Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LABAN

(Heb. lāḇān)

(PERSON)

An inhabitant of the city of Nahor, in the area of Haran. Haran and the surrounding region belonged to the district called Paddan-aram; thus, Laban is called “the Aramean” (Gen. 25:20; 28:5; 31:20, 24). First introduced as the brother of Rebekah (Gen. 24:29), Laban was also the grandson of Nahor (son of Bethuel and nephew of Abraham) and father of Leah and Rachel.

Laban plays a prominent role in the Gen. 24 account. It is he who offers hospitality to Abraham’s servant; however, the text implies that Laban’s actions were motivated by self-interest and greed. It is also Laban who decides to allow Rebekah to depart to Canaan to be Isaac’s wife. Numerous ancient Near Eastern texts illustrate that in a patriarchal society the brother had important duties and powers regarding his sisters.

Laban again appears in association with Jacob. Fleeing from Esau, Jacob goes to his uncle Laban’s house in Haran. After receiving Jacob into the family, Laban agrees to give his daughter Rachel to Jacob in return for seven years of service. When the time comes for Jacob to receive his bride, Laban deceitfully gives Leah in place of Rachel. Only after Jacob has agreed to an additional seven years of service is Rachel given to him to be his wife (Gen. 29:28-30).

After Jacob and his family have quietly left Haran, Laban pursues them, catching up with them in the hill country of Gilead (Gen. 31). After mutual protestations and incriminations, Laban and Jacob enter into a covenant and erect a stone structure, a kind of dividing line. Laban gives the heap an Aramaic name (Yĕgar-śahăḏûṯāʾ), while Jacob calls it by its Hebrew equivalent, Galʿēḏ (Gen. 31:47), both meaning “heap of witness.” This covenant probably represents at its earliest level an agreement between the Israelites and the Arameans concerning the borderland separating them.

Bibliography. C. Mabee, “Jacob and Laban: The Structure of Judicial Proceedings (Gen. 31:25-42),” VT 30 (1980): 192-207.

John L. Harris

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LABAN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)