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LABAN (Person)
Bethuel’s son (Gn 24:24, 29), brother of Rebekah (vv 15, 29), father of Leah and Rachel (29:16), and the uncle and father-in-law of Jacob. Laban’s forebears lived in Ur, but his father, Bethuel, was called the Aramean of Paddan-aram, and Laban also is referred to as the Aramean (KJB “Syrian,” 25:20; cf. 28:5). Their hometown was Haran, which was in Syria and which, like Ur, was a center of the worship of the moon god, Sin or Nannar.
When Isaac came of age, Abraham sent his servant Eliezer back to Haran to find a wife for Isaac. Laban greeted Eliezer hospitably and made provision for him and his camels (Gn 24:29-33, 54). Laban acted as the head of the house; he made the decision concerning Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac (vv 50-51), and it was to him and his mother that Eliezer made gifts of costly ornaments (v 53).
Laban figures largely in the narrative of his nephew Jacob in his quest for a wife. After the deception of Isaac by Rebekah and Jacob, Rebekah feared that Esau would kill Jacob, so she suggested that he flee to her brother, Laban (Gn 27:43); meanwhile, she persuaded Isaac that Jacob should go to Haran to find a wife from among their own people. When Jacob arrived in the area of Haran, he met Rachel, the younger daughter of Laban, and was warmly welcomed (29:13). Laban hired Jacob to tend his flocks, and it was agreed that after seven years of work Jacob would receive Rachel as his wages. At the end of that period Laban substituted Leah, his older daughter. Jacob protested, but the two men finally decided that Jacob should serve another seven years for Rachel.
Both Jacob and Laban were schemers and had serious disputes about wages. Jacob proposed that his wages should be a certain portion of the flocks. When this was accepted, the Lord blessed Jacob and his flocks, and Laban became angry. Jacob claimed that Laban had changed his wages ten times (Gn 31:7, 41).
Jacob fled from Haran. Laban pursued him because he was missing his household gods, whose possession made the holder heir to Laban’s estate. Rachel had taken them but adroitly concealed them from her father’s search.
Laban and Jacob parted after making a covenant of peace and erecting a pillar of stones to serve as a witness between them (Gn 31:46-50).
See also Jacob #1.