According to the Hebrew Bible, Jacob worked seven years for Rachel before marrying her.
The account appears in Genesis. Jacob loved Rachel and agreed to serve her father, Laban, for seven years in exchange for marriage. The biblical narrative says the years seemed to him like only a few days because of his love for her.
At the wedding, however, Laban gave Jacob Leah, Rachel’s older sister, instead. Jacob then agreed to complete the bridal week with Leah and work another seven years for Rachel. The story therefore includes two separate seven-year periods connected with Jacob’s marriages.
This episode is sometimes remembered incorrectly as fourteen years before Rachel’s marriage. The first seven years were the agreed service before the wedding; the additional seven followed the unexpected marriage to Leah.