Laban

Biblical Account

Laban was the son of Bethuel, the grandson of Nahor (the brother of Abraham), and the brother of Rebekah (Genesis 22:20-23; 24:29). He lived in Haran, that is, Padan-aram, and Scripture calls him "the Syrian," that is, the Aramean (Genesis 25:20).

• Rebekah's marriage: Abraham's servant came seeking a wife for Isaac. When Laban saw the earring and bracelets his sister had received, he went out to the well and brought the servant into the house. He and Bethuel then consented to the marriage, answering, "The thing proceedeth from the LORD" (Genesis 24:29-51).
• Marriage agreement with Jacob: When Jacob arrived after fleeing from Esau, Laban welcomed him as his nephew. He had Jacob work seven years in exchange for his younger daughter, Rachel. On the wedding night, however, he sent in his elder daughter, Leah, and, claiming that it was the custom of the country not to give the younger before the firstborn, required Jacob to serve another seven years (Genesis 29:13-30).
• Dispute over wages: When Jacob sought to leave, Laban urged him to stay, saying that the LORD had blessed him for Jacob's sake. The two agreed that the speckled and spotted sheep and goats would be Jacob's wages (Genesis 30:25-43). Jacob later says that Laban changed his wages ten times (Genesis 31:7).
• Pursuit and covenant: After twenty years Jacob secretly departed with his family, and Rachel stole Laban's teraphim (household idols). Laban pursued them as far as Mount Gilead, but God came to him in a dream and warned him, "Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad" (Genesis 31:24). The two men raised a heap of stones and made a covenant not to harm each other. Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha in Aramaic, and Jacob called it Galeed; it was also given the name Mizpah. Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren, blessed them, and returned home (Genesis 31:43-55). He does not appear again in Scripture.

Significance in the Bible

Eleven of Jacob's sons were born to Laban's daughters and their maidservants. They account for most of the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 29:31-30:24). Jacob, who deceived his father to obtain his brother's blessing, is himself deceived by Laban, receiving the elder sister in place of the younger. This symmetry is frequently noted as a central pattern in the Jacob narrative. Jacob confesses that even under Laban, God protected him (Genesis 31:42). Laban is not mentioned by name in the New Testament, though Hosea 12:12 recalls how Jacob "fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife."

Interpretation and Issues

• Laban's faith: Laban invokes the name of the LORD (Genesis 24:31; 31:49), yet he also possesses teraphim. Some translations render Genesis 30:27 as "I have learned by divination." For these reasons, many interpreters regard him as a man who knew the LORD while also holding to other religious practices.
• The teraphim: In the twentieth century, an explanation based on the Nuzi texts, which connected possession of the teraphim with inheritance rights, became widely known. This explanation has since met with considerable criticism. The text does not say why Rachel stole the teraphim.
• The Mizpah verse: Genesis 31:49 is often used today as a blessing for those parting from one another. Some point out, however, that it was originally a covenant marking a boundary, made out of mutual distrust.
• Later tradition: The Passover Haggadah in Judaism reads Deuteronomy 26:5 as "An Aramean sought to destroy my father" and interprets it as referring to Laban. Some Jewish writings also preserve a tradition identifying Laban with Balaam. Both are later interpretations not found in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons on Laban usually treat him as part of the Jacob narrative. Preachers often interpret the twenty years in Laban's house as a period of refining in which God shaped Jacob, or present Laban as an example of a person who is shrewd about gain and takes advantage of others. Sunday school lessons also cover him through the stories of Jacob's meeting with Rachel and the switched bride.