Genesis 29

Jacob finally reaches his uncle Laban's ranch, immediately striking up an enthralling conversation about  husbandry with a shepherd. He meets Laban and his comely daughter Rachel; all seems well at first, with much kissing, embracing, and tears. But events take an unsavory turn once Jacob expresses interest in taking Rachel as a wife. Laban does have an elder daughter named Rachel, but while the latter is apparently a ravishing beauty queen, the former has, as verse 17 puts it, "weak eyes."

Now, just what the heck does that mean?

Does that mean Leah needs glasses? Is the author implying that glasses make one unattractive? Were ancient people turned on by people with 20/20 vision? Were those with 20/10 vision the supermodels of the Canaanite realm? I'm being facetious here, but the author might be saying that, in addition to Leah's physical unattractiveness, she also has poor vision to add to her list of "faults." And in this time period, if you couldn't see well, there wasn't really anything you could do about it.

After Jacob expresses his desire to marry Rachel, Laban decides to deceive the deceiver, taking advantage of a loophole in verse 21 when Jacob says, "Give me my wife," instead of "Give me Rachel." After the celebration feast, Jacob wastes no time bedding Leah, who he thinks is Rachel. I just love how the Bible describes the morning after in verse 25: "When morning came, there was Leah!" Surprise!

Jacob has to repeat this whole rigmarole again in order to obtain Rachel, and of course ends up loving her more than Leah (verse 30). We don't really get an insight into either woman's personality, but isn't it sad how much value we put on physical appearance? I'm not much to look at myself, but I'm just as guilty as the next guy of being attracted to the more "beautiful" people. I am drawn to personality as well (which I suppose we all tell ourselves)--I just do not want to keep up with the Kardashians no matter how they look. You can develop your skills through practice, increase your knowledge through learning, strive to act magnanimously, but you can't really change your physical appearance that much. Why do we value something that's beyond out control, something determined by luck?

God feels for Leah, though, allowing her to have kids. She, and not Rachel, is the ancestor of Jesus, though that's probably small consolation for her now. Unfortunately, that does not cause Jacob to love her more. In addition, it seems like neither sister got any choice in the matter in regards to their marriage to Jacob. Looking back, we can see this whole story as a bit of comeuppance for Jacob--he deceived his father, and now he's reaping the bitter fruit. However, we can't forget that Leah and Rachel also got entangled in this imbroglio. Of course, God has a plan for everyone and all that, but I also have to do my part to remember that everyone whom I come across--the Leahs and Rachels as well as the Jacobs--has a life, has problems, has aspirations. I pray that I can treat others, even those on the fringes of my life, with respect and compassion.