And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

And he said to his father in law: What is it that thou didst mean to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived me?

And it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done to me? Have I not served thee for Rachel? Why then hast thou deceived me?

And it cometh to pass in the morning, that lo, it is Leah; and he saith unto Laban, 'What is this thou hast done to me? for Rachel have I not served with thee? and why hast thou deceived me?'

And in the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What have you done to me? was I not working for you so that I might have Rachel? why have you been false to me?

And he said to his father-in-law, "What is it that you intended to do? Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?"

Et fuit mane, et ecce erat Leah, et dixit ad Laban, Quid hoc fecisti mihi? numquid non pro Rachel servivi tibi? et utquid decepisti me?

And he said to Laban. Jacob rightly expostulates respecting the fraud practiced upon him. And the answer of Laban, though it is not without a pretext, yet forms no excuse for the fraud. It was not the custom to give the younger daughters in marriage before the elder: and injustice would have been done to the firstborn by disturbing this accustomed order. But he ought not, on that account, craftily to have betrothed Rachel to Jacob, and then to have substituted Leah in her place. He should rather have cautioned Jacob himself, in time, to turn his thoughts to Leah, or else to refrain from marriage with either of them. But we may learn from this, that wicked and deceitful men, when once they have turned aside from truth, make no end of transgressing: meanwhile, they always put forward some pretext for the purpose of freeing themselves from blame. He had before acted unjustly toward his nephew in demanding seven years' labor for his daughter; he had also unjustly set his daughter to sale, without dowry, for the sake of gain; but the most unworthy deed of all was perfidiously to deprive his nephew of his betrothed wife, to pervert the sacred laws of marriage, and to leave nothing safe or sound. Yet we see him pretending that he has an honorable defense for his conduct, because it was not the custom of the country to prefer the younger to the elder.

And it came to pass, that, in the morning, behold, it was Leah,.... The morning light discovered her, and her veil being off, her tender eyes showed who she was: it is much her voice had not betrayed her; but perhaps there might be a likeness of voice in her and her sister; or she might keep silence, and so not be discovered in that way; but to excuse her from sin is not easy, even the sin of adultery and incest. Manythings may be said indeed in her favour, as obedience to her father, and, being the eldest daughter, might be desirous of having an husband first, and especially of having the promised seed, which God promised to Abraham, and was to be in the line of Jacob: and it may be, as Schmidt observes, that Laban had persuaded her to believe, that the matrimonial contract he had made with Jacob was on her account, and that she was truly his spouse; and the same he might say to Rachel, which made her easy, or otherwise it is difficult to account for it that she should acquiesce in it; for it can hardly be thought to be done without her knowledge, when it was for the solemnity of her marriage that the men of the city were called together, and a feast made for them; for that she should deliver up to her sister the things or signs that Jacob had given her to carry on the fraud, as the Jewish writers (r) say, is beyond belief:
and he said to Laban; when he arose in the morning, and at first meeting with him:
what is this that thou hast done unto me? what a wicked thing is it? as it was, to put another woman to bed to him that was not his wife, and in the room of his lawful wife; or why hast thou done this to me? what reason was there for it? what have I done, that could induce thee to do me such an injury? for Jacob knew what he had done, of that he does not inquire, but of the reason of it, and expostulates with him about the crime, as it was a sin against God, and an injury to him:
did I not serve thee, for Rachel? even seven years, according to agreement? was not this the covenant I made with thee, that she should be my wife at the end of them?
wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? by giving Leah instead of her: though Laban is not to be justified in this action, yet here appears in Providence a righteous retaliation of Jacob; he beguiled his own father, pretending he was his brother Esau; and now his father-in-law beguiles him, giving him blear eyed Leah instead of beautiful Rachel.
(r) Targum Jonah. & Jarchi in loc.

But when Jacob complained to Laban the next morning of his deception, he pleaded the custom of the country: כּן יעשׂה לא, "it is not accustomed to be so in our place, to give the younger before the first-born." A perfectly worthless excuse; for if this had really been the custom in Haran as in ancient India and elsewhere, he ought to have told Jacob of it before. But to satisfy Jacob, he promised him that in a week he would give him the younger also, if he would serve him seven years longer for her.

Behold it was Leah - Jacob had cheated his own father when he pretended to be Esau, and now his father - in - law cheated him. Herein, how unrighteous soever Laban was, the Lord was righteous.