Genesis 29:18

Gen 29:18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

Ver. 18. I will serve thee seven years.] He had nothing to endow her with; he would therefore earn her with his hard labour: which, as it shows Laban’s churlishness to suffer it, and his baseness to make a prize and a prey of his two daughters, so it sets forth Jacob’s meekness, poverty, patience, and hard condition here, mentioned many years after by the prophet Hosea. {Hos 12:12} He was a man of many sorrows; and from him therefore the Church hath her denomination: neither were the faithful ever since called Abrahamites but Israelites.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:18 Seven years of service was a high bride-price in the ancient world, but Rachel was beautiful (like Sarah and Rebekah), and Jacob was in love with her.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy daughter--A proposal of marriage is made to the father without the daughter being consulted, and the match is effected by the suitor either bestowing costly presents on the family, or by giving cattle to the value the father sets upon his daughter, or else by giving personal services for a specified period. The last was the course necessity imposed on Jacob; and there for seven years he submitted to the drudgery of a hired shepherd, with the view of obtaining Rachel. The time went rapidly away; for even severe and difficult duties become light when love is the spring of action.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18. I will serve thee seven years. The iniquity of Laban betrays itself in a moment; for it is a shameful barbarity to give his daughter, by way of reward, in exchange for Jacob’s services, making her the subject of a kind of barter. He ought, on the other hand, not only to have assigned a portion to his daughter, but also to have acted more liberally towards his future son-in-law. But under the pretext of affinity, he defrauds him of the reward of his labor, the very thing which he had before acknowledged to be unjust. We therefore perceive still more clearly what I have previously alluded to, that although from their mother’s womb men have a general notion of justice, yet as soon as their own advantage presents itself to view, they become actually unjust, unless the Lord reforms them by his Spirit. Moses does not here relate something rare or unusual, but what is of most common occurrence. For though men do not set their daughters to sale, yet the desire of gain hurries the greater part so far away, that they prostitute their honor and sell their souls. Further, it is not altogether to be deemed a fault that Jacob was rather inclined to love Rachel; whether it was that Leah, on account of her tender eyes, was less beautiful, or that she was pleasing only by the comeliness of her eyes, while Rachel excelled her altogether in elegance of form. For we see how naturally a secret kind of affection produces mutual love. Only excess is to be guarded against, and so much the more diligently, because it is difficult so to restrain affections of this kind, that they do not prevail to the stifling of reason. Therefore he who shall be induced to choose a wife, because of the elegance of her form, will not necessarily sin, provided reason always maintains the ascendancy, and holds the wantonness of passion in subjection. Yet perhaps Jacob sinned in being too self-indulgent, when he desired Rachel the younger sister to be given to him, to the injury of the elder; and also, while yielding to the desire of his own eyes, he undervalued the virtues of Leah: for this is a very culpable want of self-government, when any one chooses a wife only for the sake of her beauty, whereas excellence of disposition ought to be deemed of the first importance. But the strength and ardor of his attachment manifests itself in this, that he felt no weariness in the labor of seven years: but chastity was also joined with it, so that he persevered, during this long period, with a patient and quiet mind in the midst of so many labors. And here again the integrity and continence of that age is apparent, because, though dwelling under the same roof, and accustomed to familiar intercourse, Jacob yet conducted himself with modesty, and abstained from all impropriety. Therefore, at the close of the appointed time he said, “Give me my wife, that I may go in unto her,” by which he implies that she had been hitherto a pure virgin.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.—Heb., thy daughter, the little one, just as Leah, in Gen_29:16, is called the great one. (See Note on Gen_9:24.) So in Gen_44:20, the phrase “the little one” simply means the youngest. Wives had to be purchased in the East (Gen_24:53), and as Jacob had brought no rich presents, such as Abraham had sent when seeking a wife for his son, he had only his personal services to offer. As the sale was usually veiled in true Oriental fashion under the specious form of freewill gifts, we shall find that both Leah and Rachel are offended at being thus openly bartered by Laban.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. I will serve … Rachel] He has no money to offer; he is ready to give seven years’ service without wages, in order to win Rachel as his bride. He cannot as bridegroom, or suitor, offer the usual gifts, or mohar (see note on Gen_24:53). So he offers the equivalent in work. See the reference to this incident in Hos_12:12.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jacob loved Rachel,.... As he seems to have done from the moment he saw her at the well, being beautiful, modest, humble, affable, diligent, and industrious:

and he said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter: signifying, that he desired no other wages for his service than that, that he might have her for his wife, at the end of seven years' servitude, which he was very willing to oblige himself to, on that condition; for having no money to give as a dowry, as was customary in those times, he proposed servitude instead of it; though Schmidt thinks this was contrary to custom, and that Laban treated his daughters like bondmaids, and such as are taken captives or strangers, and sold them, of which they complain, Gen 31:15.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It being then the custom for men to buy their wives. See Ge 34:12; Ex 22:17; 1Sa 18:25; 2Sa 3:14; Ho 3:2

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. I will serve thee seven years — A week of years. Jacob had not, like his grandfather’s servant, rich presents to offer as a dowry for his bride, (Gen_24:53,) but he offers what he can, the cheerful labour of willing and active hands.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jacob loved Rachel (it is more than probable that this was an illustration of what is known as "love at first sight" on the part of Rachel as well as Jacob); and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. Having no property, with which to buy his wife, according to Oriental custom (Kalisch), or to give the usual dowry for her to her father (Keil), cf. Gen_14:5 Gen_34:12; 1Sa_18:25, Jacob"s offer was at once accepted by his grasping uncle, though he was that uncle"s "brother" (ver. 15).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

אעבדך שבע שנים I WILL SERVE THEE SEVEN YEARS — These are the “few days” of which his mother had spoken to him (27:44)): “And thou shalt tarry with him a few days”. You can see that this is so, for it is written (v. 20) “And they (the seven years) were in his eyes (i.e. according to his view) the few days” of which his mother had spoken (Genesis Rabbah 70:17).

ברחל בתך הקטנה (literally, for Rachel, thy daughter, the younger one) — What reason was there for mentioning all these detailed descriptions of Rachel? Because he (Jacob) knew that he (Laban) was a deceiver. He said to him, “I will serve thee for Rachel”: and should you say that I mean any other Rachel out of the street, therefore I say “your daughter”. Should you say, “I will change Leah’s name and call her Rachel”, I say “your younger one”. In spite of this, however, all these precautions did not avail, for he did actually deceive him (Genesis Rabbah 70:17).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויאהב...אעבדך, in response to the question: “what shall be your wages?,” he answered Lavan that his wages would be in addition to food lodging and clothes that Lavan would give him his daughter Rachel as a wife. Even though Yaakov had spelled out which daughter, namely Rachel, he added the word הקטנה, “the younger one,” so that Lavan could not deceive him by giving him a different girl called Rachel. Some people question that seeing that the righteous marry with a view to producing children, why would Rachel’s exterior appearance have been of interest to Yaakov at all? After all they did not want their wives to be women who would excite their libidos, and it is clear from the fact that Yaakov was willing to delay marriage by seven years was due to his choosing a beautiful bride. He appears to have been angry at Lavan for having given him Leah instead, seeing that Leah was not as attractive as her sister. We have to answer this by saying that in choosing a beautiful woman as their brides, the righteous people had good intentions. They wanted their libidos to be aroused by them in order to produce many children together. Furthermore, they also wanted their children to be handsome like their mothers. Looking at beautiful people helps a person to remain in a joyous frame of mind, something which is a requirement for man for we know that people who are not in a joyful frame of mind cannot serve G’d in the best possible fashion. Even prophets cannot function as such unless they are in a state of joy, and on occasion they require stimulants such as music in order to put them in a more joyful frame of mind (Kohelet 5,19,--compare also Kings II 3,14-15)

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.