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Gen. 30:1 “And
when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no
children, Rachel envied her sister; and said
unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against
Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead,
who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the
womb? 3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah,
go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my
knees, that I may also have children by her.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to
wife: and Jacob went in unto her. 5 And
Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. 6
And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and
hath also heard my voice, and hath given me
a son: therefore called she his name Dan. 7
And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again,
and bare Jacob a second son. 8 And Rachel
said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled
with my sister, and I have prevailed: and
she called his name Naphtali.”
In the above passage we see that Rachel was
not satisfied with the affection and love of
her husband, but was envious of her sister’s
reproductive ability. Rather than look at
her own inability to have children, she
blames it upon Jacob and demands that he
give her children. In this Jacob
appropriately replied, “Am I in God's stead,
who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the
womb?” Obviously Jacob could father
children, but it was God who had withheld
from her the fruit of the womb. Rather than
praying that the Lord would give her the
ability to have children she came up with
her own perverted plan. “And she said,
Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and
she shall bear upon my knees, that I may
also have children by her.” The plan was
reprehensible in several areas:
1. Bilhah was her
hand maid meaning that she was a bond
servant. However, to make a bondservant a
concubine for your husband is morally wrong
and and abuse of power over the poor bond
maid.
2. Rachel is
claiming the children of her bond maid for
herself, which is also reprehensible.
3. Jacob was
complicit when the scheme and could
certainly have put a stop to it, but rather
went along with it.
The above was an escalation of the war
between the two sisters, who were warring
for the affection of Jacob. It seems
foolish to me that anyone would look at the
polygamy of this clan of people and think
that somehow that God has authorized the
practice of bigamy or polygamy.
It is easily discernable that both Leah and
Rachel was greatly dissatisfied with having
to share their husband. Moreover, Jacob
could not have been happy to have to listen
to the constant complaints of these two
sisters. Surely, God’s way of marriage
between one man and one woman is far better
than any bigamist or polygamist
arrangement.
Again, we see the names of the two sons in
the above passage related to the feelings of
the sisters. The name “Dan” means “judged”
because Rachel said that God had judged
her. The name “Naphthali” means “wrestling”
because Rachel said that she had great
wrestlings with her sister and had
prevailed.
Gen. 30:9-13 The Race for heirs
Gen. 30:9
“When Leah saw that she had left bearing,
she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob
to wife. 10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare
Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, A troop
cometh: and she called his name Gad. 12 And
Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the
daughters will call me blessed: and she
called his name Asher.”
In this passage, Leah counters the action of
her sister Rachel by giving her maid, Zilpah
to Jacob to wife. The only motivation that
I can see for this action is that she wanted
to stay ahead of Rachel in the race for
children. This action was just as morally
odious as the previous action of Rachel in
giving her maid to Jacob for wife.
The children, like the previous sons, were
named according to the thinking of the two
sisters at the time of their birth. The
name “Gad” means “troop” after the statement
of Leah, “A troop cometh.” The name “Asher”
means “happy” after Leah’s statement “Happy
am I.”
Gen. 30:14-21
Bargaining for Jacob
Gen. 30:14 “And Reuben went in the days of
wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the
field, and brought them unto his mother
Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I
pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. 15 And
she said unto her, Is it a small matter that
thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest
thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And
Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with
thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. 16
And Jacob came out of the field in the
evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and
said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely
I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes.
And he lay with her that night. 17 And God
hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and
bare Jacob the fifth son. 18 And Leah said,
God hath given me my hire, because I have
given my maiden to my husband: and she
called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah
conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth
son. 20 And Leah said, God hath endued me
with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell
with me, because I have born him six sons:
and she called his name Zebulun. 21 And
afterwards she bare a daughter, and called
her name Dinah.”
In the above passage we see another turn in
the war between the sisters as they bargain
over a mandrake for the right to sleep with
Jacob. Rachel wanted one of Leah’s sons
mandrakes and Leah wanted to sleep with
Jacob. Thus, the bargain was made and Jacob
was informed that he was to lay with Leah
because of the bargain. Thus, the intimacies
of Jacob were being traded for the carnal
desires of the two sisters. Consequently,
Leah bare the fifth son to Jacob. She called
his name, Issachar, meaning “hire” as she
had hired Jacob’s affection for a mandrake.
Subsequently, Leah bare the sixth son to
Jacob and called his name “Zebulun” which
means “dwell” as Leah thought by having the
sixth son that surely Jacob would want to
dwell with her rather than Rachel. Finally,
Leah had a daughter and called her name
“Dinah.” We are not given the meaning of the
name, Dinah. As we shall see later, Dinah
shall not bear children and thus will not be
a continuing part of Jacob’s heritage. |
