Jacob is married to four women now: to Leah, to her sister Rachel, and to the maids of Leah and Rachel. He has had children with all of them except Rachel. Leah is still jealous of Rachel because Jacob loves Rachel more. Rachel is still jealous of Leah because Leah has borne Jacob four sons. Today the two women strike a deal that temporarily makes both of them happy.
"During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah." (Genesis 30:14a) In ancient times the mandrake was considered a fertility fruit. Whether eating them actually had any influence on fertility or whether this was just an old wives tale we don't know. But Leah and Rachel are evidently aware of the reputation of mandrakes. Reuben brings them to his mother when he finds them, perhaps because he knows she desperately wants to get pregnant again. But Rachel also wants desperately to get pregnant so she boldly asks for a share of the mandrakes. "Rachel said to Leah, 'Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.'" (Genesis 30:14b)
Her request angers Leah. "But she said to her, 'Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?'" (Genesis 30:15a) She asks, "Don't you have enough already? I'm Jacob's first and chief wife, yet you have his heart. I will never have his heart no matter how many sons I give him. Why can't you be satisfied with his love? All I have ever done that pleases him is bearing children; must you be able to do that too?"
We can tell by Rachel's reply that she rules the roost even though she's the second wife. I think she gets her way pretty much all the time because of Jacob's love for her. I think he spends more time with her than with Leah, and the reason I think this is because of the way she casually and coldly "trades" him for some mandrakes. "'Very well,' Rachel said, 'he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes.'" (Genesis 30:15b) I get the impression that Jacob would have spent the night with Rachel if she hadn't traded him for the mandrakes. He likely spent the night with her more often than not, especially since she's trying to conceive a child. She says to her sister, "Okay, fine. I'll let you have a night with him if you'll give me some of the mandrakes. I'll give him up tonight so you can have him."
"So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. 'You must sleep with me,' she said. 'I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.' So he slept with her that night." (Genesis 30:16) I wonder how often Jacob came home from work to an uproar in the home. I think he's gotten into the habit of going along with whatever is asked of him just so he can have some peace. I picture him walking wearily in from the fields, dusty and dirty, to be met with Leah's announcement. He doesn't even ask to hear the story about the mandrakes or how he came to be traded for them. I don't think he cares about the explanation, so he goes into the house, cleans up, eats his supper, and goes to Leah's room when bedtime comes.
Leah prays to the Lord to help her conceive, and He does. "God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son." (Genesis 30:17) She now credits the "listening" of God to a cultural belief that was prevalent in her day. "Then Leah said, 'God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.' So she named him Issachar." (Genesis 30:18) This is not why God answered her prayers. In ancient Mesopotamia a wife who gave her husband her servant in order to provide him with more children was considered generous. She was called a good wife if, when she herself was unable to bear more children, she made it possible for her husband to have many sons to carry on his name. We find Leah mixing the idolatrous beliefs of her culture with her worship of the one true God and as a result she gives this son a name that means "reward". Mixing pagan beliefs in with her beliefs about the one true God causes her to come to a wrong conclusion. We have to be very careful even in our own day not to allow erroneous beliefs to creep into our worship. We have an advantage over Leah because we can study the word of God to check everything against it that sounds spiritual. But that also means we have less of an excuse than Leah for falling into error. The word of God is available to us whenever we want it and in any form we prefer to read it or listen to it. The Lord has richly blessed us in this way and if we don't accept this blessing then we are going to come to some false conclusions and make some choices that aren't Biblical.
"Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, 'God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.' So she named him Zebulun. Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah." (Genesis 30:19-21) This son's name means "dwelling". Leah still wants Jacob to dwell with her in love. She wants to live in his heart. But if she never truly has his heart, at least she will have his respect for presenting him with six healthy sons. As an added bonus, the Lord gives her one daughter who I'm sure was a comfort to her and that she grew to be a wonderful female companion. My own mother was one of my very best friends and I like to think that Leah and Dinah were best friends. Leah needs a friend in her household and the Lord lets her finish her fertile years with the addition of a daughter to her family.
Until modern times no one knew that it's the father who determines the sex of the baby. A woman's egg contains only X chromosomes while a man's sperm can contain either X or Y chromosomes. Some men have far more of one chromosome than the other to contribute to the baby-making process. That's why some couples have all girls or all boys, even though they may have four or five children or more. But until science taught us this, it was believed to be the fault of the woman if a man had no sons. That's why the infamous Henry XIII married a series of six women in an attempt to father a male heir; he believed it was the fault of his wives when in reality it's because he was contributing only X chromosomes to the baby-making process. Because the sex of the baby was thought in ancient times to be caused somehow by the mother, Leah is going to get the credit for bearing six sons to Jacob. Sons were valued far above daughters in a patriarchal society like Leah's. She knows everyone around her is going to respect and congratulate her on her ability to produce all these sons. She enjoys the admiration of her friends and family and neighbors, but what she wants most of all is Jacob's admiration, so she thinks to herself, "Now I will have great value in his eyes. Even if Rachel someday manages to give him children, I don't think she'll ever catch up to me. She'll never be able to give him six sons."
It's time for the Lord to bless Rachel. He has blessed Leah abundantly because, as the Bible told us, He saw that Leah was not loved. (Genesis 29:31) The Lord wanted Jacob to love Leah but the most Jacob has ever done is feel affection and respect for her. He never will love her as much as he loves Rachel, so the Lord has secured Leah's position in the home as chief wife by making her a mother first and the mother of the most children. I think it's likely that Rachel needed some humbling of her attitude and that this is another reason the Lord made her infertile for so many years. But now perhaps this has been accomplished and it's time for the Lord to allow her to be a mother. "Then God remembered Rachel; He listened to her and enabled her to conceive. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, 'God has taken away my disgrace.' She named him Joseph, and said, 'May the Lord add to me another son.'" (Genesis 30:22-24) Rachel has been praying to the Lord. She has stopped counting on home remedies to make her fertile. She has stopped making Jacob spend more nights with her than with Leah in hopes of conceiving a child. She has come to the point of humbling herself in the presence of the Lord and counting on Him to give her what she wants most in the world. She knows that nothing but a miracle from the Lord will make her able to bear children, so all her thoughts and hopes are in Him now.
Joseph's name reflects her desire to bear one more son. His name means "may He add". The Lord will add to her another son but she will die due to complications of childbirth. Leah will raise all the children of Jacob, which is yet another reason I believe the Lord would have chosen her for Jacob's only wife. Leah will be his helpmate and companion long after Rachel is gone, and whether or not Jacob ever truly loved her I believe he certainly appreciated her presence in his home and her godly influence on the children. I like to think the two of them grew older together in pleasant companionship and mutual respect. At last Leah will have the full attention of her husband and I like to believe this made her very happy. She deserves to be happy.
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