Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
Parallel translations
- WEB He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
- KJV And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
- NKJV Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
- NASB So Jacob had relations with Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.
- NLT So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.
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 marries Rachel, loves her more than Leah, and serves Laban another seven years.
Overview
Jacob's greater love for Rachel sets up the painful rivalry between the sisters that follows. The favoritism echoes the divided affections that have troubled this family across generations. Into this flawed and strained home, God will nonetheless bring the children of promise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Gen 31:41Thus for twenty years I have served in your household—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times!
- Gen 31:15Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us.
- Gen 29:20So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.
- Gen 44:27And your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.
- Matt 10:37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Gen 29:18Since Jacob loved Rachel, he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
- Gen 29:31When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- 1 Sam 18:17–27Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
- Gen 44:20And we answered, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
- Gen 30:25–26Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland.
- Hos 12:12Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.
- John 12:25Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- Deut 21:15If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- Matt 6:24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
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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 29:30 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.