Genesis Chapter 30:1-24

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.

Rachel had to watch her sister give birth to her husband’s firstborn son, followed by 2 more sons. By this point, Rachel was desperate to have a baby for Jacob. Women who are trying to conceive a baby become obsessed with it…it’s all they talk about… and for those who are around them, it gets a bit hard to take when month after month their hearts are broken. So here is Rachel… forced to witness her sister have babies that her own husband adored. Rachel, saw the closeness between Jacob and Leah.. that occurs when you create a life together…she tells Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.”
This was an expression of extreme distress. Jacob had to deal with the jealousy of these two women. Leah was jealous of the fact that Jacob loved Rachel…she was the one he desired. Rachel was jealous of Leah’s fertility and the children she gave to Jacob. All of this they laid at Jacob’s feet, and he was angry because they couldn’t get along.

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?

He’s saying, “I’m not God Rachel, I’m not making you barren! This is not something I can fix!” I know, based on his love for Joseph and Benjamin, that he wanted children with Rachel too.

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.

Bilhah was a Pilegesh, which is a sexual slave of sorts who was given to bear children. Sometimes called a concubine. Her position was a slave who was like a second degree wife. Her children were considered the children of her mistress.

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.

Rachel is in a competition with Leah to give Jacob children.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.

Now Jacob has 4 women competing with one another to get pregnant by him and give him a baby. God was working his plans out… even when Rachel was all upset about not being able to have children… God was working. It prompted her to give her handmaid over to bear him children also… and eventually Rachel bore Jacob 2 sons of her own womb. God was building a great nation, and the children these women were bearing for Jacob became the men the 12 tribes of Israel came from.

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.

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.

Mandrakes are where we get Mathaqualone (Quaaludes) If you were alive in the 1970’s you might remember this t-shirt with a quaalude on it. It was a popular drug for people who like to relax and tune out.

Back in the times of Leah and Rachel, the mandrake was a root like plant shaped like a man, they believed would make them fertile. Rachel asked Leah for the 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.

These two believed these mandrakes would help them conceive a child. When Rachel asked for them, Leah said, “Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband?” Leah was very aware that Rachel was the desired wife of Jacob…. Rachel had his love and affections, and all Leah had was her ability to give him babies. Neither woman was completely contented, they both wanted what the other one had too. I wouldn’t want to be in the position of either one of them.
So, they struck a deal for the mandrakes. Leah gives Rachel the mandrakes, and Rachel gives up her night with Jacob so he can go in to Leah and be with her. I get the impression that given a choice, Jacob chose to sleep with Rachel.

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.

It seems from this verse that either they switched nights or he typically went home to Rachel’s tent, unless he was trying to get Leah pregnant. I’m thinking that he normally went home to Rachel. Leah seemed excited to get this chance to have Jacob to herself for the night….she went out to meet him and direct him to her tent. She also mentioned to him that she gave Rachel the mandrakes, which they all believed helped conception, so Jacob may have also been pleased to hear that.

I don’t believe the mandrakes were a form of Idolatry… they were simply a misguided way to treat infertility. The practice was more like an old wives tale.

¹⁷ And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

Without mandrakes, Leah conceives. Why? Because God gave her a baby.

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.

Leah gave Jacob 3 more children after the deal with the mandrakes….while Rachel with the mandrakes still failed to conceive.

²² And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

“AND GOD HEARKENED TO HER, AND OPENED HER WOMB.” It happened in God’s perfect timing. We see it time and time again. Sarah had Isaac when God decided it was time for her to bear a son, Rebekah did not conceive for 20 years after she and Isaac were married and Rachel also had to wait until the time set by God for her to conceive.

²³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

²⁴ And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son.