Laban had not expected his challenge to be accepted, but he was too exhausted to go one more round against this upstart of a nephew. He was actually so exhausted he had to have two of his sons help him out of the bathhouse, and he did not appear at the feast that evening.
Jacob toyed with having some written record made of the agreement, but he thought better of it when he realized that there had been so many witnesses that this would be more binding than anything recorded in clay.
Euphoria carried Jacob through the afternoon. He had won and he had won in fair combat—no tricks, just his wits—and he felt good about it. He dressed carefully for the feast, realizing by that time Rachel would have heard the news and would be taking a long interested look at him. He also determined to somehow get a glimpse of the other daughter Laban was so willing to give him.
Before going to the celebration, Jacob called for one of the slaves he had brought with him from home. “Tomorrow,” he said, “you must leave for Beersheba. Tell my mother all that you have seen here and let her know that I have committed myself to work seven years for my uncle’s daughter.” The young man nodded and agreed that he would go as quickly as possible. He should be able to find a caravan with which to travel most of the way.
For the first time Jacob realized the full significance of the bargain he had made. He would not be able to go home for at least seven years. There could be many changes in that time. He could barely endure the thought that his mother and father would be older or that one of them might even have died. He determined to leave as soon as he had been given his bride. He would not let Laban trick him out of going home.
* * *
The festivities of the evening were held in the large courtyard and involved Laban’s whole family. His sons were there with their wives and children, along with some of the neighbors. As was the custom, the entertainment was provided by a village juggler, some dancers, and an old woman who sat in a corner with a large drum keeping time for the dancers and providing a background for several singers.
Before the evening was over, most of the women had stepped out into the circle of light and danced their village dance, and then the brothers had also done their traditional circle dance. Jacob, standing in the shadows, felt his heart quicken when it was Rachel’s turn. She stepped out into the circle of light, smiled, and then motioned to someone in the midst of a clump of women. “Leah,” she said, “we must do this one together.”
Jacob was immediately interested. This must be the sister Laban was willing to give for a lesser price. He saw that the girl hung back and Rachel had to reach out and pull her out into the lighted open space. The girl stood awkwardly, shielding her eyes from the light. She was obviously embarrassed by Rachel’s insistence.
“Leah,” the women urged, “don’t be shy. Dance with your sister.”
Rachel laughed and refused to let her sister go back to her place with the women. “Come,” she said, “give me your hand and we’ll show them how well Laban’s daughters can dance the shepherd’s dance.”
With a shrug of resignation, Leah let Rachel take her hand. The old woman beat out a lively, tantalizing rhythm while Rachel moved her feet slowly at first to catch the beat, and then whirled into the dance, pulling her sister along. Everyone began to clap and shout encouragement to Leah until she also began to enter into the spirit of the dance. It was obvious that she did not enjoy either the movement or the attention, but she went along almost as a shadow of her more animated sister.
Jacob felt sorry for Leah. She undoubtedly shone in other areas. He imagined she was a better cook and would be talented at weaving and basket making, but she had not the fire and spark of Rachel. Leah would make a good and competent wife and mother, but it was Rachel he loved.
* * *
There was no getting around the bargain he had made. Laban extracted the seven years from Jacob down to the very day. During that whole time, he had made certain that Jacob could only see or speak to Rachel when there were large family gatherings. He also managed to have the two sisters always together so Jacob almost never had a chance to speak to Rachel alone.
Jacob was quite resourceful and took advantage of every opportunity to leave flowers where Rachel would find them or give her a carefully constructed cage of reeds to house a small songbird. He anticipated her needs and was rewarded by her look of surprise and delight. At times she even noticed him and smiled. With such small morsels of joy, he was able to endure the seven years and actually felt it had been a small price to pay for such a prize.
At the same time it was Leah who grew to love Jacob with a hopeless devotion. She was always seeing that he had the choicest bits of meat, the freshest fruit, or the best of Laban’s wine. All of this went without any special notice from Jacob.