And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
- BSB So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.
- NKJV So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
- NASB So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days because of his love for her.
- NLT So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
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
Jacob serves seven years for Rachel, and they seem to him like only a few days because of his love.
Overview
The seven years pass swiftly for Jacob because of his deep love for Rachel. This beautiful picture of love's power to lighten long labor stands among Scripture's most tender lines. It also heightens the bitterness of the deception that will follow on his wedding night.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Cor 13:7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
- Eph 5:2And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
- Hos 12:12And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
- Song 8:6–7Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
- Gen 24:67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
- 2 Cor 5:14For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
- Gen 30:26Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 29:20 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.