And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Laban excused giving Leah to Jacob in place of Rachel by appealing to the law of his country that the elder daughter must be given in marriage before the younger. To leave Leah unmarried would have brought disgrace upon the family, and for that reason Jacob was not permitted to set her aside. Jacob had bargained to marry Rachel, whom he loved, and though he rebuked Laban for the deception, he kept Leah as wife and took Rachel also.
The transaction belonged to an ancient marriage order in which the bridegroom paid the bride's father a sum suited to his means as security for the contract, proving that he had provided for sustaining a family and had skill to manage business for obtaining cattle or lands. Where the suitor had no money or property of value, his labor for a fixed time was accepted instead, the length of service being set according to the value of the dowry required. That appointed service proved the worth and faithfulness of those who had nothing to pay, guarded against hasty marriages, and tested the depth of the suitor's affection. When he had been faithful in service and was otherwise judged worthy, the daughter was given to him, and whatever dowry the father had received was generally bestowed upon the daughter at her marriage. Jacob's twice seven years of service for Rachel was lightened by his love for her, a love so deep and lasting that near death in Egypt, in reviewing his long and troubled life, he recalled alone the loss of Rachel by her death on the way to Ephrath.
Laban excused giving Leah to Jacob in place of Rachel by appealing to the law of his country that the elder daughter must be given in marriage before the younger. To leave Leah unmarried would have brought disgrace upon the family, and for that reason Jacob was not permitted to set her aside. Jacob had bargained to marry Rachel, whom he loved, and though he rebuked Laban for the deception, he kept Leah as wife and took Rachel also.
The transaction belonged to an ancient marriage order in which the bridegroom paid the bride's father a sum suited to his means as security for the contract, proving that he had provided for sustaining a family and had skill to manage business for obtaining cattle or lands. Where the suitor had no money or property of value, his labor for a fixed time was accepted instead, the length of service being set according to the value of the dowry required. That appointed service proved the worth and faithfulness of those who had nothing to pay, guarded against hasty marriages, and tested the depth of the suitor's affection. When he had been faithful in service and was otherwise judged worthy, the daughter was given to him, and whatever dowry the father had received was generally bestowed upon the daughter at her marriage. Jacob's twice seven years of service for Rachel was lightened by his love for her, a love so deep and lasting that near death in Egypt, in reviewing his long and troubled life, he recalled alone the loss of Rachel by her death on the way to Ephrath.