came to the land where dwelt Laban his mother's brother. Then, as the Bible goes on to tell us :

He looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, three flocks of sheep lying there by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. Now when all the flocks were gathered together, then they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in its place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is it well with him? And they said, It is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together; then we roll the stone from the well's mouth and water the sheep. While he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's nephew, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father. And it came to pass that when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house.

Jacob is represented to us as a man of mighty strength, and so in his eagerness to water the sheep of his cousin Rachel, he moved the huge stone by himself, which usually took the united strength of all the shepherds to move. When the stone was rolled off the mouth, they could lower their buckets into the well, and so give drink to the sheep.

§ 6. Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah, we are told, was 'blear-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.' Then the wish of Jacob's father was fulfilled, for he fell in love with his fair cousin Rachel. 'And Laban said unto Jacob, Because

LEAH AND RACHEL

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thou art my kinsman, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? Now Jacob loved Rachel; and he said unto Laban, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better I give her to thee, than that I should give her to a stranger: abide with me. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.'

Work that is done for love's sake seems short and seems sweet. Let us remember the beautiful words: 'The seven years seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had to her.'

Then at the end of the seven years, Laban practised a strange deceit upon Jacob. He told him that it was not the custom of his country to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. If, therefore, Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, he must marry Leah likewise. Moreover, he was to serve Laban yet another seven years. So Jacob was married both to Leah and Rachel, and he served Laban yet seven other years. In later times the Jews were strictly forbidden to marry two sisters.

We are a little surprised to find both Abraham and Isaac so anxious that their sons should not marry from the 'daughters of Canaan.' If the family of Terah served other gods, what was the difference between them and the Canaanites! Both were idolators. It would seem as if there were a double tradition on this matter. According to the first, all Abraham's family and kinsmen worshipped 'other gods': according to the other, at least his brother Nahor with their children did not. They worshipped the one true God, and therefore Abraham and Isaac desired that their sons should find wives from Nahor's family. For Nahor was the father of Bethuel, who was the father of Rebekah, and Rebekah was the sister of Laban, who was the father of Rachel.

§ 7. Jacob, we are told, remained with Laban many years, and he had many children. But at last the longing grew great within him to return to his own land, and to see his father and his mother again. So he set forth on his way, with Leah and Rachel and his children, and his servants, and his flocks, and his herds. But he remembered what he had done to Esau his brother, and he feared what Esau might now do to him. So he sent a message to him, and he bade the bearer of it speak very humbly, as if Esau were a great lord and Jacob were his servant. But things turned out far better than he expected, and better even than he deserved. This is what we are told.

D

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants and maidservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps; and he said, If Esau come to the one camp and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two camps. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

And he lodged there that night; and took of that which came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he too is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; and say ye, moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept

me.

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So went the present over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

The next morning

Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. Then Jacob passed on in front of both his camps, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And Esau lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. And Esau said, What meanest thou by all these droves which I met? And he said, To find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough; my brother, keep that thou hast unto thyself. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand. Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

So the two brothers were reconciled. Esau accepted Jacob's present to show that he forgave him. Then after this happy meeting, in which Esau behaved so generously, the two brothers once more separated. But we hear of them meeting and coming once more together, when Isaac their father died, 'old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.'

§ 8. Jacob dwelt also in the land of Canaan. And once more he had a vision, and he seemed to hear God speaking to him and saying, 'Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name.' And he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and the land which I promised unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it and to thy seed.'

It is not here said why the name Israel was given to Jacob, or what it means. In another chapter of the Bible, the change of name is told quite differently: it is there connected with a weird story, which you will read one day for yourselves. Jacob is in future sometimes called by his new name Israel, and sometimes by his old name Jacob.

Jacob had twelve sons, and these were their names: Reuben,

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin. The last two were the sons of Rachel. Of Jacob's eleventh son, Joseph, the Bible has a great deal to tell us. You will remember how I said that before the Jews settled down in Palestine as tillers of the soil and dwellers in cities, they lived for many years in the north-east corner of Egypt. It was through Joseph that their ancestors first came to and lived in Egypt. And in my next chapter you shall hear the stories that were told of Joseph, which are still preserved to us in the Bible.