Genesis 30:1: “When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’”
“Don’t tell me you’re pregnant again”, Rachel blurted out. She and her sister Leah busied herself by the hearth, preparing dinner. Leah’s three-year-old son Reuben played peek-a-boo with his younger brother Simeon while her youngest boy, Levi, lay fast asleep in the cradle, oblivious of all the commotion going on around him. Leah’s face looked tired. She gave her sister a dirty look and said: “What if I am pregnant? Why is that a problem?” As soon as she said it, she already regretted her words. Rachel snapped at her: “You know what? I don’t need this.” And she stormed off.
At the end of a long working day, Jacob came to say goodnight to his wives and children. The minute he saw Leah, he knew something was up. “What happened?” he asked. Leah shrugged her shoulders and replied: “Rachel and I had a tiff this afternoon. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have said what I said.” Jacob frowned, saying: “You know that I will have to pay for your careless words, Leah. I’m going to talk to her right now.” Leah’s face fell. “What about dinner?” she asked. Jacob shook his head saying: “I’m not hungry.” He turned and headed to Rachel’s tent.
As expected, Jacob found Rachel in her tent sulking. “Hello my dove”, he approached her. “Is everything alright?” Rachel was angry. “What do you think,” she spat, “Nothing is alright as long as I am childless and my sister keeps popping babies.”
Insulted Jacob went into defense mode. “Don’t speak about my sons that way,” he growled, “I won’t have it!” Rachel interjected: “Then give me children, Jacob! Give me children, or I’ll die!” His face flushed with anger, Jacob raised his voice: “Woman, I’m not God who has closed your womb for reasons we both don’t know. Stop acting like a child!” He wished that he had bit his tongue when Rachel left the tent without honoring him with a response. He was about to follow her when Rachel came back inside accompanied by her servant Bilhah. Jacob looked first at his wife, then at her servant and asked, perplexed: “What is this?!” Rachel calmly replied, “This is Bilhah, my attendant. She has agreed to bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”
After his angry outburst, Jacob felt he owed it to his wife to accept her proposal. And so he took Rachel’s servant Bilhah as his concubine. In the years to follow Bilhah conceived and had two sons whom Rachel named Dan and Naphtali.
While Jacob’s private life was fraught with tension his work life was no pleasure cruise either. Laban was a shrewd employer and made him responsible for any mishaps while on duty. Whether sheep were stolen or torn by wild beasts, he would have to pay for the loss out of his own pocket. It was hard work and whenever he came home, he had to settle another dispute between the two sisters who constantly vied for his attention. Rachel and Leah had stopped talking to each other and Jacob was stuck in the middle while trying to please two jealous wives.
Soon Leah’s fourth son was born, and she named him “Judah”. Then she stopped having children. The time came when Judah was weaned. Already her two eldest sons Reuben and Simeon left during the day to help the shepherds, and she could see in Levi’s eyes that he too wanted to join them. “Soon all my sons will be out in the fields and I am here all alone.” Leah thought to herself. “My husband does not see me as often as he used to, but I am ready to have more children.”
That evening, as Jacob tucked their children into bed, Leah approached him and asked: “May I speak to you in private please?” Jacob looked at her with tired eyes saying: “Leah, I’m exhausted. Please don’t burden me with more problems than I already have.” Leah smiled and said: “There is no problem, Jacob – only solutions to a problem.” He still looked suspicious: “What solution? And what problem?” he asked. Leah put an arm around her servant Zilpah and presented her to Jacob without saying a word, and he immediately understood. “Oh no! You wouldn’t!” Leah interjected: “Yes, Jacob. My servant Zilpah agreed to bear children for me.” Jacob spread his hands, trying to talk her out of it: “But you don’t need more children! You already have four!” Leah snapped: “You did this for Rachel, now do it for me. Are you saying that you love her more than me and you are not willing to help me?”
Jacob sighed. Again he felt like a puppet, caught in the net of his wives’ jealousy. It seemed that no amount of effort on his end would satisfy either of them. He looked Leah squarely in the eyes and replied: “Of course I am willing to help you, and I will do the best I can – but it is in God’s power alone to decide who can have children.” So Jacob obliged and took Zilpah as his second concubine. She conceived and had two sons: Gad and Asher.
It was the time of wheat harvest when the purplish mandrake flowers bloom. Reuben knew that his mother liked this particular flower, so whenever he had a chance he brought a few of them home. It was a warm sunny afternoon and one of the rare occasions that his mother and his aunt were hanging out together when he arrived on the campsite. Rachel recognized the flowers in his hands right away. Mandrakes were thought to be aphrodisiac, and so she asked her sister, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” Indignant, Leah stood up and said: “You have the nerve to ask me for my son’s mandrakes. Isn’t it enough that you stole Jacob’s heart from me? And now you want to steal my son’s mandrakes too?”
Turning to Reuben, Leah accepted the flowers saying: “Thank you Reuben! Go get your brothers. It’s dinner time.” After he had left, Rachel started pleading with her sister. “Please Leah. I know I haven’t been nice to you, but try to understand how it feels when everybody around you has babies, except me. It’s a curse.” Leah held the flowers in her hands and said nothing for a long while. Rachel understood her silent message and said: “Very well. Jacob can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” Leah handed her the flowers and with a tormented look on her face said: “Do you understand how humiliating this is for me, having to bargain with you for a night with my husband?” Rachel smiled a sad smile and replied, “Perhaps it is time to make peace with the fact that none of us is happy in this situation and we both feel betrayed. Maybe it’s time to stop competing and become friends again. I miss my sister.” And with that, she left and Leah chewed on her words for a while. “Lord”, she prayed. “I am sorry that I have turned into a bitter woman. Forgive me and help my sister Rachel to have a baby. And may her future son heal her sorrow and make her smile again. I too want my sister back!”
God listened to Leah and gave her more than she had asked for. He healed the relationship between the sisters, but He also opened Leah’s womb and gave her three more children: two sons by the name of Issachar and Zebulun and a daughter whom she named Dinah. And the Lord remembered Rachel too; He enabled her to conceive and give birth to a healthy boy. Rachel was the happiest mother anyone has ever seen. Hugging her baby she gave him the name “Joseph” saying: “May God add another son!”