The Book Of Jubilees Chapter 28

Laban gives Leah his elder daughter to Yacob as a wife

1 And he went on his journey, and came to the land of the east, to Laban, the brother of Rebecca, and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his daughter one week.

2 And in the first year of the third week [2122 A.M.] he said to him: 'Give me my wife, for whom I have served you seven years '; and Laban said to Yacob: 'I will give you your wife.'

3 And Laban made a feast, and took Leah his elder daughter, and gave (her) to Yacob as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his handmaid for an handmaid; and Yacob did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel.

4 And he went in unto her, and behold, she was Leah; and Yacob was angry with Laban, and said to him: 'Why have you dealt this way with me? Did not I serve you for Rachel and not for Leah? Why have you wronged me?

5 Take your daughter, and I will go; for you have done evil to me.' For Yacob loved Rachel more than Leah; for Leah's eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome; but Rachel had beautiful eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form.

6 And Laban said to Yacob: 'It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the elder.' And it is not right to do this; for thus it is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets, that no one should give his younger daughter before the elder; but the elder, one gives first and after her the younger -and the man who does so, they set down guilt against him in heaven, and none is righteous that does this thing, for this deed is evil before YAHWEH.

7 And command you the children of Yisrael that they do not this thing; let them neither take nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked.

8 And Laban said to Yacob: 'Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give you Rachel, that you may serve me another seven years, that you may pasture my sheep as you didst in the former week.' And on the day when the seven days of the feast of Leah had passed, Laban gave Rachel to Yacob, that he might serve him another seven years, and he gave to Rachel Bilhah, the sister of Zilpah, as a handmaid.

10 And he served yet other seven years for Rachel, for Leah had been given to him for nothing.

11 And YAHWEH opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bare Yacob a son, and he called his name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in the first year of the third week. [2122 A.M.]

12 But the womb of Rachel was closed, for YAHWEH saw that Leah was hated and Rachel loved.

13 And again Yacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Yacob a second son, and he called his name Simeon, on the twenty-first of the tenth month, and in the third year of this week. [2124 A.M.]

14 And again Yacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare him a third son, and he called his name Levi, in the new month of the first month in the sixth year of this week. [2127 A.M.]

15 And again Yacob went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a fourth son, and he called his name Yahudah, on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of the fourth week. [2129 A.M.]

16 And on account of all this Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to Yacob: 'Give me children'; and Yacob said: 'Have I withheld from you the fruits of your womb? Have I forsaken you?'

17 And when Rachel saw that Leah had borne four sons to Yacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Yahudah, she said to him: 'Go in unto Bilhah my handmaid, and she will conceive, and bear a son unto me.'

18 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife. And he went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a son, and he called his name Dan, on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth year of the third week. [2127 A.M.]

19 And Yacob went in again unto Bilhah a second time, and she conceived, and bare Yacob another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the fifth of the seventh month, in the second year of the fourth week. [2130 A.M.]

20 And when Leah saw that she had become sterile and did not bear, she envied Rachel, and she also gave her handmaid Zilpah to Yacob to wife, and she conceived, and bare a son, and Leah called his name Gad, on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of the fourth week. [2131 A.M.]

21 And he went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a second son, and Leah called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month, in the fifth year of the fourth week. [2133 A.M.]

22 And Yacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the fourth week,[2132 A.M.] and she gave him to a nurse.

23 And Yacob went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare two (children), a son and a daughter, and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name of the daughter Dinah, in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week. [2134 A.M.]

24 And YAHWEH was gracious to Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Yoseph, on the new month of the fourth month, in the sixth year in this fourth week. [2134 A.M.]

25 And in the days when Yoseph was born, Yacob said to Laban: 'Give me my wives and sons, and let me go to my father Yitschaq, and let me make me an house; for I have completed the years in which I have served you for your two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father.'

26 And Laban said to Yacob: 'Tarry with me for your wages, and pasture my flock for me again, and take your wages.'

27 And they agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the lambs and kids which were born black and spotted and white, (these) were to be his wages.

28 And all the sheep brought forth spotted and speckled and black, variously marked, and they brought forth again lambs like themselves, and all that were spotted were Yacob's and those which were not were Laban's.

29 And Yacob's possessions multiplied exceedingly, and he possessed oxen and sheep and asses and camels, and menservants and maid-servants.

30 And Laban and his sons envied Yacob, and Laban took back his sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.