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Laban

Portrait of Laban

Laban is Rebekah's brother and Jacob's uncle in Haran, who employed Jacob for twenty years through deception - substituting Leah for Rachel on the wedding night and repeatedly changing his wages, yet ultimately serving God's purpose by producing the twelve tribes. The Book of Jasher expands Laban's role as a cunning manipulator, detailing his schemes to retain Jacob's labor and his pursuit when Jacob finally departs. Jubilees frames the twenty-year sojourn as a period of testing that strengthens Jacob's character while producing the family through whom the covenant will continue. Laban's deceit mirrors the deception Jacob himself practiced on his father, creating a narrative of measure-for-measure justice that runs through the patriarchal stories. Within the broader narrative preserved across these three ancient texts, Laban occupies a distinctive position in the Patriarchs that connects to figures such as jacob, rachel, leah. The pseudepigraphal accounts provide details and perspectives absent from other ancient sources, offering readers a more complete portrait of this figure's significance within the cosmic drama of covenant, rebellion, and restoration that defines the Enochian worldview. These expanded narratives invite deeper reflection on the moral and spiritual dimensions of Laban's story as it relates to the overarching themes of divine sovereignty, human agency, and the consequences of choices made in the presence of heavenly realities.

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Biography

Occupation
Shepherd, Landowner
Era
Patriarchs
Nationality
Aramean
Patriarch Antagonist

Key Chapters

The Book of Jasher 30 When he Arrives at Mount Moriah, the Lord appears to Jacob and establishes His Covenant with him. Arriving at his Uncle's House he Engages to Serve Se... 7 min read The Book of Jasher 31 Jacob is Deceived and is given Leah in Place of Rachel, but is Given Rachel for Seven Years' more Service. Jacob serves Laban six years longer for Wag... 16 min read The Book of Jubilees 29 Jacob's Flight and Covenant with Laban 5 min read

Key Passages

Jacob arrives at Laban's house

The Book of Jasher 30:1-15

And Jacob went forth continuing his road to Haran, and he came as far as mount Moriah, and he tarried there all night ne...

A1nd Jacob went forth continuing his road to Haran, and he came as far as mount Moriah, and he tarried there all night near the city of Luz; and the Lord appeared there unto Jacob on that night, and he said unto him, I am the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac thy father; the land upon which thou liest I will give unto thee and thy seed.

2 And behold I am with thee and will keep thee wherever thou goest, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of Heaven, and I will cause all thine enemies to fall before thee; and when they shall make war with thee they shall not prevail over thee, and I will bring thee again unto this land with joy, with children, and with great riches. 3 And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he rejoiced greatly at the vision which he had seen; and he called the name of that place Bethel. 4 And Jacob rose up from that place quite rejoiced, and when he walked his feet felt light to him for joy, and he went from there to the land of the children of the East, and he returned to Haran and he set by the shepherd's well. 5 And he there found some men; going from Haran to feed their flocks, and Jacob made inquiries of them, and they said, We are from Haran. 6 And he said unto them, Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor? and they said, We know him, and behold his daughter Rachel is coming along to feed her father's flock. 7 Whilst he was yet speaking with them, Rachel the daughter of Laban came to feed her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 8 And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, he ran and kissed her, and lifted up his voice and wept. 9 And Jacob told Rachel that he was the son of Rebecca, her father's sister, and Rachel ran and told her father, and Jacob continued to cry because he had nothing with him to bring to the house of Laban. 10 And when Laban heard that his sister's son Jacob had come, he ran and kissed him and embraced him and brought him into the house and gave him bread, and he ate. 11 And Jacob related to Laban what his brother Esau had done to him, and what his son Eliphaz had done to him in the road. 12 And Jacob resided in Laban's house for one month, and Jacob ate and drank in the house of Laban, and afterward Laban said unto Jacob, Tell me what shall be thy wages, for how canst thou serve me for nought? 13 And Laban had no sons but only daughters, and his other wives and handmaids were still barren in those days; and these are the names of Laban's daughters which his wife Adinah had borne unto him; the name of the elder was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel; and Leah was tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well favored, and Jacob loved her. 14 And Jacob said unto Laban, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter; and Laban consented to this and Jacob served Laban seven years for his daughter Rachel. 15 And in the second year of Jacob's dwelling in Haran, that is in the seventy ninth year of the life of Jacob, in that year died Eber the son of Shem, he was four hundred and sixty-four years old at his death.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 30 →

Jacob deceived with Leah

The Book of Jasher 31:1-15

And in the seventh year, Jacob's service which he served Laban was completed, and Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife...

A1nd in the seventh year, Jacob's service which he served Laban was completed, and Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for the days of my service are fulfilled; and Laban did so, and Laban and Jacob assembled all the people of that place and they made a feast.

2 And in the evening Laban came to the house, and afterward Jacob came there with the people of the feast, and Laban extinguished all the lights that were there in the house. 3 And Jacob said unto Laban, Wherefore dost thou do this thing unto us? and Laban answered, Such is our custom to act in this land. 4 And afterward Laban took his daughter Leah, and he brought her to Jacob, and he came to her and Jacob did not know that she was Leah. 5 And Laban gave his daughter Leah his maid Zilpah for a handmaid. 6 And all the people at the feast knew what Laban had done to Jacob, but they did not tell the thing to Jacob. 7 And all the neighbors came that night to Jacob's house, and they ate and drank and rejoiced, and played before Leah upon timbrels, and with dances, and they responded before Jacob, Heleah, Heleah. 8 And Jacob heard their words but did not understand their meaning, but he thought such might be their custom in this land. 9 And the neighbors spoke these words before Jacob during the night, and all the lights that were in the house Laban had that night extinguished. 10 And in the morning, when daylight appeared, Jacob turned to his wife and he saw, and behold it was Leah that had been lying in his bosom, and Jacob said, Behold now I know what the neighbors said last night, Heleah, they said, and I knew it not. 11 And Jacob called unto Laban, and said unto him, What is this that thou didst unto me? Surely I served thee for Rachel, and why didst thou deceive me and didst give me Leah? 12 And Laban answered Jacob, saying, Not so is it done in our place to give the younger before the elder now therefore if thou desirest to take her sister likewise, take her unto thee for the service which thou wilt serve me for another seven years. 13 And Jacob did so, and he also took Rachel for a wife, and he served Laban seven years more, and Jacob also came to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and Laban gave her his maid Bilhah for a handmaid. 14 And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, the Lord opened her womb, and she conceived and bare Jacob four sons in those days. 15 And these are their names, Reuben Simeon, Levi, and Judah, and she afterward left bearing.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 31 →

Jacob flees from Laban

The Book of Jubilees 29:1-15

And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep; for they were distant from him a t...

A1nd it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep; for they were distant from him a three days' journey.

2 And Jacob saw that Laban was going to shear his sheep, and Jacob called Leah and Rachel, and spake kindly unto them that they should come with him to the land of Canaan. 3 For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even all that He had spoken unto him that he should return to his father's house, and they said: 'To every place whither thou goest we will go with thee.' 4 And Jacob blessed the God of Isaac his father, and the God of Abraham his father's father, and he arose and mounted his wives and his children, and took all his possessions and crossed the river, and came to the land of Gilead, and Jacob hid his intention from Laban and told him not. 5 And in the seventh year of the fourth week Jacob turned (his face) toward Gilead in the first month, on the twenty-first thereof. 2135 A.M. And Laban pursued after him and overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third month, on the thirteenth thereof. 6 And the Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for he appeared to him in a dream by night. And Laban spake to Jacob. 7 And on the fifteenth of those days Jacob made a feast for Laban, and for all who came with him, and Jacob sware to Laban that day, and Laban also to Jacob, that neither should cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil purpose. 8 And he made there a heap for a witness; wherefore the name of that place is called: 'The Heap of Witness,' after this heap. 9 But before they used to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rephaim; for it was the land of the Rephaim, and the Rephaim were born (there), giants whose height was ten, nine, eight down to seven cubits. 10 And their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon, and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, and Misur, and Beon. 11 And the Lord destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds; for they were very malignant, and the Amorites dwelt in their stead, wicked and sinful, and there is no people to-day which has wrought to the full all their sins, and they have no longer length of life on the earth. 12 And Jacob sent away Laban, and he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and Jacob returned to the land of Gilead. 13 And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth month, on the eleventh thereof. And on that day Esau, his brother, came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed from him unto the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents. 14 And in the first year of the fifth week in this jubilee 2136 A.M. he crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he pastured his sheep from the sea of the heap unto Bethshan, and unto Dothan and unto the forest of Akrabbim. 15 And he sent to his father Isaac of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and butter, and cheese, and some dates of the valley.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jubilees 29 →

Laban pursues Jacob

The Book of Jasher 31:40-55

And Rachel stole her father's images, and she took them and she concealed them upon the camel upon which she sat, and sh...

A40nd Rachel stole her father's images, and she took them and she concealed them upon the camel upon which she sat, and she went on.

41 And this is the manner of the images; in taking a man who is the first born and slaying him and taking the hair off his head, and taking salt and salting the head and anointing it in oil, then taking a small tablet of copper or a tablet of gold and writing the name upon it, and placing the tablet under his tongue, and taking the head with the tablet under the tongue and putting it in the house, and lighting up lights before it and bowing down to it. 42 And at the time when they bow down to it, it speaketh to them in all matters that they ask of it, through the power of the name which is written in it. 43 And some make them in the figures of men, of gold and silver, and go to them in times known to them, and the figures receive the influence of the stars, and tell them future things, and in this manner were the images which Rachel stole from her father. 44 And Rachel stole these images which were her father's, in order that Laban might not know through them where Jacob had gone. 45 And Laban came home and he asked concerning Jacob and his household, and he was not to be found, and Laban sought his images to know where Jacob had gone, and could not find them, and he went to some other images, and he inquired of them and they told him that Jacob had fled from him to his father's, to the land of Canaan. 46 And Laban then rose up and he took his brothers and all his servants, and he went forth and pursued Jacob, and he overtook him in mount Gilead. 47 And Laban said unto Jacob, What is this thou hast done to me to flee and deceive me, and lead my daughters and their children as captives taken by the sword? 48 And thou didst not suffer me to kiss them and send them away with joy, and thou didst steal my gods and didst go away. 49 And Jacob answered Laban, saying, Because I was afraid lest thou wouldst take thy daughters by force from me; and now with whomsoever thou findest thy gods he shall die. 50 And Laban searched for the images and he examined in all Jacob's tents and furniture, but could not find them. 51 And Laban said unto Jacob, We will make a covenant together and it shall be a testimony between me and thee; if thou shalt afflict my daughters, or shalt take other wives besides my daughters, even God shall be a witness between me and thee in this matter. 52 And they took stones and made a heap, and Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee, therefore he called the name thereof Gilead. 53 And Jacob and Laban offered sacrifice upon the mount, and they ate there by the heap, and they tarried in the mount all night, and Laban rose up early in the morning, and he wept with his daughters and he kissed them, and he returned unto his place. 54 And he hastened and sent off his son Beor, who was seventeen years old, with Abichorof the son of Uz, the son of Nahor, and with them were ten men. 55 And they hastened and went and passed on the road before Jacob, and they came by another road to the land of Seir.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jasher 31 →

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Characters

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Themes

Did You Know?

1

Laban substituted Leah for Rachel on the wedding night, forcing Jacob to work another seven years.

2

He changed Jacob wages ten times according to Jubilees, yet Jacob prospered each time through divine favor.

3

Rachel stole his household idols when fleeing, suggesting he still practiced the worship Jacob rejected.