Genesis 29:1: “Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.”
Herders in ancient Mesopotamia did not have it easy. In an arid climate they were forced to roam large areas to feed their flocks and herds. And since their animals would feed off land that did not belong to them, sheepherders were considered thieves.
Laban was used to the look of contempt in the faces of strangers who passed them by. People called the likes of him “irresponsible members of society” and “vagabonds” – the mark of shame Laban had to bear all of his life – and so he swore to himself, he was going to be successful. He was going to show everybody what a despised sheepherder could achieve. Ever since he was a boy, he began to build the family business from the ground up, to the point that his mellow, easygoing father Bethuel stood in Laban’s shadow.
Bethuel had a heart for people down on their luck and took on many hired hands to get them out of poverty. However, Laban with his keen business sense decided to turn all of them into indentured slaves. Bethuel did not like it, but his son wouldn’t hear of it. “Dad”, he would say, “We depend on slaves to build our empires. Remember how the kings of the neighboring city-states would plunder our villages to acquire slaves?” Bethuel knew where this was going. “Do you mean to say that you are just like them?” Laban shook his head and said, “I’m no king but I am a self-made man. And thanks to the same gods who had given those kings victory over an inferior people, I too am going to make it in this world. You will see – I will own sheep, goats, and as many slaves as possible.”
Eventually, Bethuel passed away and Laban became solely responsible for the family business.
Slavery constituted a huge part of Mesopotamian civilization and women fell into the same category. Marriages were arranged and daughters were married to the highest bidder. Once a year in Laban’s village, young women of marriageable age were collected and presented on the public market place. All of them were sold by the end of the day. The richest would get the loveliest, while the commoners received the shorter end of the stick. Ambitious Laban paid a good price for his bride. He got himself a good woman who could work hard and look decent. The gods seemed to smile on him.
As a nomadic tribe, Laban’s household did not live near cities or visit places of worship. Their sacred space was an open-air shrine. Activities of great importance were always preceded by an offering to the Ashterah, the Mother Goddess. And the goddess gave them healthy children and notably two precious daughters: Leah and Rachel. Already Laban had begun secret negotiations with the most promising bidders to marry them off lucratively – for a good bride price of course – Laban was always on the hunt for the next bargain.
This was Laban’s life when his nephew Jacob arrived – hot, tired and penniless, his sole possession a donkey – at Paddam Aram of Mesopotamia.