In this installment of Difficult Bible Stories, we are going to look at the life of a woman named Leah. We will also be looking at her sister Rachel. While we approach the Biblical text to first understand, as far as it is possible, the original context, we need to acknowledge present reality for those who suffer being unloved and childless. There are many people who are in loveless marriages and many who are unable to bear their own children. This can be as devastating today as it was during the time of these sisters. We can provide no promises of marriages being made new. But we can acknowledge that God can, if we are willing, make and remake marriages through healing and forgiveness. This is not always possible because both parties must be willing to work with the Lord for a better end. Nor can we provide promises for children being born, for that is entirely in the hands of God who we trust for our futures and for giving us peace and joy despite our human disappointments. So, with these things in mind let’s begin this difficult Bible study with doing our best to see God at work in the lives of broken people.
In Genesis 25:19-28:22, we read about the life of Jacob, whose deceitfulness separated him from his brother Esau. Because of the travesty of Jacob’s lies and stealing the blessing from his brother, he fled from his family and sought a new life in a different territory. Jacob had been growing in the knowledge of God and in relationship with him. Through specific encounters with God and being separated from his family and wholly dependent on God, he was becoming more of the man God wanted him to be. He was living under the same covenant promise that was given to his father and grandfather. But God had more refining to do in him for the covenant to be truly lived out. After having been sent away by his mother and father to find a wife from his tribe and to run in fear of his brother Esau, Jacob met with some situations that required some repentance. He not only had to continue to turn from his own manipulative ways, but also continue to learn God’s ways.
In Genesis 29:1-14 we can read how Jacob had found God’s path to his tribe in another region. And what a relief that was! Not only did he find people of his kin, but he also found a beautiful shepherdess. He was so invigorated by these finds that his joy fueled his strength to pull away a large stone that typically took several shepherds to move. He not only aided that beautiful shepherdess, Rachel, in watering her flock, but also aided other shepherds who gathered to water their flocks as well. Jacob was showing himself to be a capable provider. This led to a fast and deep connection to the family of Laban, father to Rachel and Leah, and brother of Jacob’s mother.
Let’s touch for a moment on the idea of the marrying of family members and multiple wives we find in the Biblical text. In the original call of God to Abraham, he was drawn out of a wholly pagan environment. It was common practice in many of those cultures to not only marry close relatives, but also to give servants as wives to the men of the family. It is much later in the development of God’s people that God gave laws in regards to such matters. (See Leviticus 18:18 and the rest of that chapter for examples of some of these laws.) And yet the taking of multiple wives continued for many centuries after that as well. While the Bible has no explicit command against taking more than one wife, all the situations wherein there is more than one wife and servants being used for childbearing are often couched in family strife, personal tragedy, spiritual rebellion and emotional suffering. Modern stories of surrogates demanding the child they bore to be their own spell out the tragedy that can come from these kinds of situations as well. What is explicit in the Bible ranges from God’s initial design for Adam being given one wife (Genesis 2:20b-24) and New Testament references to situations where one wife is implied or simply part of the common expectation of an ideal Christian family unit. If we can continue to see the Biblical stories as stories of God’s people growing into the image of God while in the fallen world, we can embrace the truth that God’s wisdom is for one man and one woman to be married and faithful to each other—whether or not they are able to produce children from that union.
When we re-enter the story of Leah and Rachel in, Genesis 29:16-30, we come to understand that Jacob had fallen deeply in love with Rachel. And oh, how Jacob loved Rachel! He was willing to commit to seven years of hard labor to gain her hand and then to commit to another seven years of that same hard labor to keep her. Here we see how God continued to shape Jacob into the right kind of man. He was becoming a man of his word with wisdom that showed his movement away from selfishness and manipulation.
But let’s take a closer look at the two sisters. Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had [weak/delicate] eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. In this 17th verse of Genesis 29, we come across a textual difficulty that has many interpretations. Depending on the version of the text that you read, Leah is described as having weak or delicate eyes. The original word for weakness has many possible interpretations: fragility, vulnerability, tenderness, delicate, dull, or without luster. The New Revised Standard Version states that Leah’s “eyes were lovely.” It is intriguing to read across commentaries to find a huge leap to the unloveliness of Leah’s physical appearance! Some have even called her ugly. This is a tragic reading into the text and bends the mind toward something that may not have been true. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament directs us in a more positive reading by stating that “Leah’s positive features paled in comparison to Rachel’s loveliness.”[1]
The writer has now set the stage for a deep and abiding conflict between the sisters.
Read Genesis 29:16-30.
Does your heart ache for Leah? It is difficult to understand all the cultural and familial machinations at play. Laban used the custom of the day to deceive Jacob – he must give his first daughter before he can give the second. The NIV Study Bible states: “If Jacob had said, ‘Rachel’ [instead of just ‘my wife’], Laban would have had no excuse for giving him Leah.”[2] We do know that wedding festivities would typically go on for seven days and that often brides were veiled throughout the time. So, Jacob’s situation was none of his fault. Leah was used by her father to play a trick and then, on top of that, it was clear that she was unloved by her husband. Understanding also that many daughters in that day had few choices and rights, Leah became complicit in the deception.
Oh, the tragedy of Leah’s life to have lived daily with watching their husband dote on her sister! While there is no indication in the text that Jacob ignored or abused his first wife, Leah’s own words and prayers throughout the rest of this difficult Bible story tell us the deep sorrow she lived with. First born, second best.
Read Genesis 29:31-35.
“When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved . . .” (v. 31) Yes, the Lord saw Leah and his great heart went out to her. Because of her unmerited suffering, God honored Leah first with a child. She named the child Reuben which means “he has seen my misery”.[3] Her deep longing for her husband’s love is made evident in the last part of verse 31: Surely my husband will love me now.
We need to pause here and acknowledge Leah’s relationship with God. She understood and praised God for his attention to her in naming that child. What a deep and wonderful faith she had developed despite her situation. God was her true husband and she honored him for that.
Three more times God gave Leah the ability to bear sons for Jacob. And at the birth of each child Leah remained romantically unloved by and detached from her husband. Imagine the joy of raising those children, giving to her husband the prized possessions of sons. Imagine the deep sorrow when Jacob looked away from her at a meal and engaged with her sister.
Read Genesis 30:1-13.
Not only was Leah’s husband disengaged romantically from her, but her sister became dreadfully jealous of her. So much so that she lashed out at Jacob as if it was his fault. He was clearly not at fault. His sons running between the tents and playing with the sheep and goats was evidence of that. But Rachel’s distress was real. The pressure for women to bear children was great and she had stood by for at least three or more years in frustration. Cultural codes of the day allowed the giving and using of servants as concubines (second-class wives with no rights or privileges) to compensate for barrenness. Any children born through those women would be considered full offspring of the fathers and the first wife. And so, Rachel took the next step she knew of to do battle with her sister, claiming God’s vindication (v. 4) and beating her sister (v. 8) Neither of these responses were respectful nor gracious. Rachel’s suffering turned toward angry outlashes and manipulation as opposed to Leah’s suffering turning toward God’s comfort. Having children through her servants was a shallow victory for jealous Rachel. She took up a cry of victory by declaring that her conflict was with her sister and not God.
Despite Leah’s growth toward trusting in God, she also gave in to the temptation in this rivalry. Despite God’s gifts to her of four sons, she also gave her servant as a wife to possibly strengthen the size of the family. While building a family of great size may have been admirable, the family dynamic was anything but peaceful and joyful. The points were adding up and Leah took delight in beating Rachel again – What good fortune! (v. 11) How happy I am! The women will call me happy. (v. 12).
Read Genesis 30:14-22.
In verses 14-17 we encounter another difficult part of this Bible story. Mandrake roots, also called “dudaim” in the original language, are a mysterious element in this text. While many commentators have wrestled with this, one overarching approach is that using these may have to do with pagan ideas of fertility. The mandrake root had been considered an aphrodisiac as well as something that magically increased fertility. Leah lashed out at Rachel, still feeling the absence of love from her husband. By using the mandrake root, neither sister was willing to trust in God at this point. For just as Jacob exclaimed, pregnancy and birth are up to God the Life Giver! As The Wycliffe Bible Commentary states: “Rachel remained barren in spite of the superstitious charms. The situation was in the hand of the Lord, and he could not honor human attempts to change it.”[4]
The writer declares, that in spite of this odd and powerless use of the mandrakes, God remembered Rachel as well. He knew her suffering and disappointment in regards to children. When the Biblical text says that God remembered her, the original text demonstrates having compassion and concern rather than suddenly becoming aware. Through her suffering God directed Rachel’s attention to himself. And then at last we see Rachel move from anger and sorrow to joy, relief and true gratitude toward the One who gives life. With the birth of her first biological son, she felt at last that her disgrace was gone.
Leah was still feeling the disappointment in her husband even after the birth of her last son. She stated that “This time my husband will treat me with honor.” As we read through the rest of the story of Leah, Rachel and Jacob, there is no indication that this ever became the case. But Leah prefixed that final longing with these words, “God has presented me with a precious gift.” (v. 20) Indeed, despite the human disappointment and sorrows in the frustrating family situation, God continued to work out his will and his way with each person. And Leah could look around with pride at all of the precious gifts, including her daughter Dinah, that the Lord had given to her.
In the middle of this story of two sisters we uncover the structure of God’s plan for prospering his covenant promise. By the end of this story, we can see a large family beginning to fulfill the promise of God’s covenant to his grandfather Abraham and fully set to move in to God’s future together. It is at this point that Jacob senses the leadership of the Lord to take his family to his place of origin and establish them as tribe of their own that would one day become the Israelites.
Victor Hamilton wrote that the providence of God intruded here out of chaos. “The third and fourth children mothered by Leah are Levi and Judah respectively (29:34-35). From Levi comes the line of priests. From Judah comes one line of the kings, and eventually Jesus. Two of the most significant institutions in the Old Testament have their origin in an unwanted marriage, initiated only by duplicity!”[5] And it is first through Leah that God begins to build Jacob’s family that eventually became the Israelites. It is also here that we can see how Leah begins to grow out of the pagan world and into the world of the one, true, living God, despite the fact that her husband never loved her as he did her sister.
What do we learn from difficult Bible stories such as these? We learn that God has a large, beneficial, overarching plan. We also can learn that no one, no human culture, nor any superstition can overrule that plan. Jacob, Leah and Rachel had no idea how the world would benefit from their distressing situation. God knew. And we are grateful!
Amen
© M.R.Hyde 2023
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