Warring Wives and Jacob’s Children
Genesis 29:31-30:24
The story of Jacob’s marriage and family life reads much like a modern-day soap opera. Last time we saw how Jacob was tricked by his father-in-law Laban into marrying two of his daughters instead of just the one he loved. This week’s story is one of competition between these two sisters and their maids, which results in Jacob being shuttled from bedroom to bedroom, tent to tent. Jacob seems to be controlled by the women in his life, much like he had been with his mother Rebekah. In this passage we see both joy and pain. There is the joy of bearing children. There is the pain of infertility. There is praise for having children. And there is envy and sin in the absence of children. There is the joy of being loved and the pain of being unloved.
Jacob’s family is a mess. Both sisters want what the other sister has. Leah wants the love of Jacob. And Rachel wants children. Neither of them seems content with what they have. So, they envy each other and struggle to gain position over each other. Leah fights to gain Jacob’s love by bearing children. And Rachel fights to gain children at any cost.
Remember that Jacob is living outside the land of promise. While he has met God at Bethel (Gen. 28) and the Lord has promised His presence, protection, and provision, that doesn’t mean things will be easy-going for Jacob. As we saw last time, God is at work in Jacob’s life to purge out many of the sinful patterns that have characterized him in the past. Jacob reaps what he has sowed. The deceiver gets deceived. The manipulator gets manipulated. God disciplines those He loves.
But this story also shows us that behind all this intrigue, and frankly, behind the discipline that the Lord has planned for Jacob, God still has in view a plan for His people, a plan for His nation. He’s going to build a great nation in spite of the sins and the shortcomings of the individuals involved[1]. While Rachel and Leah are battling with each other over Jacob’s affection, God gives birth to a nation: the tribes of Israel. This passage constitutes the center of the Jacob narrative, and it emphasizes birth of the nation of Israel.
Last week we saw that God provided wives for Jacob in the midst of sin. Next week we’ll see God providing wealth for Jacob in the midst of sin. This week God provides children for Jacob. In the midst of sinful strife, God provides. We read these verses like someone watching a tennis match, we look first at the one contestant, then at the other, back and forth. We begin with Leah:
1. Leah gives birth to four sons (Gen. 29:31-35)
31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. 32 So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” 33 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. 34 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing. (Gen. 29:31-35)
Leah was Jacob’s first wife, the one he was tricked into marrying. Genesis 29:30 gave us a clue to their relationship, saying that Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah.” So by comparison, “Leah was unloved” (Gen. 29:31). The KJV translates it, “Leah was hated.” It’s a very strong word, the same word is used in Genesis 37:4 in describing Joseph whom “their father loved … more than all his brethren,” so “they hated him.” Leah was unloved by Jacob.
But the LORD loved her. So the LORD acts on her behalf, “When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren” (Gen. 29:31). God’s loving intervention in her life is evident to her, and she gratefully acknowledges it. God lovingly reached out to Leah by giving her a son, Reuben. Reuben means something like “see, a son” because, “The LORD has surely looked on my affliction.” And her hope is that “Now therefore, my husband will love me” (Gen. 29:32). Her hopes obviously went unfulfilled because after she gives birth to her second son Simeon (whose name means “he hears”), “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also” (Gen. 29:33). And again after the third son Levi (whose name means attached), she says, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons” (Gen. 29:34). How can Jacob not feel more attached to her because of these sons she has given him?
While three sons did little to change Jacob’s affections, the birth of Leah’s fourth son brought her most devout expression of praise and thanksgiving toward the LORD Who had heard her prayers. She names him Judah meaning praise, saying, “Now I will praise the LORD” (Gen. 29:35). Leah then stopped bearing. This seems to be the high point of Leah’s spiritual life. While Jacob’s affection was still something she greatly desired, she was content with the love of God. So, she praised the LORD.
The end of Genesis 29 tells us “Then she stopped bearing” (Gen. 29:35). We don’t know whether that was because Rachel no longer allowed her access to Jacob, or that she was temporarily infertile. What we do notice throughout this account is that ultimately it is the LORD who opens wombs and closes them. While, on the surface, it may seem that the children of Jacob are the result of struggles, strategies, and negotiations, the text is consistently clear that they are a result of the Lord’s blessing.
Next we see,
2. Rachel obtains two sons through Bilhah (Gen. 30:1-8)
Praising God was easy for Leah with four sons; however, seeing her sister’s blessing only aroused envy in Rachel: “1 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!” 2 And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?””
Rather than recognize her barrenness as coming from the hand of God, she sought to shift the blame to Jacob. Jacob, in so many words, tells Rachel that he isn’t God. Like Rachel, Rebekah had been barren, but Isaac’s response was quite different from Jacob’s. He prayed on behalf of Rebekah, and God answered by giving his wife children (Gen. 25:21). No such prayers are mentioned here. At this point in his life, Jacob does not appear to be a man of prayer.
Rachel fears not having children, so she makes a desperate proposal: “So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”” There are definite similarities between this proposal and that of Sarai offering Hagar in Genesis 16. Remember, that did not turn out so well for the family. But Rachel is envious and desperate and will do anything to compete with her sister. And it works:
4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.
Her words at the birth of Dan and Naphtali sound most spiritual. She claimed that God had judged the matter of her dispute with her sister Leah and had sided with her. So, she named the first boy Dan, meaning judge. The name of the second boy, Naphtali (meaning struggle) reveals her true heart. Rachel is preoccupied with the struggle between herself and Leah, and she claims to have won through these two adopted sons.
Now, back to Leah:
3. Leah obtains two sons through Zilpah (Gen. 30:9-13)
Not to be outdone by her sister, Leah counters by giving Jacob her own maid:
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. 10 And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad. 12 And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.13 Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.
Unlike earlier in Leah’s life, she does not mention the LORD here. She who previously had viewed her children as a gift from a gracious and caring God now sees these sons as merely good fortune—“How lucky I am,” (Gad can mean a troop or fortunate) and “How happy am I.”
“For anyone keeping score, Leah was ahead of Rachel 4 to 2, but that was not enough. Now she has added two more points to the scoreboard. However, in the process of gaining ground on her sister, she has forfeited the godliness she once demonstrated. The focus of her thinking has shifted from God’s estimation of her actions to the praise she would be given by other women.”[2] (Gen. 29:13).
That brings us to the strange story of the mandrakes which provides the occasion for another confrontation between Jacob’s wives:
4. Leah has two more sons and a daughter (Gen. 30:14-21)
14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night. (Gen. 30:14-17).
Mandrakes (also called “love apples”) were plants found in that part of the world which were thought to stimulate the desire for “love-making” and also to enhance the chances of conception. Leah, I suppose, was more interested in the mandrakes for the former quality, Rachel for the latter. When Rachel asks Leah for some, Leah’s resentment is on full display. She says, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?” In her mind, she is Jacob’s proper wife, being the first, even though her status was obtained through deceit.
Now Rachel proposes a deal: the mandrakes in exchange for allowing Leah to sleep with Jacob for a night. What a sad state Jacob’s marriage had come to. His wife Leah had to resort to purchasing his services as her husband. And Rachel was so lacking in faith that she put her trust in a magic potion rather than in God. Then we read,
17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. 19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
It was not because of mandrakes but because God had compassion on Leah that she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. It must be in spite of her bargaining with Rachel and not because of it that God blessed Leah. Leah, I think wrongly, attributes the birth of this son to God rewarding her for giving Zilpah to Jacob (Gen. 30:18). Rather than her wages, the text makes clear that Issachar was a gift of God’s grace.
Leah does not return to that high level of praise which we witnessed in Genesis 29:35, but she certainly has recovered some grasp of the grace of God as seen in the gift of the sixth son, Zebulun, meaning “gift” or “dwell with me.” Jacob had several daughters (Gen. 46:15) but only Dinah is introduced to prepare for the tragic events of Genesis 34.
Lastly, we return to Rachel,
5. Rachel finally gives birth to a son (Gen. 30:22-24)
Rachel had pleaded with her husband, resorted to surrogate maternity and employed mandrakes in the quest for children, but only God can open Rachel’s womb, and He does so, it seems, in his own sweet time. After all of Rachel’s devices and schemes have been exhausted, yet without any children from her own womb, God grants her the desire of her heart:
22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
Significant is the way that God responded to Rachel: “God remembered” and “God listened to her.” Prayer did not immediately occur to Rachel as the solution to her barrenness, but it does seem to be her last resort. I never cease to be amazed at myself and others who leave prayer in the category of “if all else fails, pray.” The name “Joseph” is significant in two ways. The Hebrew word ’asap, “has taken away,” refers God “taking away” the reproach of her barrenness. A similar-sounding word, yosep, meaning “may … add,” expresses Rachel’s hope that “The Lord shall add to me another son.” She finally acknowledges that only God can open a womb.
In this messy story, God gives birth to his people: the nation of Israel.
While it’s a bleak picture, the theme of God’s grace runs through it as a strong undercurrent. Jacob wasn’t living in submission to the Lord at this time. His wives were thoroughly self‑centered. And yet God blessed Jacob with eleven sons and one daughter (the twelfth son is born later), forming the basis for the nation which numbered over two million in Moses’ day. Perhaps Moses included this story to humble the nation by showing them that God’s blessing on them was totally due to His grace, not to anything in them or their forefathers.[3]
Despite all the deception, competition, and manipulation, God is about to do something with Jacob’s sons that no one could have imagined! God will fulfill His promise to make Jacob a great nation in spite of the sin and dysfunction in his family. God is working out His perfect plan of redemption in this messy, sinful family.
The pinnacle of this story comes with the birth of Joseph. Moses is pointing us forward to the story of Joseph, teaching us that God will provide a son who will save his people. Through this son, given by God, the nation will be saved from famine.
There is a spiritual application for us in this. While we sin and deserve God’s judgment, God eventually provided a Son, the Savior who would redeem us from our sin. Our passage this morning fits into the bigger story of redemption that reaches even us.
We are all sinners deserving of God’s judgment. But from before the foundation of the earth, God had a plan to save a people for Himself. In Genesis 3:15 God has promised a Savior, the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. And we have traced this seed from Adam and Eve through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. From Jacob came a son meaning praise, Judah. From Judah would come David, the king. And from David would eventually come God’s Son, Jesus Christ who would die for our sins and be raised from the dead.
This is God’s eternal purpose—a plan that will not fail. And all who repent of sin and place their trust in Jesus, are a part of that plan. If you are in Christ, you are a child of God. He loves you! So when you face trials and temptations of many kinds, when you are tempted to trust in your own self-sufficiency or to trust in idols, remember that God is trustworthy. His promises are sure. In the midst of the mess of this life, you can trust Him. God is working all things according to His will for His glory. The Lord sees and hears and remembers and is worthy to be praised.
[1] Ligon Duncan, The Sons of Jacob, https://ligonduncan.com/the-sons-of-jacob-998/
[2] Bob Deffinbaugh, The Battle of the Brides, https://bible.org/seriespage/31-battle-brides-genesis-2931-3024
[3] Steven Cole, A Family at War, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-55-family-war-genesis-2931-3024
