Jacob

===Marriages===
[[File:Rachel WilliamDyce.jpg|thumb|left|''Rachel and Jacob'' by [[William Dyce]]]]
Arriving in Haran, Jacob saw a well where shepherds were gathering their flocks to water them and met [[Laban (Bible)|Laban]]'s younger daughter, [[Rachel]], Jacob's [[cousin|first cousin]]; she was working as a shepherdess. Jacob was 77 years old,<ref name="Craig Olson p.13">Craig Olson, "How Old was Father Abraham? Re-examining the Patriarchal Lifespans in Light of Archaeology", p.13</ref> and he loved Rachel immediately. After spending a month with his relatives he asked for her hand in marriage in return for working seven years for Laban [[Aramean|the Aramean]]. Laban agreed to the arrangement. These seven years seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he had for her." When they were complete and he was 84 years old<ref name="Craig Olson p.13"/> he asked for his wife, but Laban deceived him by switching Rachel for her older sister, [[Leah]], as the veiled bride. In the morning, when the truth became known, Laban justified his action, saying that in his country it was unheard of to give a younger daughter before the older. However, he agreed to give Rachel in marriage as well if Jacob would work another seven years. After the week of wedding celebrations with Leah, Jacob married Rachel, and he continued to work for Laban for another seven years.

Jacob, having been celibate until the age of 84, fathered twelve children in the next seven years.<ref name="Craig Olson p.13"/> He loved Rachel more than Leah, and Leah felt hated. God opened Leah's womb and she gave birth to four sons rapidly: [[Reuben (son of Jacob)|Reuben]], [[Simeon (son of Jacob)|Simeon]], [[Levi]], and [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]]. Rachel, however, remained barren. Following the example of Sarah, who gave her handmaid to [[Abraham]] after years of infertility, Rachel gave her handmaid [[Bilhah]] to Jacob so that Rachel could raise children through her. Bilhah gave birth to [[Dan (son of Jacob)|Dan]] and [[Naphtali]]. Seeing that she had left off childbearing temporarily, Leah then gave her handmaid [[Zilpah]] to Jacob so that Leah could raise more children through her. Zilpah gave birth to [[Gad (son of Jacob)|Gad]] and [[Asher]]. Afterwards, Leah became fertile again and gave birth to [[Issachar]], [[Zebulun]], and [[Dinah]], Jacob's first and only daughter. God remembered Rachel, who gave birth to [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|Joseph]] and [[Benjamin]].

After Joseph was born, Jacob decided to return home to his parents. Laban [[Arameans|the Aramean]] was reluctant to release him, as God had blessed his flock on account of Jacob. Laban asked what he could pay Jacob. Jacob suggested that all the spotted, speckled, and brown goats and sheep of Laban's flock, at any given moment, would be his wages. Jacob placed rods of poplar, hazel, and chestnut, all of which he peeled "white streaks upon them,"<ref>Genesis 30:37</ref> within the flocks' watering holes or troughs, associating the stripes of the rods with the growth of stripes on the livestock.<ref>Genesis 30:39</ref> Despite this practicing of magic, later on Jacob says to his wives that it was God who made the livestock give birth to the convenient offspring, in order to turn the tide against the deceptive Laban.<ref>Genesis 31:7-9</ref> As time passed, Laban's sons noticed that Jacob was taking the better part of their flocks, and so Laban's friendly attitude towards Jacob began to change. The [[angel of the Lord]], in a dream back during the breeding season, told Jacob "Now lift your eyes and see [that] all the he goats mounting the animals are ringed, speckled, and striped, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you",<ref>Genesis 31:12</ref> that he is the God whom Jacob met at Bethel,<ref name="Genesis 31:13">Genesis 31:13</ref> and that Jacob should leave and go back to the land where he was born,<ref name="Genesis 31:13"/> which he and his wives and children did without informing Laban. Before they left, Rachel stole the ''[[teraphim]],'' considered to be household [[cult image|idols]], from Laban's house.

Laban pursued Jacob for seven days. The night before he caught up to him, God appeared to Laban in a dream and warned him not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. When the two met, Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?"<ref>Genesis 31:26</ref> He also asked for his stolen ''teraphim'' back. Knowing nothing about Rachel's theft, Jacob told Laban that whoever stole them should die and stood aside to let him search. When Laban reached Rachel's tent, she hid the ''teraphim'' by sitting on them and stating she could not get up because she was [[menstruation|menstruating]]. Jacob and Laban then parted from each other with a pact to preserve the peace between them near [[Gilead]]. Laban returned to his home and Jacob continued on his way.