Genesis 29:26
in Genesis 29Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to give the younger before the first-born.
KJV
And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
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This verse in Genesis 29
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIt must not be so done in our country - It was an early custom to give daughters in marriage according to their seniority; and it is worthy of remark that the oldest people now existing, next to the Jews, I mean the Hindoos, have this not merely as a custom, but as a positive law; and they deem it criminal to give a younger daughter in marriage while an elder daughter remains unmarried.
This site's exposition
What have you done to me
on Genesis 29:25-26
Jacob's protest, What have you done to me, is the rebuke Pharaoh gave Abraham at 12:18 and Abimelech gave Isaac at 26:10. Both times a king outside the family said it, and here a patriarch says it. Laban answers with a local custom, the older daughter married before the younger.
This site's exposition
It is not our custom here
Laban says it is not their custom to give the younger daughter before the older. Matthew Henry doubts any such custom existed and thinks Laban made it up to mock Jacob. Adam Clarke takes the custom as real.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
We have reason to think there was no such custom of his country as he pretends; only he banters Jacob with it, and laughs at his mistake. Note, Those that can do wickedly and then think to turn it off with a jest, though they may deceive themselves and others, will find at last that God is not mocked.
It must be so done in our country - We have reason to think there was no such custom in his country; but if there was, and that he resolved to observe it, he should have told Jacob so, when he undertook to serve him for his younger daughter.
And Laban said, it must not be so done in, our country,....
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָבָ֔ן | lavan | Laban | H3837 → | 55 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵעָשֶׂ֥ה | yeaseh | it is done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כֵ֖ן | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| בִּמְקוֹמֵ֑נוּ | bimkomenu | in place our | H4725 → | 401 times |
| לָתֵ֥ת | latet | to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| הַצְּעִירָ֖ה | hatzeirah | the young | H6810 → | 23 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַבְּכִירָֽה׃ | habekhirah | the firstborn | H1067 → | 6 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לָבָ֔ןLaban
lavanH3837 →55 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵעָשֶׂ֥הit is done
yeasehH6213 →2628 times
כֵ֖ןthus
khenH3651 →771 times
בִּמְקוֹמֵ֑נוּin place our
bimkomenuH4725 →401 times
לָתֵ֥תto give
latetH5414 →2011 times
הַצְּעִירָ֖הthe young
hatzeirahH6810 →23 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
הַבְּכִירָֽה׃the firstborn
habekhirahH1067 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.