Are we [Rachel and Leah] not counted of him [Laban] as strangers? For he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also your money. (Gen 31:15)
Protestant apologist, James R. White, has written on this text, the following, in The Roman Catholic Controversy (1996) and The God Who Justifies (2001):
In Genesis 31:14-15, Rachel and Leah, Jacob's wives, speak of their father and the treatment they have received at his hand. They say, "Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house? Are we not reckoned (hasav [sic]) by him as foreigners?" Of course, Rachel and Leah were not foreigners, but they were reckoned as such by their father.
Such an analysis is, as with so many of White's works on other topics, flawed on many counts. Firstly, he fails to read the rest of verse 15. It reads, "Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us." Rachael and Leah are speaking of Laban who took payment from Jacob as a dowry to marry both his daughters. Therefore, Rachel and Leah realise that Laban had actually "sold" them to their husband, Jacob, and squandered all his wealth leaving nothing for them. It is because of his actions they view themselves as "strangers" (the Hebrew means "foreigners") in the eyes of their father--precisely because Laban was treating them as one would treat a foreigner who had no rights and was subsequently cheated out of money. For all intents and purposes, they were foreigners in Laban's eyes. He treated them the same as foreigners, upon which they determined to take back what they believe he stole from them. After taking Laban's possessions, they left with Jacob for another land (Gen 31:16-21).
A parallel can be drawn from other instances from life. For example, if a wife commits adultery and her husband labels her a "whore," it is not because she necessarily has sold her in the streets; the wife is a "whore" because she has acted, at least in one instance, as a whore would act--she engaged in illicit sexual intercourse with another man. Furthermore, she not only acted like a whore but has exhibited, to a certain degree, the intrinsic qualities of a whore. Similarly, Rachel and Leah were treated as "strangers" by their father because of the financial position in which he put them, where upon they disowned him and terminated their familial bonds. They considered themselves foreigners because of the reality of being treated as foreigners, not simply because Laban labelled them such.
In reality, the predominant meaning of the Hebrew term חשׁב (chashav) refers to a mental representation of the reality one is experiencing/commenting on, which is not the same as imputation, which is defined as seeing in someone something that is not there that is given to that person from an alien source. We can see this in the following examples in the Hebrew Bible:
When Judah saw her [Tamar], he thought (חשׁב) her to be an harlot, because she had covered her face. (Gen 38:15)
But as for you, ye thought (חשׁב) evil against me, but God meant (חשׁב) it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, so save much people alive. (Gen 50:20)
if any of the flesh of his sacrifice of well-being is eaten on the third day, it shall not be acceptable; it shall not count (חשׁב) for him who offered it. It is an offensive thing, and the person who eats it shall bear his guilt. (Lev 7:18 [1985 JPS Tanakh])
Then let him count (חשׁב) the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it, that he may return unto his possession. (Lev 25:27)
(I deal with the claim that Lev 17:3-4 and Deut 25:1 supports forensic justification here).
When one examines the various Hebrew Lexicons, one also finds out that this meaning of the Hebrew term חשׁב supports this view. For instance, here is the entry for חשׁב in Holladay's Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament:
חָשַׁב: qal: pf. חי, חָשַׁבְתָּה, חָשָֽׁבוּ, חֲשָׁבָהּ, חֲשַׁבְנֻהוּ; impf. יַחְשֹׁב, יַחֲשָׁב־, יַחְשְׁבוּ, יַחְשֹֽׁבוּ, יַחְשֹׁבוּן, וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ, יַחְשְׁבֵנִי, תַּחְשְׁבֻנִי 3. f. pl.; inf. לַחְשֹׁב; pt. חֹ(וֹ)שֵׁב: — 1. weave )« µœš¢b(; — 2. value, esteem s.thg Is 1317; — 3 consider, think s.one to be s.thg, take s.one for: a) w. acc. & l® Gn 3815; b) w. 2 acc. Is 534; c) w. acc. & k® consider as Jb 1911; — 4. reckon: a) µ¹šab ±¹wœn l® as guilt 2S 1920; b) µ¹šab l®‰ôbâ for good Gn 5020b; — 5. plan a) w. ±al against Gn 5020a; b) w. l® for Ps 418; c) µ¹šab r¹±at °îš s.one’s misfortune Zc 710; d) cogn. acc. maµš¹bôt 2S 1414; e) µ¹šab °¹wen Ez 112; — 6. w. l® & inf. intend 1S 1825; — 7. think out, invent: k®lê šîr Am 65, devise artistic designs Ex 314.
nif.: pf. נֶחְשַׁב, נֶחְשַׁבְתִּי, נֶחְשְׁבוּ, נֶחְשָֽׁבוּ; impf. יֵחָשֵׁב; pt. נֶחְשָׁב: — 1. be reckoned, accounted 1K 1021; w. °êt accounts will be settled with 2K 227; — 2. be considered as Dt 211; w. l® Gn 3115.
piel: pf. חִשַּׁב, חִשַּׁבְתִּי; impf. יְחַשֵּׁב, וָאֲחַשְּׁבָה, וַתְּחַשְּׁבֵהוּ; pt. מְחַשֵּׁב: — 1. calculate Lv 2527; w. °¢t settle accounts w. 2K 1216; w. l® put down to s.one’s account Lv 2552; — 2. consider Ps 776; — 3. plan, think out Pr 169; ra± + °el Ho 715; — 4. w. inf. nif. be near to, almost Jon 14.
hitp.: impf. יִתְחַשָּֽׁב: count onesf. among w. b® Nu 239. † )pg 119(
The interpretation of White is based on eisegesis, not any meaningful exegesis, of the biblical texts.
