Why this story matters

(commentary on Genesis 27-31)

(Page 2 of 4)

Jacob meets Rachel and Leah

Things heat up when Jacob meets his cousins. As the illustrated story relates, Jacob immediately falls for Rachel who, in typical biblical fashion, is the beautiful one of the two sisters. The only thing we’re told about Leah’s appearance is that her eyes were weak (or perhaps tender). Unfortunately, the original meaning of this is lost. The only other clue we have about Leah is the meaning of her name which translates “wild cow.” The reader can draw her own conclusions from that. We're told a couple of things about Rachel. She is beautiful and she has a great body: “Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful (Gen. 29: 17).” Apparently that's enough for Jacob who instantly falls in love with her. He makes a deal with his uncle to work for him for seven years in exchange for her hand in marriage.  What happens next stretches credulity to the breaking point.

The wedding night

We're asked to believe that Jacob would be unable to tell the difference between Rachel and Leah simply because it was night time: “But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her…When morning came, there was Leah! (Gen. 29: 22-25).” But how is this possible if he's deeply in love with Rachel, and has known them both for seven years?

Apologists claim that Jacob was probably drunk from the wedding feast, or that he was so overcome with lust that he wasn’t thinking clearly, but this is all too convenient. After waiting seven years for the love of your life would you really get so drunk that you couldn’t even recognize your bride? What a thoughtful husband. And, are we supposed to believe they didn't speak to each other the whole night? While Jacob may not have been well versed in the techniques of seduction, it’s a little far fetched to suggest that he wouldn’t have at least said a few words to her. And surely she would have replied. Acknowledging this, some apologists have suggested that Rachel was in the tent as well and was heroically speaking Leah’s words for her. This may work in the movies, but it's not likely that Rachel just happened to be highly skilled at 'throwing' her voice.

From a literary perspective, though, this scene has some great irony. Jacob had been able to deceive his father because Isaac's eyes were weak and he couldn't tell the difference between the two. Now Jacob is deceived by his own inability to see. Also, Jacob fell in love with Rachel primarily because of how she looked. In the darkness, physical appearance doesn't matter.

Married with children

Next we come to the child bearing Olympics. First, Leah is depressed because she feels unloved, so Yahweh causes her to get pregnant so that Jacob will love her: “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb" (Gen. 29: 31). She promptly goes on to give Jacob four children. This infuriates Rachel who now feels she will die if she cannot provide children herself (Gen.30: 1). In this culture, Rachel would have felt Yahweh was upset with her. Yahweh had promised to bless His people with many descendants if they obeyed him (Deut. 28:11). Because of this, many Israelites saw a woman's inability to bear children as a curse from Yahweh. So, in desperation, Rachel gives Jacob her servant, Bilah, to have sex with. Jacob appears to have no misgivings about this because they produce two sons together. Although Leah is still in the lead, she doesn’t like Rachel closing the gap so she gives Jacob her own servant, Zilpah. Jacob then has two sons by Zilpah. The contest cools down for the moment, but it will heat up again under the power of the mandrakes.

Just what are mandrakes? Native to the Mediterranean, this plant was thought to have aphrodisiacal as well as procreative powers. This may be in part because it somewhat resembles the human form with its forked root representing legs. Legend also has it that they emit a ‘scream’ when uprooted, as noted by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet:

And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, That living mortals, hearing them run mad,

Rachel wants to try the mandrakes but Leah says she will only give her some if she will let her have sex with Jacob that night. Rachel, desperate to try to conceive with the help of the mandrakes, agrees, and Leah gives Jacob the 'good' news. As the Bible puts it starkly, “You're sleeping with me tonight. I hired you with my son's love flowers" (Gen. 30:16 CEV). And, of course, since Leah has her own mandrakes, she gets pregnant three more times, bringing her personal tally to seven.

Meanwhile poor Rachel is still barren. Then, suddenly, Yahweh “remembered” Rachel (did he forget?) and “opened her womb” allowing her to conceive. And with the arrival of a son from Rachel, Jacob decides it's time to return home. This is when the magic starts.

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