Leah

Lore & Background

Leah is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has three more sons, namely Simeon, Levi and Judah, but does not bear another son until Rachel offers her a night with Jacob in exchange for some mandrake root. Leah gives birth to two more sons after this, Issachar and Zebulun, and to Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. Leah may mean 'wild cow', a title also associated with ancient goddesses like Inana, Urash, and Nanshe. Scott Noegel says there is an irony involving Laban's flocks within this detail, one is on generative acts. Herein also lies a subtle pun on Leah's name, which occurs again in Genesis 29:23.

Reader's Guide

Leah first appears in the Book of Genesis, in Genesis 29, which describes her as the daughter of Laban and the elder sister of Rachel, and is said to not compare to Rachel's physical beauty and that she has tender eyes. The Torah introduces Leah by describing her with the phrase, 'Leah had tender eyes' (Genesis 29:17). It is argued as to whether the adjective 'tender' should be taken to mean 'delicate and soft' or rather 'weary' or 'weak'. The commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leah's eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacob's older twin brother, Esau. Hearing this, Leah spent most of her time weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as 'soft' from weeping. God hearkens to Leah's tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does. Leah becomes Jacob's wife through a deception on the part of her father, Laban. On the wedding night, Laban switches Leah for Rachel. Later Laban claims that it is uncustomary to give the younger daughter away in marriage before the older one. Laban offers to give Rachel to Jacob in marriage in return for another seven years of work. Jacob accepts the offer and marries Rachel after the week-long celebration of his marriage to Leah. Leah was the mother of six of Jacob's sons, including his first four (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah), and later two more (Issachar and Zebulun), and a daughter (Dinah). According to the scriptures, God saw that Leah was 'unloved' and opened her womb as consolation. Through her sons Levi and Judah, she is thus the matriarch of both the priestly (Levite) and royal (Judahite) tribes in Israel. Seeing that she was unable to conceive, Rachel offered her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob, and named and raised the two sons (Dan and Naphtali) that Bilhah gave birth to. Leah responded by offering her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and named and raised the two sons (Gad and Asher) that Zilpah gave birth to. One day, Leah's firstborn son Reuben returned from the field with mandrakes for his mother. Rachel offered to trade her night with their husband with Leah in return for the mandrakes. Leah agreed, and that night she slept with Jacob and conceived Issachar. Afterwards she gave birth to Zebulun and to a daughter, Dinah. After that, God remembered Rachel and gave her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. F

Did You Know?

• Leah may mean 'wild cow', a title also associated with ancient goddesses like Inana, Urash, and Nanshe.
• Leah is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben, and later gave birth to Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
• Leah's handmaid Zilpah bore Gad and Asher, whom Leah named and raised.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance." — Leah "Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter." — Leah "And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn." — Leah