Laban’s Trick

According to Cyrus Gordon ( The Bible and the Ancient Near East (Revised Edition) ), Laban’s trick of Jacob – Leah for Rachel – put Jacob in an even more vulnerable position than is usually noticed. In one of the Nuzu tablets, Gordon finds “a combination adoption-marriage contract” that is relevant to the Jacob story: “In this tablet, a man named Wullu agrees to labor for a man named Nashwi, and in exchange Naswi gives his daughter to Wullu. Furthermore, upon Nashwi’s death, Wullu will inherit his estate. Accordingly, Wullu becomes both adopted son and son-in-law of Nashwi. However, there are several additional clauses in this contract. One states that if Wullu should take a second wife, then he subsequently surrenders all ownership rights (i.e., even over his wife) and future inheritance rights.”

Applying this to Laban and Jacob, Gordon notes: “Laban knew that Jacob would still want to marry Rachel, which is exactly what transpired, but in so doing Jacob took a second wife and thus he sacrificed numerous rights. Another clause in this Nuzu tablet states that if in the future a natural son is born to Nashwi, then Wullu must share any future inheritance . . . . only at a later point in the narrative are sons of Laban mentioned, leading to the conclusion that they were born after the marriages of Jacob to Leah and Rachel . . . . From the legal perspective, especially upon Jacob’s subsequent marriage to Rachel, we see how Laban has forced Jacob into losing various rights.”

This intensifies obvious parallels with the exodus. And also gives us a sense of why Jacob had to sneak away from Laban.