[21] Dante Alighieri's Purgatorio includes a dream of Rachel and Leah, which inspired illustrations by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others: " in my dream, I seemed to see a woman May you act worthily inEphrathah andbe renowned in Bethlehem, It is interesting to note that the name Leah in Hebrew means weary or cow while Rachel means ewe., Cows are a great symbol of fertility in Mesopotamia, partially because of the similarity between the words littu, cow, and alittu, birth giver.. Laban tricked Jacob, however, substituting the heavily-veiled Leah on the dark wedding night. Before we dive into some lessons we can learn from Leah in the Bible, lets review her story. Leah is very insecure, knowing she is loved less than her sister Rachel. That is between her and God, but we know that her jealously took her down a terrible downward spiral. Unlike her younger sister Rachel, Leah was ordinary looking, what we might call a plain Jane. There were no striking features about Leahs face or appearance, with particular emphasis on her eyes. Jacob sets out to Mesopotamia to marry from his parents collateral line. At first glance, Leahs story is full of grief. Leah first appears in the Book of Genesis, in Genesis 29, which describes her as the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel, and is said to not compare to Rachel's physical beauty and that she has tender eyes. ' but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.' (Gen 29:17, ESV) Imagine if you were the first half of this sentence, the bit that comes before the 'but'. Leah felt unloved. Perhaps God also has weak eyes. Many of the stories about Leah in the Bible center around her turbulent relationship with her sister, Rachel, as they are both Jacobs wives. Leah is living at home with her father Laban and younger sister Rachel. We could imagine Jacobs infatuation with Rachel was love at first sight, as they almost certainly would not have been granted time for deep conversation or solitary walks across the pastureland of Haran. Leah said, God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband. So she called his name Issachar. Leahs tender heart made her the perfect candidate to fulfill Jacobs First Wife duties by bearing him many sons! The name "Leah" () means 'weary'. Unconditionally. But both women made the same mistake as Sarah, offering their maidservants to Jacob during times of barrenness. Furious, Jacob makes another agreement with Laban. Perhaps her relentless jealousy killed Rachel. Leah writes on her blog at leahlivelyblog.com and just released her second Bible study, 30 Days in Acts A Journey: Igniting the Flame of the Early Church. Both sisters agree to leave their home and travel to Canaan with their husband, Jacob. God loves us now, and He will love us forever. May theLordmake the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah,who togetherbuilt up the house of Israel. Leah chose to praise and be thankful for Gods role in her life. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. -- Freeman, J. M., & Chadwick, H. J. Afterwards she gave birth to Zebulun and to a daughter, Dinah. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.. When theLordsaw that Leah washated,he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Her third son she named Levi (now this time my husband will be attached to me). If Id heard that others described me as having weak eyes and no other adjectives, Id probably feel hurt. Can you relate to that? They go together, but Leah is still second best despite her many children. In Leahs story, we can be encouraged that a life redeemed can not occur with the perfect spouse or an abundance of children but with a heart that is tender and surrendered to God. In so doing, he too will marry into the family of Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, the grandfather of Rebekah, and the great-grandfather of Rachel and Leah. God also has a calling on your life and will make all circumstances work together for your good. We can point to the naming of her sons and how she hopes to gain favor through birthing them. Hamilton (NICOT) concluded that the phrase at issue here is a positive reference to something tender or delicate in Leahs appearance. Perhaps having poor eyesight was itself considered unattractive in Jacob's day? The interpreters of the Old Testament added those words to the text much later. Create an account or log in to get started. 34 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she bore unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. If Zilpah and Bilhah were indeed half-sisters of Leah, this would make Leah's adoptive sons, Gad and Asher, and Rachel's adoptive sons, Dan and Naphtali, her nephews. Prior to her and Rachel's mentioning, the Book of Genesis details how their first cousin and future husband, Jacob, with the help of his mother, Rebecca, willfully deceives his dying father, Isaac, into giving him his twin brother Esau's birthright. Even after Rachel's death, Leah's situation did not improve, as Jacob took Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden, as his primary partner. And Leah said,Good fortune has come! so she called his nameGad.Leahs servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. While others may appear to have everything together on the outside, focus on the condition of your heart. Neither does he reject us because we don't meet the world's standards for being attractive. He had seen Rachel and had been impressed that she was the one. Laban has instead placed Leah in Jacobs arms instead of the sought-after Rachel. Leah's life reminds us that God has given each of us everything we need, physically, to accomplish his purpose for our lives. "Meet Leah: First Wife of Jacob." Then he commanded them and said to them, I am to begathered to my people;bury me with my fathersin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan,which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. Therethey buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leahthe field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last, andwas gathered to his people. - Jewish Publication Society Bible He knows that this is the woman he is to marry. Scripture simply states the sad truth: "And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah." An Unloved Wife. God designed women to be pursued. - World English Bible and the eyes of Leah [are] tender, and Rachel hath been fair of form and fair of appearance. (Physical appearance is irrelevant in Gods eyes. Leah Is a Matriarch Unloved and unwanted, Leah was not only blessed by God with six sons and one daughter. Leah was content to praise the Lord for the blessings in her life, even if her husband did not love her the way he loved her sister. As the mother of Judah, Leah was part of the ancestry that led to the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Her story illustrates that God often chooses to fulfill his plans and purposes by using those who are overlooked by others. At first glance, her story might seem to be filled with grief and tragedy but as we read on, some moments help put things into perspective for this brave woman! 1 Read: Why Just Four Mothers? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. StudyLght .org . The next morning, in the light of day and the absence of a veil, the truth is revealed. What is the significance of The Parable of the Good Samaritan? Even after Rachels death, Jacob continues to favor Joseph. The conjunction but in the middle of this verse actually provides us with context clues to grasp the meaning of tender eyed. Rachel is said to be beautiful and well favoured. Butopposite of Rachels appearanceLeah is tender eyed. That is, Leah had eyes that were not special looking. Get a roundup of new Word by Word articles in your inbox each Friday. Genesis 29:17 ESV Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. PREVIOUS Genesis 29:16 NEXT Genesis 29:18. This fits just fine with the traditional KJV rendering of tender, which could be positive or negative. God had a specific calling for Leah and her life, whether Jacob favored her. The story of Leah's family is recorded in Genesis 2535. Leah was the chosen vessel through which the Messiah would be born and her weak eyes and her appeal to Yahweh may be a clue that she had had an encounter with Yahweh at some point in her earlier life. The King James Version that I grew up on has the even odder phrase, Leah was tender eyed. I sort of thought tender eyes were a good thing, not something that needs to be set in contrast to the beauty of ones sister. The Bible says in Genesis 29:30 that " Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. She may not have been Jacobs choice, but God chose her to play a role in the birth of the Savior of the world. Leah is a matriarch of her people and of Christ. This is evident as she named her fourth son, Judah, meaning praise. Connect with Leah on Facebook and Instagram (@leahlivelyblog). Leah never seems to gain the affections of Jacob, yet her life is evidence of Gods devotion to her. The Lord saw Leahs rejection and knew what having sons would mean to her and her quest for being loved by her husband. As I age, I have the grey hair coming in, the smile lines, and even some bags under my eyes. And they rule out some bad ideas that occur to me (or to others). Rachel eventually became pregnant again, but sadly she died in childbirth. While Leah and Rachel competed for Jacobs attention, Leah is honored in her death as the first wife of Jacob. Manners & customs of the Bible (p. 55). [b] Earlier passages in the Book of Genesis give some background on her father's family, noting that through him, she is the niece of Rebecca, who is the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau, and the granddaughter of Bethuel, and rabbinic literature goes even further, with the Book of Jasher claiming Leah and Rachel were twins and recording her mother's name as Adinah and her brothers' names as Beor, Alub, and Murash. He will work another seven years for Laban so that he can marry Rachel. She learns to set aside her idols of marriage, children, and family and set her sights on higher things than her circumstances. (NIV), Genesis 29:31When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! Genesis 29:23But when evening came, he (Laban) took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. Leah was the mother of six of Jacob's sons, including his first four (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah), and later two more (Issachar and Zebulun), and a daughter (Dinah). [15] Frustrated that she was not able to conceive at all, Rachel offered to trade her night with their husband with Leah in return for the mandrakes. When he met Rachel, he fell in love with her at first sight. He promised to honor the love between Jacob and Rachel, but he instead led them into disaster with a treacherous plan. Even though her husband Jacob favored Rachel, Leah remained committed, enduring this unfairness through faith in God. To add to the big name parade, Waltke agrees with Wenham. As Jacob's wife, Leah bore him six sons:Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. Leah in the Bible is the older daughter of Laban and Jacob's first wife. Furthermore, the Bible says Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah (Luke 3:33-34)Leah carried the Messianic bloodline and was Jesus ancestor! And when you see them differ on an apparent figure of speech, youre probably dealing with a Hebrew idiom: A fairly fixed speech form or expression that cannot be understood grammatically from its constituents parts but whose elements function as a set with a meaning peculiar to itself (Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament Greek). 1 Dinah, Jacob's daughter by Leah, went out to see the young women of the land. Enter your email address to receive email notifications when new Bible Q&A articles are posted. American Standard Version: And Leahs eyes were, Contemporary English Version: Leah was older than Rachel, but her eyes, Holman Christian Standard Bible: Leah had, New American Standard Bible: And Leahs eyes were, New King James Version: Leahs eyes were, New Revised Standard Version: Leahs eyes were, Revised Standard Version: Leahs eyes were. Through no fault of her own, she was not one of the "beautiful people" and it caused her a lifetime of heartache. Feeling overlooked or not good enough can be a deep hurt and can snowball into feelings of being less than, forgotten, or the fear of not being wanted. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. The commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leah's eyes became weak. When you see translations differ this much, youre probably dealing with a genuine ambiguity or obscurity in the Hebrew. There was a definite weakness when it came to the look of Leah's eyes. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.. God also has a calling on your life and will make all circumstances work together for your good. Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. Although Jacob overlooked Leahs position in the family, God gave her the position of being the first daughter, the first wife, and the first mother to Jacobs first son. Biblical passages are dismissive of Leah and favorable of Rachel, with Rachel said to be beautiful and of Leah, only that she had "weary", "tired" or "tender" eyes. We wont be promised a trial-free life but what God gives us is so much more. and I apply my lovely hands to fashion In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and foundmandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Please give me some of your sons mandrakes.But she said to her, Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? After seven years, the wedding finally arrives, and the veiled bride eventually becomes Jacobs wife. Id stick with the intuitiveto meopposition the text sets up, in which weak eyes are contrasted with Rachels beauty. Contact Us (Mailing Address for Donations). Then Leah said, God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons. So she called his nameZebulun.Afterward, she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
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