Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
- KJV And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
- BSB Now Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel.
- NASB Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
- NLT Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The narrator introduces Laban's two daughters: Leah the elder and Rachel the younger.
Overview
This brief note prepares for the central tension of the coming chapters between the two sisters. The contrast of elder and younger foreshadows Laban's deception over which daughter Jacob will first marry. From these two women, and their servants, will come the twelve sons who father the tribes of Israel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 49:31There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:
- Ruth 4:11All the people who were in the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman who has come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which both built the house of Israel; and treat you worthily in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.
- Gen 30:19Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
- Gen 35:23The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
- Gen 31:4Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock,
- Gen 29:17Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive.
- Gen 46:15These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
- Gen 29:25–32In the morning, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
- Gen 33:2He put the servants and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 29:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.