A question from the comments-Who exactly is Laban??

We had a question come up in the comments from one of the posts. I wanted to take a few moments to encourage any and all questions at any time. The question comes from Genesis, we hear so much about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but what about the man Nahor that is mentioned. Here is the question below and then we will go over the answer:

 I know you are in Job right now while we are still in Genesis. My question comes from Genesis 31:52. Laban is making his covenant with Jacob, he mentions Abraham; which we hear a lot of, he also mentions his grandfather Nahor. Who is Nahor and do Laban's people believe in God?

Great question, let's take a look at the very few times that Nahor is mentioned. 

Genesis 11:26

²⁶ After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran

What we find out from this verse is that Abram, who later becomes Abraham is brothers with Nahor. 

Later on we hear more about Nahor's family, let's look at Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22:20-24

²⁰ Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. ²¹ The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. ²³ (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, ²⁴ Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The key verse here is verse 23, it says that Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Let's look at chapter 24 to see who Rebekah is. 

Chapter 24

A Wife for Isaac

Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. ² One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh. ³ Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. ⁴ Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”

 

⁹ So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions. ¹⁰ Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water.

 

¹⁵ Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. ¹⁶ Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. ¹⁷ Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.” 

29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to meet the man at the spring.

Ok, so if we have all of this straight, that means that Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah, who had a brother named Laban. So that would mean that Jacob made a covenant with his uncle, because Laban was his mom's brother. 

Now to the second part of your question, Do Laban's people believe in God? I am going to yes, just because of the way that Laban's mentions the covenant in Genesis 31:53

51 “See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us. 52 They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. 53 I call on the God of our ancestors—the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of my grandfather Nahor—to serve as a judge between us.” 

Since he recognizes God as the God of Jacob's grandfather and his grandfather, they must have similar beliefs, that is what would make them both respect the boundaries agreed upon.

Great question, I don't have anything to post for next week since we are still in the book of Job, so let's keep the questions coming!