Bible Person

Laban

Meaning: white; shining; gentle; brittle · Male · 46 cross references

Laban is the Aramean relative of Abraham's family who becomes a dominant figure in Jacob's years in Mesopotamia. He is father to Leah and Rachel, uncle and later father-in-law to Jacob, and a key participant in the long story of marriage, rivalry, labor, and deception in Genesis. First appears in Gen 24:29.1

AI summary: Laban matters because he gives shape to one of the Bible's great family narratives of return and reversal. The cross references present him as Rebekah's brother, the head of the household to which Jacob flees, and the man who repeatedly negotiates, delays, and manipulates for advantage. At the same time, his household becomes the setting in which Jacob's own history of deception is mirrored back on him. Taken together, the material presents Laban as a central family power in Genesis, important not because he advances covenant promise directly, but because the promise moves through and beyond his controlling presence.1

Central Figure

Laban

Meaning: white; shining; gentle; brittle

The son of Bethuel, who was the son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother.