Genesis 30:1-8

2008.Dec.19 07:12

The Handmaid

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When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!" Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" Then she said, "Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her." So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan. Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali.
(Genesis 30:1-8, ESV)

If you haven’t read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, quit reading this and go read that, now. Seriously. The read her novel, The Blind Assassin for a little (just a little) cheering up. The Handmaid’s Tale references this narrative. Anyway.

Rachel, more loved by Jacob, is barren. Story of Genesis, right? She complains to her husband. Jacob is angered because he feels there’s nothing he can do. There’s a fair chance he’s right. His point is that he is not God. A surprisingly wise point from him. Now, what do these two do? Do they talk to Yahweh about it? Well, there’s no record of them doing so. Instead, Rachel takes matters into her own hand, and our apparently rather horny patriach willingly goes along.

Specifically, Jacob sleeps with Rachel’s maidservent Bilhah, at Rachel’s suggestion. The technique is effective in so far as Bilhah has two sons, Dan and Naphtali, who Rachel considers as her own children. As with Leah, one of Rachel’s biggest concerns in having these sons–if less than directly–is her status in relation to Leah. Rachel now is both the object of Jacob’s infatuation and has “given him” sons. So, she has “prevailed.”

I have a hard time not assuming that God’s reason for the inclusion of this narrative is to remind us how of our focus can get because of sin (jealousy, in this case). Having children just to say “I’m better than you?” How absurd. But that’s one of the things sin does. It makes us absurd.

Genesis 30:14-21

2009.Jan.02 11:00

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Read Genesis 30:14-21 | Full Chapter

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 30:22-24

2009.Jan.09 14:30

A Son for Rachel

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Finally, God remembered Rachel–he answered her prayer by giving her a son. "God has taken away my disgrace," she said. "I'll name the boy Joseph, and I'll pray that the LORD will give me another son."
(Genesis 30:22-24, CEV)

Near the bottom of Wikipedia page on Jacob there’s a handy chart of his children mentioned in Biblical account.

Rachel has had two surrogate sons by Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali. But in her race against her older sister, Leah is clearly winning. Or whatever. I know I’ve said it before about this story, but how do we humansget so messed up? Finding value in number of sons? WTF is up with that? And it’s clearly not just these two who have in history been wrapped up in that particular absurdity.

Sigh.

Anyway, Rachel finally gets her son, whom she names Joseph. He’s number eleven in the cycle (Rachel will also bear the twelveth (sp?), Benjamin). Joseph will be the son to take up the central thread of the story, although all of Jacob’s sons get included in Israel, unlike Isaac/Ishmael, and Jacob/Esau in which the recipient of the promise is designated to be only one son (the other sons do get consolation prizes). So Joseph’s importance will not be in being the sole heir, but in bringing all the heirs into Egypt.

So, anyway, back to Rachel. She feels that Joseph’s birth takes away her disgrace of barreness. But as with her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law, the barrenness ended with the birth of a chief son. Patience, patience, eh?

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 31:32-42

2009.Mar.13 17:00

The Household Idols

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"The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent but did not find them. She said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is upon me "So he searched but did not find the household idols.
(Genesis 31:32-35, NASB)

Okay, let’s go ahead and handle a lesson which the Bible and various mythologies make rather a point about: Don’t say what you’re going to do before you know the details, especially if what you say you will do involves killing somebody. Seriously, folks, not smart. But such a guy thing to do, neh?

Fortunately for Jacob, his younger wife is as capable as he or his father in deception. Cos wouldn’t he have hated himself had Laban found the idols in Rachel’s tent. But seriously, “Yeah, go ahead and look, buddy,” is the kind of arrogant attitude that guys are famous for, and which serves no one well. A better response may have been, “I didn’t take your idols, let’s look together and find out what happened.” When you don’t have enough information, admit it, and where appropriate, seek out more.

Then Jacob became angry and contended with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, "What is my transgression? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? "Though you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. "These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. "That which was torn of beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. "Thus I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. "These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you changed my wages ten times. "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night."
(Genesis 31:36-42, NASB)

On another angle, Jacob misses a chance to learn this lesson. Granted, given how stupid his response was, it’s probably better for him that he missed learning this time. Still, he’s a schmuck (sp?). He uses this situation as a chance to fill out the latter part of his passive-aggressiveness. Having tried to just leave the country without a stir, Jacob now lets spill all his complaints. One of the most profound lessons I’ve learned regarding relationships with others is to forget. Now, one can’t forget all past hurts, and doing so would leave you open to abuse. But for minor hurts, especially for things that were not intentional, following up forgiveness with a decision to actually forget it is great. Sure, it’s annoying when you’re frustrated with another person and can’t think of any past examples of their failures, but, then, that’s the point.

You can choose to stop thinking about things in the past that just annoy you or make you mad. Practical way. Force yourself to try to think about seven other things simultaneously. They don’t have to be important. It’s hard to do; you keep dragging back into your mind that you’re trying to forget X. But it actually doesn’t take that long. Some flower outside, whether you had any dreams last night, why Laban is a twat…wait, no back up one, some LOLcat, what is the capitol of Idaho, the big screen tv you saw on sale, Laban sent away his flocks…no, find another, why do we use imperial units, what’s your favorite desert…poof, it’s gone. It’s easy to forget you were even trying to forget something. Yes, is important to be wise, but much of what we forgive wasn’t that big a deal to begin with. Just go ahead and forget it.