When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any babies, she envied Leah. Rachel even told Jacob to give her children or else she would die. Jacob got angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” This goes to show that even the “most in love” couples can experience some marital discord. Rachel gives her maid, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife so that she can have children by her. This is similar to Sarai (Sarah) giving Hagar to Abram (Abraham) in Genesis 16. We know that situation didn’t end well. Bilhah conceived and had a son. Rachel said, “God has judged my case and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Rachel named him Dan (Jacob and Bilhah’s son). Bilhah conceived a second time and had another son. This time Rachel said, With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and indeed I have prevailed.” She named him Naphtali (Jacob and Bilhah’s second son). Rachel’s jealousy of her sister seems to have truly “clouded” her judgment.

Leah saw that she stopped having children, so she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. So, now Leah has done the same thing as her sister by giving her maid servant to Jacob. These poor maid servants are now caught up in this rivalry between Leah and Rachel. Zilpah has a son and Leah said, “A troop comes!” Leah named him Gad (Jacob and Zilpah’s son). I mainly use quotes from the New King James Version of the Bible and when I saw what Leah said, I said to myself, “What does that even mean?” So, I did my usual and googled. Some other translations stated that she was basically saying how fortunate she was or that the birth of this son was good luck. How did Leah go from praising God when her fourth son, Judah, was born to attributing the birth of Gad to being lucky? This is evidence as to how envy can twist a person’s mindset. Have you ever accredited a blessing from God as luck? If so, not good! Zilpah had a second son with Jacob and Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” She named him Asher (Jacob and Zilpah’s second son). Rather than thinking about praising God, Leah is now naming sons based on thinking about herself. Have you ever turned your thinking away from praising God to it being all about you and what you want? If so, again, not good!

Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son (with Leah), went out during the wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field and gave them to his mother. From googling, of course, I found that a mandrake is a plant that is linked to fertility. Rachel told Leah to give her some of the mandrakes Reuben found. More googling suggests that Reuben was a small child (about 5 years old) when he found the mandrakes. If this is true, then all of these sons were very close in age. Leah said to Rachel, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel tells Leah that Jacob can be with her that night in exchange for the mandrakes. Rachel just pimped Jacob for mandrakes. Wow! When Jacob came out of the field that evening, Leah met him and told him that she hired him with her son’s (really their son) mandrakes. Jacob was with Leah that night. This is really a man’s world for Jacob. He doesn’t seem to have a problem going from wife to wife to wife to wife (there are four of them). God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave Jacob a fifth son. Leah must have prayed to conceive since God listened to her. Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” She named this son Issachar, which means “there is hire” – Google, of course. In reading various translations, Leah is also suggesting that God rewarded her for giving her maid to Jacob as a wife. The way these sisters are thinking is mind boggling. Leah got pregnant again and had a sixth son. This time she said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment, now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” This son she named Zebulun. Based on this statement and the fact that Leah had to “hire” Jacob to spend the night with her, I’m guessing that Jacob mainly stayed with Rachel. After all, she is the one he really loved. Afterward, Leah had a daughter and named her, Dinah (finally, a girl is born).

We continue our journey in Genesis 30 (Part 2) next time.

To God Be The Glory!