Leah ~ Woman of the Week

Leah is always compared to her younger sister, Rachel.  Rachel is called beautiful and since Leah is not called beautiful, we often think of her as plain or ugly.  The Genesis Record says, "Since they were sisters, however, there must have been a considerable family resemblance between them, so that Leah could not have been too homely. The only specific weakness that is mentioned is that she was “tender-eyed.”"

There were different opinions on Leah being "tender eyed."  One said that her eyes were the only thing attractive about her.  I found it interesting that one commentary pointed out Leah being tender eyed meant she had soft blue eyes - thought a blemish.  I'm glad Les doesn't think that way!

Verses:  Genesis 29:16-35, Genesis 30:9-21, Genesis 31:4-18, Genesis 34:1, Genesis 49:31

Background – parents, husband, children, siblings
Leah's father was Laban, the brother of Rebekah.  She had at least one sister, Rachel.  She married Jacob and gave birth to six sons and one daughter.  She is in the lineage of Christ.
 
The Bible doesn't tell us how old Leah and Rachel were when Jacob came on the scene.  The Genesis Record said this about the agreement between Laban and Jacob that Jacob would work seven years for Rachel: 

Laban, therefore, immediately agreed to Jacob’s offer. Whether, at this time, he already was planning the later deception he practiced on Jacob (in giving him Leah instead of Rachel) we do not know; but it is quite possible. He may have been hoping Leah would also find a husband in the meantime.

Both of his daughters were apparently well beyond the age at which women usually married, and Laban may have become quite concerned about finding a husband for Leah, the older sister. According to Laban’s later explanation (verse 26), it was contrary to strong custom for the younger to wed before the older; and since Leah had been unable to find a husband, both she and Rachel had remained unmarried. Laban certainly should have explained this to Jacob at the time of his proposal, but he kept it to himself, not wishing to lose the opportunity to have Jacob work for him and to get him into the family.

What is she most known for? Victories? Defeats? How can I be like her? How can I avoid being like her?
No one ever likes to be second place, but that was certainly what happened to Leah.  She was not Jacob's wife by choice.   Speaking of their wedding night, The Genesis Record says:

It could not have been easy for Leah, either. Though she earnestly wanted a husband, and quite probably had harbored a secret love for Jacob, she knew that he really loved Rachel and that, as he made love to her on their wedding night, he was really in his own heart making love to Rachel. Scripture does not tell us what the feelings between the two sisters may have been; no doubt Leah was somewhat jealous of Rachel, but there is no reason to think she would have relished hurting her sister in such a way. She was, of course, being obedient to her father in going through with this deception, but she surely realized it was wrong and cruel. Unless she wanted Jacob so badly herself that all other considerations were forgotten, it may have been a very difficult night for her, too.

But God cared about Leah.  He saw her hurts and desires.  Genesis 29:31 says, "when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb"  As I mentioned last week, several commentaries said Jacob did not hate Leah, he just did not love her as much as he loved Rachel.  He obviously spent time with her, but his heart was not hers alone.  It appears that she gave birth to her first four sons very quickly, possibly in about four years time.

Genesis chapter 30 begins after Leah's four sons were born. Rachel is desperate for children and gives her maid to Jacob.  Verse 9 says, "When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife."  Seeing how things worked for Rachel, Leah also gave her maid to Jacob. Bilhah and Zilpah both had two sons.

Jacob now had eight sons!  An incident that I had not studied closely then occurs.  Rueben, possibly about seven years old at this time, comes from the field with mandrakes.  "The mandrake is a small orange-colored berrylike fruit, much esteemed in ancient times as an aphrodisiac and inducer of fertility." (The Genesis Record.)  The only time we read of an exchange between Rachel and Leah then takes place:

Genesis 30:14-15 "And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.  And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes."

It is interesting that it is Leah who says, "thou hast taken my husband."  Rachel was the chosen wife and waited seven years for her marriage to Jacob, but Leah considered Jacob hers.  It was never God's plan for there to be multiple wives and it was never a peaceful situation!  "How thoroughly henceforth the two wives were carried away by constant jealousy of the love and attachment of their husband, is evident from the affair of the love-apples." (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)  John Gill's Exposition of the Bible says:

Leah to Rachel, taking this opportunity to bring out a thing which had some time lain with uneasiness upon her mind: [is it] a small thing that thou hast taken away my husband? got the greatest share of his affections, and had most of his company; which last was very probably the case, and more so, since Leah had left off bearing; and this she could not well stomach, and therefore upon this trifling occasion outs with it: and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? which were poor things to be mentioned along with an husband; and besides, Rachel did not offer to take them away from the child without her leave, which she in very humble manner asked of her: and Rachel said, therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes;
which showed no great affection to her husband, and a slight of his company, to be willing to part with it for such a trifle; and it seems by this as if they took their turns to lie with Jacob, and this night being Rachel's turn, she agrees to give it to Leah for the sake of the mandrakes: or however, if she had engrossed him to herself very much of late, as seems by the words of Leah above, she was willing to give him up to her this night, on that consideration; which Leah agreed she should have, as appears by what follows.

After that incident Leah gives birth to two more sons and one daughter.  She was never the favored one, no matter how many children she had.  Even when Jacob and Esau were to meet, Jacob sent his family in groups - the handmaids and their children first, Leah and her children second, and Rachel and Joseph last. It is interesting, though, that Leah is the one buried in the cave of Machpelah with Jacob, Isaac and Rebekkah, and Abraham and Sarah.  I couldn't find any explanation as to why Rachel was not buried there, only that Leah was. 

Did she reach a place when she needed to reset?  If so, did she?  For good or evil?

I want to focus on how Leah named her sons and those of her handmaid here.  According to The Genesis Record "each of her sons was named by Leah in accordance with her feelings at the time. She acknowledged that her sons were given by the Lord in response to her prayers and her difficult position in the home. The fourth of her sons, Judah, was the only one whose name did not reflect her own personal situation, his name being a simple expression of praise to God. It is perhaps significant that this is the one through whom God intended one day to bring the Messiah into the world." Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible said, "It is remarkable that the wife of priority, but not of preference, is the mother of the seed in whom all nations are to be blessed."

Reuben ~ "Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me."  All of us want to be loved and Leah was no exception.  She knew Rachel had the majority of Jacob's love, but she kept hoping to one day receive some for herself.
Simeon ~ "Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also."  This name meant "Hearing" because God had heard Leah's prayers.
Levi ~ "Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons."  "Attachment" is the meaning of this name, Leah is still hopeful that Jacob will become attached to her.
Judah ~ "Now will I praise the LORD."  Leah stopped thinking of herself and her relationship with Jacob and simply praised God.

The sons of her maid, Zilpah:
Gad ~ "A troop cometh."  Gad's name means "Victory."  This was after Rachel's maid, Bilhah, had given birth to Naphtali, which means “Wrestlings.”
Asher ~ "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed."  "Leah did not think of God in connection with these two births. They were nothing more than the successful and welcome result of the means she had employed."  (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)  "She, who had been despised as unmarriageable for so long, now would be acknowledged as unusually blessed, even by those young women who once had made her the object of their sneering gossip." (The Genesis Record)
 
Issachar ~ "God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband." This is not such an unusual name when you realize that Issachar was born after the mandrakes incident.  Sadly, Leah had to "hire" her own husband.

Zebulun ~ "God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons."  "This was in testimony of God’s gracious gift to her, assuring her that her husband now would be willing to dwell with her." (The Genesis Record)  We don't have any evidence that this ever happened, only the Leah had faith that it would.

There is a final sad story in the life of Leah which I'll be writing about next week when I look at her daughter, Dinah.  Leah is only mentioned as her mother in verse one Genesis chapter 34, but I am sure she was devastated by what happened to Dinah and the destruction caused by two of her sons.