to fill or (intransitively) be full of · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
her
זֹ֑אתZot
H2063
this (often used adverb) · demonstrative particle
week
שְׁבֻ֣עַshe.Vu.a'
H7620
literally · noun, common masculine singular construct
give
וְנִתְּנָ֨הve.ni.te.Nah
H5414
to give · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
service
בַּעֲבֹדָה֙ba.'a.vo.Dah
H5656
work of any kind · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
serve
תַּעֲבֹ֣דta.'a.Vod
H5647
to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
seven
שֶֽׁבַעshe.va'-
H7651
seven (as the sacred full one) · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
other
אֲחֵרֽוֹת'a.che.Rot
H312
properly · adjective, feminine plural absolute
years
שָׁנִ֥יםsha.Nim
H8141
a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Leviticus 18:18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
Judges 14:12 And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and…
Genesis 2:2-3 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Genesis 8:10-12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
Judges 14:10 So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
Malachi 2:15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to yo…
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves throug…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 29:15-30
Here is, I. The fair contract made between Laban and Jacob, during the month that Jacob spent there as a guest, Gen 29:14. It seems he was not idle, nor did he spend his time in sport and pastime; but like a man of business, though he had no stock of his own, he applied himself to serve his uncle, as he had begun (Gen 29:10) when he watered his flock. Note, Wherever we are, it is good to be employing ourselves in some useful business, which will turn to a good account to ourselves or others. Laban, it seems, was so taken with Jacob's ingenuity and industry about his flocks that he was desirous he should continue with him, and very fairly reasons thus: "Because thou art my brother, shouldst t…
Jacob said, Give me my wife--At the expiry of the stipulated term the marriage festivities were held. But an infamous fraud was practised on Jacob, and on his showing a righteous indignation, the usage of the country was pleaded in excuse. No plea of kindred should ever be allowed to come in opposition to the claim of justice. But this is often overlooked by the selfish mind of man, and fashion or custom rules instead of the will of God. This was what Laban did, as he said, "It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born." But, then, if that were the prevailing custom of society at Haran, he should have apprized his nephew of it at an early period in an hono…
Fulfill her week - The marriage feast, it appears, lasted seven days; it would not therefore have been proper to break off the solemnities to which all the men of the place had been invited, Gen 29:22, and probably Laban wished to keep his fraud from the public eye; therefore he informs Jacob that if he will fulfill the marriage week for Leah, he will give him Rachel at the end of it, on condition of his serving seven other years. To this the necessity of the case caused Jacob to agree; and thus Laban had fourteen years' service instead of seven: for it is not likely that Jacob would have served even seven days for Leah, as his affection was wholly set on Rachel, the wife of his own choice.…
The Church Fathers
(Chapter 29, Verse 27) Complete therefore this week, and I will give you this also. After Jacob was deceived by Laban and took Rachel as his wife instead of Leah, it is said that Laban told him to fulfill seven days after the wedding of the first sister, and then he could have Rachel, for whom he would serve another seven years. Therefore, contrary to what some think, Rachel did not become Jacob's wife after another seven years, but after seven days from the wedding of the first wife. And afterward he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. (Gen. XXIX, 30).
WHEN DID JACOB MARRY RACHEL? — If little attention is paid to the account of this event it will be thought that Jacob, after marrying Leah, served another seven years for Rachel, and only then did he marry her. But the reality is not so, but Laban said to him, and fulfilled her sevens… and he worked for him seven other years . The words, fulfilled her sevens , refer to the celebration of the nuptials, which used to last seven days. The following is said: and fulfilled the sevens of marriage that correspond to her with whom you have married, and I will also give to the other for the service that you will lend me for another seven years. Then he continues: And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her sevens ; that is, the seven days of marriage with Leah, And Laban gave his daughter Raquel his wife. And Laban gave his slave Bala as a bondwoman to his daughter Rachel. And Jacob also joined Rachel, and loved Rachel more than Leah, and served her uncle another seven years . It appears clearly that, after marrying Rachel, he served her another seven years. It would have been too hard and too unfair that, in addition to deceiving Jacob, Laban would delay the delivery by another seven years and only then deliver to whom he should have given from the first place. That the wedding used to be celebrated for seven days is also demonstrated by the book of Judges, when he speaks of Samson, who celebrated a banquet for seven days (Cf. Judg. 14:10). And Scripture adds that such was the custom of young men. But Samson made this feast for his wedding. [
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Marriage — Was instituted in Paradise when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:18-24). Here we have its original charter, which was confirmed by our Lord, as the basis on which all regulations are to be framed (Matt.…
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Week — From the beginning, time was divided into weeks, each consisting of six days of working and one of rest (Gen. 2:2, 3; 7:10; 8:10, 12; 29:28). The references to this division of days becomes…
Betrothal · Of Jacob — Of Jacob
Contracts · First contract between Laban and Jacob for Laban’s daughter — First contract between Laban and Jacob for Laban’s daughter
Covetousness · In — In
Dishonesty · .Laban’s treatment of Jacob — .Laban’s treatment of Jacob
Jacob · Serves fourteen years for Leah and Rachel — Serves fourteen years for Leah and Rachel
Laban · Receives Jacob, and gives him his daughters in marriage — Receives Jacob, and gives him his daughters in marriage
Marriage · Jacob and his wives — Jacob and his wives
Fulfil her week,.... Not Rachel's week, or a week of years of servitude for her, but Leah's week, or the week of seven days of feasting for her marriage; for a marriage feast used to be kept seven days, according to the Jewish writers (t), and as it seems from Judges 14:17; and the Targum of Jerusalem fully expresses this sense,"fulfil the week of the days of the feast of Leah;''and to the same sense the Targum of Jonathan, Aben Ezra and Jarchi:
and we will give this also; meaning Rachel that stood by; and the sense is, that he and his wife, if he had any, or his friends about him, would give to Jacob Rachel also to be his wife, upon the following condition:
for the service which thou shal…
Fulfil her week. Laban now is become callous in wickedness, for he extorts other seven years from his nephew to allow him to marry his other daughter. If he had had ten more daughters, he would have been ready thus to dispose of them all: yea, of his own accord, he obtrudes his daughter as an object of merchandise, thinking nothing of the disgrace of this illicit sale, if only he may make it a source of gain. In this truly he grievously sins, that he not only involves his nephew in polygamy, but pollutes both him and his own daughters by incestuous nuptials. If by any means a wife is not loved by her husband, it is better to repudiate her than that she should be retained as a captive, and co…
"Fulfil her week;" i.e., let Leah's marriage-week pass over. The wedding feast generally lasted a week (cf. Jdg 14:12; Job 11:19). After this week had passed, he received Rachel also: two wives in eight days. To each of these Laban gave one maid-servant to wait upon her; less, therefore, than Bethuel gave to his daughter (Gen 24:61). - This bigamy of Jacob must not be judged directly by the Mosaic law, which prohibits marriage with two sisters at the same time (Lev 18:18), or set down as incest (Calvin, etc.), since there was no positive law on the point in existence then. At the same time, it is not to be justified on the ground, that the blessing of God made it the means of the fulfilment…
Like Isaac, Jacob was plied with food and wine (cp. 27:25), deprived of sight in the darkness (cp. 27:1), baffled by clothing (cp. 27:15), and misled by touch (cp. 27:23). The marriage had been consummated (29:23; see 2:24), so Jacob was bound to Leah. • It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn: Laban’s words are a reminder of what Jacob did when he, the younger son, pretended to be his older brother to gain the blessing (ch 27). Now Leah, the older sister, pretended to be the younger sister to get a husband. God gave the deceiver a dose of his own deception as a discipline in his life.
Rashi on Genesis 29:27
מלא שבע זאת FULFIL THE WEEK OF THIS ONE — The word is in the construct state for it is punctuated with Sheva, so that the meaning is “the seven days of this woman”, referring to the seven days of the marriage feast. Such is the statement in the Talmud Yerushalmi Moed Katan 1:7. It is impossible to say that it means an actual week, (i. e. a calendar week), so that it would mean “finish this week” in the sense “wait until this week be ended”) — for, if so, the ש should be punctuated with Patach (Rashi terms our Kametz a Patach) for the noun must be in the absolute state. Then, again, the word שָׁבֻעַ is masculine — as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:9) “Seven (שבעה) weeks shalt thou number unto…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
