(fl?19th-16th cent BCE)
Israelite herdsman, brother of Rebekah and father of Leah and Rachel. He was a breeder of sheep and goats. He gave his sister Rebekah in marriage to Isaac (Genesis 24). Later he consented to the marriage of his daughter Rachel to Jacob, but deceived Jacob by substituting her sister Leah; he finally gave Rachel to Jacob as a wife in exchange for a further seven years of labour (Genesis 29).
Dictionary of Jewish Biography. Dan Cohn-Sherbok.