Reading Online Novel

The Sons of Isaac(81)



The reception room had obviously been opened just for this occasion. The cushions were of good quality but worn, and the room had a musty smell of spoiled fruit, rose water, and a mixture of dried thyme and basil. There was the constant buzzing of flies and from outside in the courtyard came the excited voices of women and the incessant crying of a baby.

From the moment he entered the courtyard and was ushered into this room, Jacob had been overwhelmed with the thought that this was where his mother had grown up. She would feel at home here and might recognize many of the relatives without difficulty. He was seeing everything through her eyes when he was nudged from his reverie by a question put very carefully by his uncle, “And you have come all this way with only a mule and two servants?”

“Yes, yes, I came away in quite a hurry.” As he said it he realized by the look on his uncle’s face that he suspected some dark, unsavory secret.

“And what was the cause of this hurry?”

Jacob hesitated only a moment and decided against telling him the whole truth. “My mother didn’t want me to marry strangers as my brother had done. She hoped I would find a bride among my relatives.”

Laban’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward and tugged at his short beard. “As I remember, there were ten camels loaded with gifts when your grandfather sent his servant here on the same mission. Has your family fallen on some bad luck? Is your father perhaps so poor he cannot send gifts?”

At first Jacob was taken aback by his uncle’s frankness and then amused as he remembered his mother’s description of her brother. “He’s terribly greedy,” she had said.

“No,” he said, running his hand a bit nervously around the tasseled edge of the cushion he sat on. “My father is very wealthy. I just left in a hurry.”

“And why such a hurry?” Laban asked, leaning forward. His eyes studied Jacob with a critical glint.

Jacob could see that he would have no peace until he admitted the whole seamy business of his conflict with Esau. “My brother and I are twins. He happened to be born a few minutes before I was and so claimed both the birthright and the blessing. Due to some amazing circumstances, I now have both the birthright and the blessing and my brother has threatened to kill me. My mother insisted I leave until he forgets the whole thing.”

“And your mother thought it would be a good idea for you to marry one of my daughters while you were here.” Laban smirked and leaned back among the cushions, giving Jacob even closer scrutiny.

“Yes, in fact that is exactly what she thought,” Jacob said, totally missing his uncle’s negative reaction.

“And …” said Laban, leaning forward with his face almost cruel in its deliberation, “what were you to use for a bridal price?”

Jacob fell back as though physically slapped. He struggled to find words to answer, but all he could say was that he was to receive the greater share of his father’s wealth at his death.

“Promises cannot buy my daughters. They are the beauties of this area, and I will not give them even to my sister’s son without proper recompense.”

No more was said on the subject, but as they rose to join the rest of Laban’s sons for the evening meal, Laban clutched Jacob’s arm. “I hope there’s no offense. You understand, I have only two daughters remaining to me. We’ll discuss this all later, after I have thought about it. In the meantime you may join my sons. It’s shearing time and we could use another hand.”

* * *

Jacob went out every day to work with Laban’s sons at shearing the sheep. It was long, hard work and they didn’t spare him; instead they chided him for being slow and awkward. He finally had to admit that he had very little experience in shearing sheep. At home he had been spared such arduous tasks.

At the end of the shearing, when the wool was bundled and ready for carding, there was a great feast. It was the custom in Haran for all of the men to go to the bathhouse for the day to wash away the grime caked on them from their week with the sheep. For the first time Jacob experienced the delight of Haran’s bathhouse. At home he had bathed in the stream, and only when they lived in the city of Gerar had he gone with the men of his family to the bathhouse. “We must rid ourselves of the stench of sweat and wool before we can enjoy the feast,” one of Laban’s sons explained.

Laban was also there, though he had not so much as ventured a visit to the shearing. He was lounging in the final room where it was clear he had just had a massage. He was drinking some of last year’s wine and eating grapes that lay on a woven mat in front of him. When he saw Jacob, he motioned for him to come and relax and ordered another jug of wine. It was obvious he had some business to discuss with him.