Topical Encyclopedia
Laban is a significant figure in the Old Testament, primarily known for his interactions with Jacob, the patriarch. He is introduced in the Book of Genesis as the son of Bethuel and the brother of Rebekah, making him the uncle of Jacob. Laban's account is intertwined with themes of family, deception, and divine providence.
Family Background and Early LifeLaban is a member of the Aramean people, residing in Paddan-aram, a region in Mesopotamia. His father, Bethuel, is a descendant of Nahor, Abraham's brother, which places Laban within the extended family of the patriarchs. This connection becomes crucial when Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac, leading to Rebekah's marriage to Isaac and establishing a familial link between Laban and the Israelite lineage.
Laban and JacobLaban's most notable biblical narrative begins when Jacob flees to Laban's household to escape the wrath of his brother Esau. Jacob arrives in Paddan-aram and falls in love with Laban's younger daughter, Rachel. In
Genesis 29:18-20 , Jacob offers to serve Laban for seven years in exchange for Rachel's hand in marriage: "Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered, 'I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.' Laban replied, 'Better that I give her to you than to another man. Stay here with me.' So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her."
However, Laban deceives Jacob by substituting his elder daughter, Leah, on the wedding night. When Jacob confronts Laban, he justifies his actions by citing local custom: "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older" (
Genesis 29:26). Laban then agrees to give Rachel to Jacob in exchange for another seven years of service, highlighting his shrewd and opportunistic nature.
Laban's Wealth and God's BlessingDuring Jacob's extended stay, Laban's wealth increases significantly, attributed to God's blessing upon Jacob. Laban acknowledges this in
Genesis 30:27 : "But Laban replied, 'If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.'" Despite Laban's attempts to manipulate the terms of their agreement regarding the division of livestock, God ensures Jacob prospers, leading to tension between the two men.
The Departure and CovenantEventually, Jacob decides to return to Canaan with his family and possessions. He departs secretly, prompting Laban to pursue him. When they finally meet, Laban accuses Jacob of theft and deception, but God intervenes, warning Laban in a dream not to harm Jacob (
Genesis 31:24). The two men ultimately make a covenant at Mizpah, setting up a heap of stones as a witness to their agreement: "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other" (
Genesis 31:49).
Legacy and SignificanceLaban's interactions with Jacob reveal much about his character—cunning, self-serving, yet ultimately subject to God's sovereign will. His account serves as a backdrop to the unfolding narrative of God's covenant with the patriarchs, illustrating the complexities of family dynamics and the divine orchestration of events to fulfill His promises. Laban's legacy is thus intertwined with the broader themes of God's faithfulness and the unfolding plan of redemption through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
Labanwhite; shining; gentle; brittle
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Laban(white).
- Son of Bethuel, brother of Rebekah and father of Leah and Rachel. (B.C. about 1860-1740.) The elder branch of the family remained at Haran, Mesopotamia, when Abraham removed to the land of Canaan, and it is there that we first meet with Laban, as taking the leading part in the betrothal of his sister Rebekah to her cousin Isaac. (Genesis 24:10,29-60;27:43;29:5) The next time Laban appears in the sacred narrative it is as the host of his nephew Jacob at Haran. (Genesis 29:13,14) [JACOB] Jacob married Rachel and Leah, daughters of Laban, and remained with him 20 years, B.C. 1760-1740. But Laban's dishonest and overreaching practice toward his nephew shows from what source Jacob inherited his tendency to sharp dealing. Nothing is said of Laban after Jacob left him.
- One of the landmarks named in the obscure and disputed passage (1:1) The mention of Hezeroth has perhaps led to the only conjecture regarding Laban of which the writer is aware, namely, that it is identical withLIBNAH. (Numbers 33:20)
ATS Bible Dictionary
LabanA rich herdsman of Mesopotamia, son of Bethuel, and grandson of Mahor, Abraham's brother,Genesis 24:28-31. His character is shown in the gladness with which he gave his sister Rebekah in marriage to the only son of his rich uncle, Abraham,Genesis 24:30,50; and in his deceitful and exacting treatment of Jacob his nephew and son-inlaw, against which Jacob defended himself by cunning as well as fidelity. When the prosperity of the one family and the jealousy of the other rendered peace impossible, Jacob, at the command of God, secretly departed, to go to Canaan. Laban pursued him; but being warned by God to do him no harm, returned home after making a treaty of peace. He seems to have known and worshipped God,Genesis 24:50 30:27 31:53; but the "gods" or teraphim which Rachel stole from her father,Genesis 31:30,34, show that he was not without the taint of idolatry.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
White.
(1.) The son of Bethuel, who was the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother. He lived at Haran in Mesopotamia. His sister Rebekah was Isaac's wife (Genesis 24). Jacob, one of the sons of this marriage, fled to the house of Laban, whose daughters Leah and Rachel (ch. 29) he eventually married. (seeJACOB.)
(2.) A city in the Arabian desert in the route of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 1:1), probably identical with Libnah (Numbers 33:20).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
LABANla'-ban: The person named Laban, labhan; (Laban, possibly connected with the root meaning "to be white," from which in Hebrew the adjective meaning "white" has just this form) is first introduced to the reader of Genesis in the story of the wooing of Rebekah (Genesis 24). He belonged to that branch of the family of Terah that was derived from Abraham's brother Nahor and his niece Milcah. The genealogy of this branch is traced inGenesis 22:20-24; but, true to its purpose and the place it occupies in the book, this genealogy brings the family down to Rebekah, and there stops without mentioning Laban. Accordingly, when Rebekah is introduced in the narrative of Genesis 24, she is referred to (24:15, 24) in a way that recalls to the reader the genealogy already given; but when her brother Laban is introduced (24:29), he is related to his sister by the express announcement, "And Rebekah had brother, and his name was Laban." In this chapter he takes prominent part in the reception of Abraham's servant, and in the determination of his sister's future. That brothers had an effective voice in the marriage of their sisters is evident, not only from extra-Biblical sources, but from the Bible itself; see e.g.Songs 8:8. InGenesis 24, however, Laban is perhaps more prominent than even such custom can explain (compare 24:31, 50, 55), and we are led to see in him already the same forcefulness and egotism that are abundantly shown in the stories from his later life. The man's eager hospitality (verse 31), coming immediately after his mental inventory of the gifts bestowed by the visitor upon his sister (24:30), has usually, and justly, been regarded as a proof of the same greed that is his most conspicuous characteristic in the subsequent chapters.
The story of that later period in Laban's life is so interwoven with the career of Jacob that little need here be added to what is said of Laban in JACOB, III, 2 (which see). By the time of Jacob's arrival he is already a very old man, for over 90 years had elapsed since Rebekah's departure. Yet even at the end of Jacob's 20 years' residence with him he is represented as still energetic and active (Genesis 31:19, 23), not only ready for an emergency like the pursuit after Jacob, but personally superintending the management of his huge flocks.
His home is in Haran, "the city of Nahor," that is, the locality where Nahor and his family remained at the time when the rest of Terah's descendants emigrated to Canaan (Genesis 11:31;Genesis 12:5). Since Haran, and the region about it where his flocks fed, belonged to the district called Aram (see PADDAN-ARAM; MESOPOTAMIA), Laban is often called "the Aramean" (English Versions of the Bible, "the Syrian," from Septuagint 5 ho Suros); seeGenesis 25:20;Genesis 28:5;Genesis 31:20, 24. It is uncertain how far racial affinity may be read into this term, because the origin and mutual relationships of the various groups or strata of the Sere family are not yet clear. For Laban himself it suffices that he was a Semite, living within the region early occupied by those who spoke the Sere dialect that we call Aramaic. This dialect is represented in the narrative of Genesis as already differentiated from the dialect of Canaan that was Jacob's mother-tongue; for "the heap of witness," erected by uncle and nephew before they part (Genesis 31:47), is called by the one Jegar-saha-dutha and by the other Galeed-phrases which are equivalent in meaning, the former Aramaic, the latter Hebrew. (Ungnad, Hebrdische Grammatik, 1912, section 6 puts the date of the differentiation of Aramaic from "Amurritish" at "about 1500 B.C."; Skinner, "Genesis," ICC, argues thatGenesis 31:47 is a gloss, following Wellhausen, Dillmann, et al.)
The character of Laban is interesting to observe. On the one hand it shows a family likeness to the portraits of all his relations in the patriarchal group, preeminently, however, to his sister Rebekah, his daughter Rachel, and his nephew Jacob. The nearer related to Laban such figures are, the more conspicuously, as is fitting, do they exhibit Laban's mingled cunning, resourcefulness, greed and self-complacency. And, on the other hand, Laban's character is sui generis; the picture we get of him is too personal and complex to be denominated merely a "type." It is impossible to resolve this man Laban into a mythological personage-he is altogether human-or into a tribal representative (e.g. of "Syria" over against "Israel" equal Jacob) with any degree of satisfaction to the world of scholarship. Whether a character of reliable family tradition, or of popular story-telling, Laban is "a character"; and his intimate connection with the chief personage in Israel's national recollections makes it highly probable that he is no more and no less historical than Jacob himself (compare JACOB, VI).
J. Oscar Boyd
Strong's Hebrew
3837.Laban -- father-in-law of Jacob... 3836, 3837.
Laban. 3837a . father-in-law of Jacob. Transliteration:
Laban Phonetic Spelling: (law-bawn') Short Definition:
Laban.
Laban...3837a.Laban -- father-in-law of Jacob
... 3837, 3837a.Laban. 3837b . father-in-law of Jacob. Transliteration:Laban
Short Definition:Laban. Word Origin from laben Definition...
3837b.Laban -- a place in the Sinai desert
... 3837a, 3837b.Laban. 3837c . a place in the Sinai desert. Transliteration:
Laban Short Definition:Laban. Word Origin from laben...
3836.laban -- white
...laban. 3837 . white. Transliteration:laban Phonetic Spelling: (law-bawn') Short
Definition: white.... 49:12) laben {law-bane'}; fromlaban; white -- white....
3835.laban -- to be white
... 3834, 3835.laban. 3835a . to be white. Transliteration:laban Phonetic Spelling:
(law-ban') Short Definition: brick.... 3834, 3835.laban. 3835a ....
3835b.laban -- to make brick
... 3835a, 3835b.laban. 3836 . to make brick. Transliteration:laban Short Definition:
brick.... 3835a, 3835b.laban. 3836 . Strong's Numbers.
3026. Yegar Sahadutha -- "heap (of stones) of the testimony, " a...
Yegar Sahadutha. 3025, 3026. Yegar Sahadutha. 3027 . "heap (of stones) of the
testimony, " a memorial of Jacob andLaban. Transliteration: Yegar Sahadutha...
3843. lebenah -- brick, tile
... altar of brick, tile. Fromlaban; a brick (from the whiteness of the clay) -- (altar
of) brick, tile. see HEBREWlaban. 3842, 3843. lebenah. 3844 ....
3842. lebanah -- moon
... moon. Fromlaban; properly, (the) white, ie The moon -- moon. See also Lbana'. see
HEBREWlaban. see HEBREW Lbana'. 3841, 3842. lebanah. 3843 ....
3845. Libni -- two Levites
... Word Origin from laben Definition two Levites NASB Word Usage Libni (5). Libni.
Fromlaban; white; Libni, an Israelite -- Libni. see HEBREWlaban. 3844, 3845...
Library
Laban. SM
... 435Laban. SM. Psalm 137. (914) I love thy kingdom, Lord! The house of thine abode,
The church our blest Redeemer saved, With his own precious blood....
Laban. SM
... 425Laban. SM. Victory is on the Lord's Side. (765) Arise, ye saints, arise! The
Lord our Leader is: The foe before his banner flies, And victory is his....
Laban. SM
... 424Laban. SM. The Panoply of God. (761) Soldiers of Christ! arise, And put
your armor on," Strong, in the strength which God supplies...
Laban. SM
... 423Laban. SM. Watchfulness and Prayer. (763) My soul, be on thy guard, Ten thousand
foes arise: The hosts of sin are pressing hard To draw thee from the skies....
Laban had Two Daughters, Leah and Rachel; but Leah had Tender Eyes...
... The Sacred History Of Sulpitius Severus. Book I. Chapter IX.Laban had
two daughters, Leah and Rachel; but Leah had tender eyes?...
The Deceiver Deceived
... Jacob said to the men, "My friends, from where do you come?" They said, "We are
from Haran." Then he said to them, "Do you knowLaban the son of Nahor?" And...
Jacob, a Prince of God.
... So Isaac called Jacob, and, blessing him again, sent him away into Syria to the
house ofLaban, where Rebekah had lived, and where Abraham's servant went to...
"Altogether Absurd, and Out of Season," He Continues, "Is the...
... He ridicules, moreover, the acquisition of property made by Jacob while living with
Laban, not understanding to what these words refer: "And those which had no...
Meeting a Brother who had Been Wronged
... But he heardLaban's sons say, "Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from
that which was our father's he has gotten all this wealth." He also saw...
How Isaac Took Rebeka to Wife.
... "They," says she, "call me Rebeka; my father was Bethuel, but he is dead; andLaban
is my brother; and, together with my mother, takes care of all our family...
Thesaurus
Laban (52 Occurrences)... Jacob, one of the sons of this marriage, fled to the house of
Laban, whose daughters
Leah and Rachel (ch. 29) he eventually married. (see JACOB.).
...LABAN.
...Laban's (6 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version ConcordanceLaban's (6 Occurrences). Genesis 29:10 Then when
Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter ofLaban, his mother's...
Bethuel (10 Occurrences)
... be-thu'-el (bethu'el; "dweller in God"): A son of Nahor and Milcah, Abraham's nephew,
father ofLaban and Rebekah (Genesis 22:23; Genesis 24:15, 24, 47, 50; 25...
Rachel (42 Occurrences)
... Ewe, "the daughter", "the somewhat petulant, peevish, and self-willed though beautiful
younger daughter" ofLaban, and one of Jacob's wives (Genesis 29:6, 28)....
Galeed (2 Occurrences)
... Heap of witness, the name of the pile of stones erected by Jacob andLaban to Mark
the league of friendship into which they entered with each other (Genesis 31...
Answereth (144 Occurrences)
... Genesis 24:50 AndLaban answereth -- Bethuel also -- and they say, 'The thing hath
gone out from Jehovah; we are not able to speak unto thee bad or good; (YLT)....
Flocks (128 Occurrences)
... (BBE). Genesis 30:36 He set three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob
fed the rest ofLaban's flocks. (WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS NAS NIV)....
Flock (242 Occurrences)
... Genesis 29:10 It happened, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter ofLaban, his mother's
brother, and the sheep ofLaban, his mother's brother, that Jacob went near...
Kissed (26 Occurrences)
... Genesis 29:13 It happened, whenLaban heard the news of Jacob, his sister's son,
that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him...
Kisseth (14 Occurrences)
... Genesis 29:13 And it cometh to pass, whenLaban heareth the report of Jacob his
sister's son, that he runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and kisseth him...
Resources
Who was Laban in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Rachel in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Jacob in the Bible? | GotQuestions.orgBible Concordance •
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