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Laban

Rebekah’s brother and Jacob’s uncle, who out-tricked the trickster.

Old Testament · c. 1900–1800 BC · Genesis · Also known as Laban the Syrian, Son of Bethuel

About Laban

Laban lived in Haran, the brother of Rebekah. He welcomed Abraham’s servant when he came looking for a wife for Isaac, and years later welcomed Rebekah’s son Jacob: "Surely thou art my bone and my flesh." Jacob worked seven years for Laban’s younger daughter Rachel, but on the wedding night Laban gave him Leah instead: "It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn." Jacob served him twenty years, and said Laban "changed my wages ten times." When Jacob fled, Laban chased him, but God warned him in a dream. They parted with a covenant: "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another."

Laban is called "the Syrian" (Aramean). The story mirrors Jacob’s own: Jacob, who tricked his brother and father, is himself tricked by his uncle. Household gods, bride-prices and boundary covenants like Laban’s are known from other documents of the period.

The story

He ran out unto the man

"And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well." Seeing the earring and bracelets on his sister, he welcomed Abraham’s servant: "Come in, thou blessed of the LORD." When he heard the servant’s story, he said, "The thing proceedeth from the LORD."

Genesis 24:29-31, 50

My bone and my flesh

Years later Rebekah’s son Jacob arrived. Laban "ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him." "Surely thou art my bone and my flesh." When Laban asked about wages, Jacob said, "I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter." "And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her."

Genesis 29:13-20

The younger before the firstborn

On the wedding night Laban brought Leah, his older daughter, to Jacob. In the morning Jacob said, "What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?" Laban answered, "It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn." Jacob married Rachel a week later, and served another seven years.

Genesis 29:21-30

The LORD watch between me and thee

After twenty years Jacob left secretly. Laban pursued him, but "God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad." He searched for his stolen household gods but didn’t find them. Then they piled up stones as a witness, and Laban said, "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another." In the morning he "kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them," and went home.

Genesis 31:22-55

Key moments

Questions about Laban

In meetBible these answers are given in Laban’s voice. They are written by hand and checked against Scripture.

Why did you give Jacob Leah instead of Rachel?

My answer to Jacob was, "It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn." Genesis doesn’t excuse what I did; it calls it deceit. Jacob asked, "wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?" The man who had tricked his own brother and father was tricked in turn.

Did you really change Jacob’s wages ten times?

Jacob told my daughters, "your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me." He said it to my face as well, and Genesis never records me denying it. "Ten times" may mean again and again. Still, I had to admit, "I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake."

What does Mizpah mean?

Mizpah means a watchtower. At the heap of stones I said, "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another." People now use it as a loving farewell, but between Jacob and me it was a wary truce: we agreed neither of us would pass that heap to the other "for harm," and called on God to keep watch over us both.

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Read it yourself

Start with Genesis 29:13-30; 31:22-55.

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