³¹When the Lord saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, he made it possible for Leah to have children, but not Rachel. ³²Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ⁿ because she said, “The Lord has seen my troubles. Surely now my husband will love me.”

³³Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon ⁿ and said, “The Lord has heard that I am not loved, so he has given me this son.”

³⁴Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Levi ⁿ and said, “Now, surely my husband will be close to me, because I have given him three sons.”

³⁵Then Leah gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, ⁿ because she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Then Leah stopped having children.

30When Rachel saw that she was not having children for Jacob, she envied her sister Leah. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” ²Jacob became angry with her and said, “Can I do what only God can do? He is the one who has kept you from having children.”

³Then Rachel said, “Here is my slave girl Bilhah. Have sexual relations with her so she can give birth to a child for me. Then I can have my own family through her.”

⁴So Rachel gave Bilhah, her slave girl, to Jacob as a wife, and he had sexual relations with her. ⁵She became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. ⁶Rachel said, “God has judged me innocent. He has listened to my prayer and has given me a son,” so she named him Dan. ⁿ

⁷Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. ⁸Rachel said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I have won.” So she named that son Naphtali. ⁿ

⁹Leah saw that she had stopped having children, so she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰When Zilpah had a son, ¹¹Leah said, “I am lucky,” so she named him Gad. ⁿ ¹²Zilpah gave birth to another son, ¹³and Leah said, “I am very happy! Now women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher. ⁿ

¹⁴During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the field and found some mandrake ⁿ plants and brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵Leah answered, “You have already taken away my husband, and now you are trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”

But Rachel answered, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you may sleep with Jacob tonight.”

¹⁶When Jacob came in from the field that night, Leah went out to meet him. She said, “You will have sexual relations with me tonight because I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.

¹⁷Then God answered Leah’s prayer, and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son ¹⁸and said, “God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband.” So Leah named her son Issachar. ⁿ

¹⁹Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son. ²⁰She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will honor me, because I have given him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun. ⁿ ²¹Later Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer, making it possible for her to have children. ²³When she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, she said, “God has taken away my shame,” ²⁴and she named him Joseph. ⁿ Rachel said, “I wish the Lord would give me another son.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

nReuben This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “he has seen my troubles.”
nSimeon This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “has heard.”
nLevi This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “be close to.”
nJudah This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “praise.”
nDan This name means “he has judged.”
nNaphtali This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “my struggle.”
nGad This name may mean “lucky.”
nAsher This name may mean “happy.”
nmandrake A plant which was believed to cause a woman to become pregnant.
nIssachar This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “paid for.”
nZebulun This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “honor.”
nJoseph This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “he adds.”