What Does Genesis 29:25 Mean in the King James?
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?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The morning exposes a reversal: Jacob, who once used disguise to take a blessing, now discovers he has been deceived through a hidden substitution.
THE MEANING
The morning makes the hidden substitution visible: the woman beside Jacob is Leah, not Rachel. His question names the broken exchange, he has labored for Rachel, yet Leah is there. The verse holds the shock of recognition after the deception has already taken effect.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that cleverness or disguise keeps deception safely one-sided breaks here: Jacob’s earlier deception returns as the form in which he is deceived.
THE ROOT
רִמִּיתָנִי
rimmîtānî
GROWS FROM
ר־מ־ה
r-m-h
To deceive or deal treacherously
“beguiled” in this verse is rimmîtānî. The root links Laban’s act to Jacob’s earlier one: Genesis 27 calls the means of Jacob’s disguise mirmah, deceit, and here a verb from the same root names what Laban does to him. The Hebrew makes the reversal audible through one shared seed.
ALSO GROWS
mirmah: Deceit; treachery
מִרְמָה
Genesis 27:35 uses this word for the “subtilty” by which Jacob takes Isaac’s blessing.
remiyyah: Deceit; guile
רְמִיָּה
Psalm 32:2 uses this noun for guile, showing that the root can name concealed dealing as well as a single act of trickery.
עָבַדְתִּי
ʿāvadti
GROWS FROM
ע־ב־ד
ʿ-b-d
To work or serve
“serve” in this verse is ʿāvadti. Jacob’s verb shares a root with words for servant and labor: he describes concrete service rendered under an agreement. That makes the deceit a broken exchange, not merely a mismatch of desire.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: Servant
עֶבֶד
The shared root places Jacob’s “I served” within the language of service and servanthood.
ʿavodah: Labor; service
עֲבֹדָה
The same root names the work he renders, making the agreement an exchange of years of labor for Rachel.
THE PATTERN
The means used to conceal truth can return upon the deceiver, making the hidden action the deceiver’s own experience.
And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.THE THREAD
And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.Genesis names Jacob’s earlier disguise with מִרְמָה (mirmah, deceit), from the same root רמה (ramah) as “beguiled” here. One seed binds the blessing he takes through concealment to the concealment that greets him in the morning.
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