very tendency, awaken repentance and lead to a penitent and humble
spirit.

When the daughters of Laban left the house of their father, either from
a latent superstition, or from a family cupidity, Rachel stole the
household gods of Laban and secreted them; and with an art worthy of the
daughter of Laban, she prevented her father from reclaiming them; thus
paving the way for the introduction of idolatry into the household of
Jacob. He had already introduced polygamy by his marriage with her, and,
to secure her, and thereby gratify her rivalry of her sister, he had
multiplied his wives, and brought upon himself still heavier sorrows and
trials. It was the beauty of Rachel which first captivated the eye, and
then enthralled the heart of Jacob; and the wisest of men, thus
ensnared, are still led into sin and folly. All the influences of Rachel
upon his heart and life seem to have been unhappy; and the narrative
shows that the strongest passion, gratified in defiance of prudence and
previously imposed obligation, can only lead to disappointment and
vexation. The two sisters both proved the love of the wife, in leaving
all at the command of the husband; and the God in whom Jacob still
trusted, guarded him against all the designs of Laban, averted the wrath
of his brother, and guided him to the land of Isaac. He had passed
Jordan with his staff and his scrip--he went out an outcast, and a
fugitive; he returned with the train of a chief, the retinue of an
Eastern prince; and his heart swelled with thanksgiving as he recounted
the mercy and remembered the faithfulness of Jehovah. His father was
still living--the nurse of Rebekah, who so long since had left the
family of Bethuel, came to close her eyes in the tents of the
grand-daughter of her former master; but the mother who had led her son
into sin, who had taught him to practise that deceit which had recoiled
upon himself, is not mentioned. She, doubtless, was laid by the side of