for Jacob, and that what he had proposed was very agreeable to him, when he meant to impose upon him: [it is] better that I should give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man; by which he not only intimates that he preferred him, a relation,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel,.... The whole term of time, diligently, faithfully, and patiently. Reference is had to this in Hosea 11:12: and they seemed unto him [but] a few days, for the love he had to her; for though to lovers time seems long ere they enjoy the object beloved; yet Jacob here respects not so much the time as the toil...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jacob said unto Laban, give [me] my wife,.... Meaning Rachel, who was his wife by contract; the conditions of her being his wife were now fulfilled by him, and therefore he might challenge her as his wife: for my days are now fulfilled; the seven years were up he agreed to serve him for his daughter; and therefore it was but just and right she...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban gathered together all the men of the place,.... Of the city of Haran, which may be understood of the chief and principal of them, to make the marriage of his daughter public and authentic: and made a feast; a marriage or marriage feast, as the Septuagint version, see Matthew 22:2; which was usual, when a marriage was solemnized,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass in the evening,.... After the feast was over, and the guests were departed; when it was night, a fit season to execute his designs, and practise deceit: that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him, to Jacob, in his apartment, his bedchamber, or to him in bed: for it is still the custom in some eastern countries for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid, [for] an handmaid. It was usual to have many given them at this time, as Rebekah seems to have had, Genesis 24:59; but Leah had but one, and this was all the portion Jacob had with her. The Targum of Jonathan is, "and Laban gave her Zilpah his daughter, whom his concubine bore unto him:''...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, that, in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah,.... The morning light discovered her, and her veil being off, her tender eyes showed who she was: it is much her voice had not betrayed her; but perhaps there might be a likeness of voice in her and her sister; or she might keep silence, and so not be discovered in that way; but to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban said, it must not be so done in, our country,.... Or "in our place" (s); in this our city it is not usual and customary to do so; he does not deny what he had done in beguiling him, nor the agreement he had made with him, but pleads the custom of the place as contrary to it: to give the younger, that is, in marriage, before the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Fulfil her week,.... Not Rachel's week, or a week of years of servitude for her, but Leah's week, or the week of seven days of feasting for her marriage; for a marriage feast used to be kept seven days, according to the Jewish writers (t), and as it seems from Judges 14:17; and the Targum of Jerusalem fully expresses this sense, "fulfil the week...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week,.... The week of the days of the feast of Leah, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; he agreed to it; during which time he cohabited with Leah as his wife, and which confirmed the marriage: how justifiable this was, must be left. The marrying of two sisters was forbidden by the law of Moses, Leviticus 18:18; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. As he had given Leah an handmaid he gave Rachel another; and this in the Targum of Jonathan is said to be a daughter of Laban by a concubine also, as the former.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he went in also unto Rachel,.... Cohabited with her as his wife: and he loved also Rachel more than Leah; she was his first love, and he retained the same love for her he ever had; as appears by his willingness to agree to the same condition of seven years' servitude more for her sake, and which he performed as follows: and served with him,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the Lord saw that Leah [was] hated,.... Not properly and simply hated by Jacob, as appears by his doing the duty of an husband to her, but comparatively; she was less loved than Rachel: and there are many things to be said for it; she was not beautiful as Rachel was; she was not Jacob's choice, as she was but imposed upon him through...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben,.... That is, "see the son", as if she by this name called upon her husband, her friends, and all about her, to look at him, and view him; perhaps hoping and imagining he might be the famous son, the promised seed, the Messiah that was to spring to Abraham, in the line of Jacob;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived again, and bare a son,.... As soon as she well could. The Jews (x) have a notion, that Leah brought forth her sons at seven months' end: and said, because the Lord hath heard that I [was] hated; or less loved than her sister: he hath therefore given me this [son] also; to comfort her under the trial and exercise, and engage her...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived again, and bare a son,.... A third time, as soon as she well could after the former birth: and said, now this time will my husband be joined to me; in greater affection and stronger ties of love, and cleave unto her: because I have born him three sons; which she considered as a threefold cord, binding his affections to her, which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived again, and bare a son,.... A fourth son, a son in whose line, and from whose tribe, the Messiah was to spring: and she said, now will I praise the Lord; she had praised him before for looking on her affliction, and hearing her cries, and giving her one son after another; but now she determines to praise him more than ever, having...