Jacob and Laban

After a long hiatus, I'm going to pick up blogging again; first, by "finishing" two posts -- from the Old Testament.

Jon Acuff has written about Joseph much better me.  But that is a generation later.

I realized a while ago that I didn't do justice to the story of Laban; I really need to start earlier, though.  When we first meet Laban, he's a nice enough fellow:
To tell Abraham right is another story, but Abraham tells his servant not to find a wife for his son Isaac from among the Canaanites.  A fascinating story in Genesis 24 in it's own right.  Laban doesn't want to send his sister, Rebekah, away too quickly with Abraham's servant -- who could blame him for that?

Then Rebekah gave birth to two sons: Esau and Jacob.  Their story is another whole chapter, but when Esau threatened to kill Jacob, his mom sent him to her brother's home.
Laban decides that his nephew shouldn't work for him for free, so he agrees to let Jacob marry his (younger) daughter, then tricks him into double the seven years, because he married Laban's older daughter -- the trickery and conniving by this family is something to behold.  And it makes me think that "he grasps the heel" did not start merely at birth.  Jacob's name could also be translated "he cheats," which, of course, fits his life perfectly, but so also his mom, and also his uncle.
But this post isn't primarily about Jacob, the focus for now is Laban.  I'm sure somewhere he learned the cheating skills, too, but at the end of the story, he is finally cheated (by his own daughter), and ultimately he and Jacob part in peace, with a covenant between them.

... and that's where this story ran out (a few months ago).

Next I'll write something else, new.