"Fulfill the week"
When the marriage deception is uncovered, Laban tells Jacob to "fulfill her (Leah's) week". What does this mean?
The week being referred to is the week long wedding celebration and feast. In Laban's proposal, Jacob is to celebrate with Leah for the full week of the feast, as a loving husband should, pretending that everything is according to plan. Then, once the week of celebration is over, Rachel will also be given to him as his second bride. In Laban's view, he has made a fantastic deal - he gets 14 years of hard labor from his son-in-law and both his daughters are married to someone he approves of (a kinsman). Jacob becomes a husband twice over in the span of one week, and will have to deal with the results of the deception for a lifetime.
Created 5 months ago
