Genesis — Chapter 29

AND JACOB SERVED SEVEN YEARS FOR RACHEL: AND THEY SEEMED BUT A FEW DAYS, BECAUSE OF THE GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE. — Jacob's love for Rachel: one of the great love stories of Scripture. Seven years of service for the beloved \"seemed but a few days\" — the nature of true love, which makes hardship easy. Lapide: \"Thus labors for God and souls seem brief to those who love God intensely. Thus the martyrs bore torments joyfully.\" Chrysostom: \"Love turns labor into leisure.\"

AND IN THE MORNING HE SAW IT WAS LEAH; AND HE SAID TO LABAN: WHAT IS IT THAT THOU HAST DONE TO ME? DID I NOT SERVE THEE FOR RACHEL? WHY HAST THOU DECEIVED ME? — Laban's treachery: substituting Leah for Rachel. Lapide notes the providential justice: Jacob, who deceived Isaac with the garments of Esau, is now deceived by Laban with the veils of Leah. God arranges that men often suffer the same type of wrong they inflict. Yet Leah, the unloved wife, became the mother of Judah — and thus the ancestress of Christ. God's providential design works through human sinfulness.