Genesis 29:21

Give me my wife. It is an interesting comment on Laban that Jacob found it necessary to remind him of the expiration of the seven years. A great marriage feast, probably lasting an entire week (v. 27), was prepared, according to the usual custom. Laban’s deception of Jacob was possible because of the custom of veiling the bride and bringing her to the bridegroom “in the evening.” Although girls usually had little choice in the selection of their husbands, Leah’s consent was necessary to the success of this base proposal. She must herself have loved Jacob, to approve and cooperate in the plan to wrong both her sister and her future husband by marrying one who neither sought nor loved her.

Laban’s duplicity resulted in lifelong rivalry between the two sisters (see ch. 30:14–16).