Question:
It was Yaakov himself who suggested to Lavan that he work seven years for his daughter Rochel.
Is this based on anything because it seems like a strange deal.
Lavan seems to have used this to his advantage by tricking Yaakov into marrying both his daughters and therefore according to his own terms, being required to work an additional seven years for Lea as well.
However after Yosef was born and Yaakov wanted to leave, and Lavan said that Yaakov should name his price for all the work he did, seemingly it should have been dependent on whether or not Yaakov had completed his 14 year obligation towards Lavan.
Instead they were making a new deal about how much livestock Yaakov was entitled to.
Answer:
Hello,
Yosef was born at the end of the 14 years of Yaakov’s work for Lavan. As we see that he only discussed new work terms after Yosef was born, and we see in chap. 31-41, that he worked 14 years for Kleah and Rachel, and 6 years for the sheep.
Nevertheless, you are asking a good question, why did Yaakov agree to such a deal; to work 7 years just to marry his daughter? Chizkuni writes that the reasons he gave Lavan such a high price, was first of all, because she was a valuable girl, and worth the price, and secondly because she was a shepherd for Lavan, and Yaakov told him that he will do the shepherd’s work instead of her.
