
Jacob’s life was always steeped in family drama and divine intervention. Years earlier, Jacob had fled his home after he deceived his father Isaac and incurred his brother Esau’s wrath (Gen 27:41-45). He sought refuge with his uncle Laban in Paddan-aram, where he married Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel (Gen 29:15-30).
Jacob’s relationship with Laban grew increasingly strained over the next two decades. Laban changed Jacob’s wages repeatedly and attempted to manipulate the flocks breeding to his own advantage (Gen 31:7-9). Despite these challenges, God blessed Jacob and multiplied his herds (Gen 30:43). Not only did Jacob feel cheated, but his wives felt that their father had cheated them as well. Now, Jacob heeds God’s call to return to the land of his fathers (Gen 31:3) and prepares to leave Laban’s household.
Bride Price and Prejudice: The sisters’ grievance
In Genesis 31:4, Jacob called a family meeting with his wives Leah and Rachel. He explained to them how their father, Laban, had repeatedly cheated him and now the God of his fathers had instructed him to return to his homeland. His wives, also feeling estranged from Laban, responded:
14 And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house? 15 Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? Not only has he sold us, but he has certainly squandered what was paid for us. 16 Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.” (Gen. 31:14-16 BEREAN)
Even Laban’s daughters could see their father’s dishonesty and greed. He had not provided for them in the manner that was customary. What did they expect their father to provide? John Walton explains:
“The bride price paid by the groom was often transferred to the bride as an indirect dowry. As such it became part of a financial reserve for her that served as an insurance policy of sorts. This claim of Leah and Rachel suggests that they had neither direct or indirect dowry (their share of the inheritance); therefore, no financial security would have been provided by staying in the region of their family. The value of Jacob’s 14 years of labor had apparently never been assigned to their present or future holdings. Laban alone profited from Jacob’s labor, meaning that he had, in effect, simply sold his daughters.”1
Rachel stole the household gods
As the family was running away, Rachel did a curious thing: “Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols” (Gen. 31:19 BEREAN). Why would she do this? Was she an idol worshipper? The Bible doesn’t explicitly say whether Rachel worshiped idols or not, but why else would she have taken them? There may indeed have been another reason which was directly related to her grievance against her father. Walton provides us with an interesting clue:
“Household gods (teraphim) were images that represented deceased ancestors in order to venerate them. There are a variety of opinions about the teraphim, and there probably were various practices with regard to whether these ancestors were worshiped or considered to even have quasi-divine status. Minimally, ancestor images provided a focus for rites related to the care of the dead and also were at times used in divination.
In some of the archives from the mid-second millennium BC, legal documents allow us to see how the family gods figured in the inheritance. At Nuzi, several texts indicate that the principal heir received the family gods. In texts from Emar one document suggests that the household gods were not to be given to a man outside the family. In Ge 31, Rachel would have no right to this portion of the inheritance, nor would Jacob.
Laban is logically distressed over this breach of inheritance practices as well as concerned that the care of the ancestors will be jeopardized by the loss of the images. We can therefore conclude that Rachel’s interest in the terephim has more to do with the family and inheritance than with the issue of worshipping other gods.”2
Pilfered Pantheon: A daughter’s dowry dilemma
Based on Walton’s comments above, it seems more likely that Rachel took the idols because they were valuable family heirlooms, not necessarily for worshiping the ancestors they represented. Understanding the inheritance practices of the time suggests Rachel’s motive might have been securing her family’s future. Rachel might have taken the idols to ensure she received her share of the inheritance.
“Why did you steal my gods?”
In a few days, Laban caught up with the fleeing family and demanded to know why they had left so abruptly and why they had stolen his gods. Jacob had no idea his wife had taken the idols and allowed him to search the camp for the stolen gods.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of her camel, and was sitting on them. And Laban searched everything in the tent but found nothing. 35 Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols. (Gen. 31:33-35 BEREAN)
Why was Laban fooled so easily?
Laban seems to have given up a bit too easily. If these idols were so valuable to him, why did he not make Rachel get up so that he could search the saddlebag? Again, understanding the culture helps answer this question.
“In the ancient world menstruation was a mysterious thing. Blood was often connected to impurity, and since impurity was contagious, menstruating women were typically isolated, and there was some reluctance to touch them or even be near them. In some cultures, the monthly bleeding made one vulnerable to demonic attack – she was considered a woman under taboo. Any of these aspects of belief would have made Laban reticent to search Rachel’s tent too carefully.”3
The power of cultural context
These oddities in Genesis 31 underscore the critical importance of understanding the cultural context, habits, and customs of biblical peoples. Without this knowledge, we might misinterpret Rachel’s theft of the household gods as mere idolatry or fail to grasp the full weight of Laban’s actions towards his daughters and son-in-law. These insights not only breathe life into the narrative but also reveal the depth of meaning often hidden beneath the surface of Scripture.
Was Rachel an idolater? The Bible never explicitly says, but it’s possible, even likely, that her motives were more about inheritance than idolatry.
References
- NIV: Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016. 71.
- NIV: Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016. 72.
- NIV: Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016. 73.