Taking A Wife

Post longam igitur servitutem, quam Jacob apud socerum suum pro uxoribus, velut mercede, sustinuit, praecepit ei Dominus ut reverteretur in patriam suam. Tunc, ignorante socero, eum uxoribus et comitatu properavit. Laban autem consecutus est eum in montem Galad cum furore, atque idola quae Rachel furata erat apud eum requisivit, nec reperit. Quid igitur sibi hoc ipsum figuraliter velit, inspiciendum est. Dum Laban superius aliam gerat personam, nunc tamen diaboli typum figurat. Laban quippe interpretatur dealbatio. Dealbatio autem diabolus non inconvenienter accipitur, qui cum sit ex merito tenebrosus, transfigurat se in angelum lucis. Huic servivit Jacob, id est, ex parte reproborum Judaicus populus, ex cujus carne incarnatus Dominus venit. Potest etiam per Laban mundus hic experimi, qui cum furore Jacob persequitur, quia electos quosque, qui Redemptoris nostri membra sunt, persequendo opprimere conatur. Hujus filiam, id est, seu mundi, seu diaboli, Jacob abstulit, cum sibi Christus Ecclesiam ex gentilitate conjunxit, quam et de domo partis abstrahit, quia ei per prophetam dicit 'Obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui' Quid vero in idolis, nisi avaritia designatur? Unde et per Paulum dicitur: Et avaritia, quae est idolorum servitus. Laban ergo veniens apud Jacob, idola non invenit, quia, ostensis mundi thesauris, diabolus in Redemptore nostro vestigia concupiscentiae terrenae non reperit. Sed quae Jacob non habuit, ea Rachel sedendo cooperuit. Per Rachel quippe, quae ovis dicitur, Ecclesia figuratur. Sedere autem est humilitatem poenitentiae appetere, sicut scriptum est: Surgite, postquam sederitis. Rachel ergo sedendo idola cooperuit, quia sancta Eccleisa Christum sequens, vitia terrenae concupiscentiae per humilitatem poenitetniae cooperuit. De hac coopertione vitiorum per Prophetam dicitur: Beati quorum remissa sunt iniquitates, et quorum tecta sunt peccata. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Quaestiones in Vetus Testamentum, Caput XXVI

Therefore after long service which Jacob undertook for his uncle for wives, as reward, the Lord commanded that he should return to his fatherland. Then, without the knowledge of his uncle, he hurried away with his wives and company. Laban however pursued him to mount Galaad in anger, and seeking the idols which Rachel hid, he did not find them. 1 What this means figuratively we must investigate. While Laban before bore another persona, now however he is a type of the devil. And the name of Laban is interpreted as whitewashing. And whitewashing is not inconveniently applied to the devil who though he is by his nature darkness may transform himself into an angel of light. Jacob served this one, that is, from a part of the reprobate Hebrew people the Lord came incarnate in the flesh. And by Laban the world is expressed, who with fury pursued Jacob, because those chosen, who are members of the Redeemer, he tried to suppress with persecution. His daughter, that is,a thing of the world, or of the devil, Jacob took away, as Christ joined himself to the Church drawn from the Gentiles, which he drew forth even from the house of her father, and concerning this it is said by the Prophet, 'Forget your people, and the house of your father.' 2 And what is signified by the idols but avarice? Whence by Paul it is said: 'And avarice which is the service of idols.' 3 Laban, then, coming to Jacob did not find the idols, because regarding the ostentatious wealth of the world, the devil does not in our Redeemer find trace of worldly desires. Yet that which Jacob did not have, Rachel sitting covered. And by Rachel, who is named sheep, the Church is signified. To sit is take to the humility of penance, as it is written, 'You rise after sitting.'  4 Rachel therefore sitting covers the idols, and the Church following Christ with the humility of penance covers the vices of worldly desires. Concerning which covering of faults the Prophet says, 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.' 5 Saint Isidore of Seville, Questions on the Old Testament, Chapter 26 1 Gen 29-31 2 Ps 44.11 3 Col 3.5 4 Ps 126.2 5 Ps 31.1