Genesis 30:9-13

2008.Dec.26 04:55

To Be Envied

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When Leah saw that she had ceased to bear, she gave Zilpah her maid to Jacob as a [secondary] wife. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, Victory and good fortune have come; and she named him Gad [fortune]. Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob [her] second son. And Leah said, I am happy, for women will call me blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied); and she named him Asher [happy].
(Genesis 30:9-13, AMP)

Leah has had four sons, but in her race against younger sister Rachel, she’s fallen behind. Rachel has only had two sons, and those actually sons of Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah, but they’re more recent, and Jacob is more attracted to her. What to do? Well, two can play the handmaid game.

So, Leah now has her handmaid become a sort of wife to Jacob. Zilpah now joins this crazy child-bearing game. It’s possible that both Zilpah and Bilhah are glad for these roles. After all, their social positions have probably elevated with this ‘lesser wifedom’, if you will. Their respective patrons are probably more interested in the handmaids’ comfort and well-being. On the downside, they may be increasingly subject to the opposing sister’s wrath. What tangled bloody webs.

So, we’re now up to six sons. Beats me what everybody else has been up to otherwise. Jacob is continuing to help out with Laban’s flocks, but as far as what everyday life is like for this strange family, there’s no indication. Indeed, perhaps this family wasn’t so strange for that time.

Still, at what point do you as [pick one: Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Laban, either handmaid] look up and say, “This infighting stops here and now.” No, it seems the collective family goal is more sons, family happiness and unity are irrelevant. Secondary is the success of Laban’s (and later, Jacob’s) flocks. I don’t understand at all the “many offspring” thing. My wife and I are about to have our first child, and while I wouldn’t be surprised if we have at least one more, I don’t judge my success by having children. Indeed, having many children in modern times strikes me as foolish.

I do understand the pull of financial success. Money can make you happy. Temporarily and incompletely, to be sure, but those moments of “yes, we can afford…” are pretty nice while they last. And certainly there’s the (deceptive) feeling that money brings security. But all these considerations–pride in offspring, jealousy between family members, searching for financial success–distract from the actual success of the family.

Genesis 30:14-21

2009.Jan.02 11:00

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Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went 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." But she said to her, "Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son's mandrakes also?" So Rachel said, "Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes." When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then 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." So he lay with her that night. God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband." So she named him Issachar. Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
(Genesis 30:14-21, NASB)

I tried to read up on Mandrakes), but I’m mostly just confused now. It doesn’t sound like something one would particularly want, but hey, Rachel wants these bloody mandrakes. More than sex, or possibly, more than the hope of having children. Or both, I suppose. So she and Leah arrange a deal that Leah gets to sleep that night with Jacob. One implication here is that Jacob regularly spends the night with his younger wife, not surprising considering he is apparently much more attracted to Rachel. Leah takes the bargain.

For Leah, this pays off, in that she conceives and has another son, then has her sixth son sometime thereafter. She’s gone back to thinking this will make Jacob particularly love her. That Jacob does not seem to love his first wife for any reason is a sad testament. Yes, his marriage to her was based in deception, but he could have chosen to show her love regardless. This could have been at least a happier situation, I think, if Jacob had made more effort to bless his first wife.

Anyway, Leah’s happy(-ish) because she has more sons, Rachel’s happy(-ish) because she has mandrakes, although I don’t venture to know why. Actually, it’s interesting that Rachel seems to find happiness quicker than her older sister, perhaps because Rachel does have a husband that loves her.

Then, a strange thing happens in this narrative: a daughter is born! Although I imagine it’s mostly just mentioned because Dinah does play a role in a later chapter.

Genesis 31:14-16

2009.Feb.20 17:00

What You May Lose

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Rachel and Leah said to Jacob: There's nothing left for us to inherit from our father. He treats us like foreigners and has even cheated us out of the bride price that should have been ours. Now do whatever God tells you to do. Even the property God took from our father and gave to you really belongs to us and our children.
(Genesis 31:14-16, CEV)

Or, requiem for Laban. Yes, we’ll see some more of Rebekah’s brother before this story is done, but this statement by his daughters is a fitting but terribly disappointing eulogy for a man who really plays such a significant role in the formation story of the people Israel. Like Lot, Laban is both integral to the story and yet easily forgotten. I think the reason that both these men are so easily forgotten is there not the sort of ancestors one really wants to talk about. Like the proverbial trust-fund fool, they have every opportunity and manage to turn out somewhere between mediocre and failure. There not even interesting “bad guys”.

Not only has Laban lost what little respect he previously commanded of his son-in-law, but now his daughters are outright rejecting him (Rachel will take this one step farther later in this narrative). And they have good reason to. When he has noticed them, it’s been (or so appears to me) primarily to use them as a means to keep Jacob around. Now that Laban’s plans to take advantage of Jacob’s success keep backfiring, he probably resents his daughters.

Leah and Rachel also note that their father, whether or not intentionally, has turned over all their inheritance to Jacob anyway. For them, he is both a cheat and a failure. Again, relationships. A number of these folks have been failing at them, but Laban seems to have exceeded even the high standards set by Jacob. Greed seems to be his primary, if not entire, motivator. He has now lost a good chunk of wealth, and is about to lose a large part of his family. Gosh, that sounds like stories we hear all the time, doesn’t it? Greed leads to loses all around is the theme.

Genesis 29:31-35

2008.Dec.12 14:10

It Ain’t Gonna Happen

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When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, "Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me." She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also." And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This time I will praise the LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.
(Genesis 29:31-35, ESV)

Leah and Rachel, sisters and fellow-wives to their cousin, Jacob, exiled from Palenstine, returned to old family homestead. Leah is the first wife and eldest, but it is Rachel who receives Jacob’s love, admiration and desires. Leah is the wife he didn’t want, but accepted in order to marry her sister–and that only after some deception. Leah’s life is proving less than wonderful.

Yahweh is not unaware of such slights or hardships. In this case, aware of her treatment, Yahweh allows (causes?) Leah to conceive and, in succession, bear four sons while her sister remains without children. It’s not clear here what God’s goals are. Obviously, in a culture that places a great deal of value of the children–particularly the sons–of a woman, and sees the worth of the woman at least to some degree in that light, her having four sons will help Leah be considered more…successful?…within this society. It strikes me as unlikely that this would be Yahweh’s primary reason, but I really have no way of knowing.

It’s clear what Leah hopes this will accomplish: “for now my husband will love me,” “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also,” “Now this time my husband will be attached to me.” She sees her sons as the means for gaining some measure of the love that Jacob gives Rachel. But I’ve not noticed any indication that such ever happens. Even later, Jacob will value the sons of Rachel more than these first four (I might note at this point that two of these tribes, Judah and Levi, ultimately have particularly significant roles in the Biblical history of Israel). Unfortunately, Jacob is a jerk, at least at times, and this is one of those times.

But then something quite astounding happens. Leah has the forth son, whom she names Judah. She says, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Wow. Three times she sought love from her husband. This time she gives love to Yahweh. Now, just this little snippet no doubt leaves out a lot of details. There’s no indication that Leah had ignored God prior to the birth of Judah. But this final statement represents a radical shift in attitude from those prior.