How could Jacob not know that he was having sex with Leah and not Rachel on the wedding night?

[TonyChanYT]

Genesis 29:

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24(Laban gaveb his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes:

Jacob had pretended to be his older brother, and now Leah pretended to be her younger sister. Laban and Leah deceived Jacob as Jacob and Rebekah had deceived Isaac. Perhaps Jacob’s eating and drinking at the feast had clouded his mind (Genesis 29:22). The darkness of his tent at night may have made it hard for him to see, too. [Note: Josephus, 1:19:6-7.] Furthermore, in that culture a bride customarily entered her husband’s presence veiled. [Note: S. R. Driver, Genesis, p. 271.] Von Rad wrote "heavily veiled," and Aalders "completely veiled." [Note: Von Rad, p. 291; Aalders, p. 115.] One year an Indian student of mine told me that his father did not see his mother’s face for three days after their wedding. It is still customary among some Indians for the bride to remain veiled even after the consummation of the marriage. [Note: See also J. A. Diamond, "The Deception of Jacob: A New Perspective on an Ancient Solution to the Problem," Vetus Testamentum 34:2 (April 1984):211-13.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible:

And it came to pass, that, in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah. The morning light discovered her, and her veil being off, her tender eyes showed who she was: it is much her voice had not betrayed her; but perhaps there might be a likeness of voice in her and her sister; or she might keep silence, and so not be discovered in that way.

If you think Jacob was having a confusing night, try this real-life story of a guy having sex with a man that he thought was a woman over and over again

 

[Lambano]

Wait a minute. Dr. Constable is suggesting that Jacob had too much wine at the wedding feast? Okay; I might buy that. I've known a few folks who ended up in bed with the wrong person after drinking few too many.

I'm not buying the bit about the veil. Having sex while wearing a veil? The best I can say about that is that it sounds kinda kinky to me.

But wouldn't Jacob recognize Rachel's and Leah's voices? Did Leah go through the act of lovemaking without saying a single word? Not one "I love you, Jacob" or even "A little to the left, please"?

 

[Deborah_]

The simplest explanation is that Leah was veiled for the ceremony and that Laban made sure that Jacob was very drunk (the "feast" is emphasised, and that part of the proceedings was probably just for the men). We don't know how much the bride was expected to speak during the marriage, and it's quite possible that she wouldn't have had to say anything.

 

[gordon7]

1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

2 Peter 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

 

[JohnDB]

First off....
Jacob was a BIG guy. Not average sized at all. (His "pillow" during the night of his stairway to Heaven vision tells us that)

Esau also was a big guy.

Rebecca and Leah were similarly sized, covered in Burkahs and veils. And then as earlier suggested full of food, wine, and exhausted after a long day of celebrations. Jacob also wasn't exactly as bright as his name would suggest.

 

[TonyChanYT]

Having sex while wearing a veil?

Constable did not say that.

 

[gordon7]

Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

2 Peter 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

Jude 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

 

[Lambano]

 

[gordon7]

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

1 Peter 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Jude 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

 

[VictoryinJesus]

Genesis 29:


Dr. Constable's Expository Notes:


Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible:


If you think Jacob was having a confusing night, try this real-life story of a guy having sex with a man that he thought was a woman over and over again

This about Jacob being made drunk, so he was deceived, about whom he is “made one flesh” with reminds me of…. Being made drunken, deceived, and not even knowing what you are joined to.

How can one become so drunk and deceived to where they don’t know who they are being intimate with? If it is sex…it is possible when one is drunk enough? What about when one is drunk enough where He said to be sober and watch …for the thief comes, be not deceived? Like who is in the bedroom is a scary thing! How could Jacob be made so drunk to be deceived to not even know, who he had sex with?
Luke 13:26-27 Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets. [27] But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.
^the reason for quoting this verse is because to me it speaks on the topic of they thought they had served (like Jacob) but sin had deceived them? Where like Jacob they maybe would ask…then in whose presence did we eat and drink? If not yours?


Scary is to think there is also a possibility of being made so drunk, deceived, that it’s unclear of who you’re being intimate with. Like the blind leading the blind. How do the blind leading the blind not know, they both fall in the ditch?

 

[Deborah_]

How can one become so drunk and deceived to where they don’t know who they are being intimate with? If it is sex…it is possible when one is drunk enough?

I used to work in a sexual health clinic. Yes, it's quite possible. We had lots of clients who had got so drunk that they had no memory of what they had done, let alone who they had done it with - but they couldn't be sure that they hadn't had sex, so they wanted check-ups.

 

[VictoryinJesus]

I used to work in a sexual health clinic. Yes, it's quite possible. We had lots of clients who had got so drunk that they had no memory of what they had done, let alone who they had done it with - but they couldn't be sure that they hadn't had sex, so they wanted check-ups.

Makes me think of the date rape drug also.

 

[Episkopos]

Genesis 29:


Dr. Constable's Expository Notes:


Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible:


If you think Jacob was having a confusing night, try this real-life story of a guy having sex with a man that he thought was a woman over and over again

Orthodox Judaism stipulates that marital relations take place in the dark. Even to this day. In that way we can understand why Jacob would not realize he had married Leah until the next day.

 

[TonyChanYT]

Orthodox Judaism stipulates that marital relations take place in the dark.

reference?

 

[Episkopos]

reference?

Talmud. We are talking about a Jewish tradition...based on the very passages you cited.

 

[TonyChanYT]

Talmud. We are talking about a Jewish tradition...based on the very passages you cited.

Thanks for the references. To save the effort of your readers, this is how to do referencing in a scholarly manner:

1. Give the source/citation.
2. Provide the URL link to the source if available.
3. Indent the quoted text.
4. Bold the relevant keywords that are important to the point that you are making.
5. Be concise and to the point.

I do this for others who read my posts. It is a standard high-school scholarship. If you practice this, I guarantee it will sharpen your analytical thinking. In any case, no one is required to do it here.

 

[gordon7]

How could being saved believing in Christ rising from the dead, have anything to do with looking back and not forwards to this:



Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.