Genesis 30

Humanity has a natural craving for love. We want to be accepted and valued. This is not abnormal or unhealthy until it produces harmful behavior. We all know that competition and jealousy can wreak havoc in families. That’s what we see in today’s passage.

There was ongoing strife in Jacob’s family. He was in love with Rachel. He tolerated Leah, whom he was wedded to first because of his father-in-law’s deception. Through childbearing, Leah desired to earn the love of Jacob, who treated her with indifference, and Rachel desired to keep the love of Jacob, who adored her. The two sisters entered what could best be described as a childbearing contest.

When God saw that Leah was unloved, “he opened her womb” (Gen. 29:31). When Rachel saw that she was not having children, her jealousy of Leah grew to unbearable levels. She lashed out at Jacob, demanding, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Gen. 30:1). This ultimatum, couched in an accusation, greatly angered Jacob, who responded, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (Gen. 30:2). Rachel decided to give Jacob her servant, Bilhah, who gave birth to two sons. When Leah’s childbearing slowed down, she gave Jacob her servant, Zilpah. From these four women came the twelve tribes of Israel. From Leah and Zilpah were born eight sons. Leah also had a daughter named Dinah. From Rachel and Bilhah were born four sons.

Chapter 29 gives a list of Jacob’s sons through the birth of Joseph (Benjamin was born later). The sons’ names reveal Leah’s desperate longing for Jacob’s affection and the tension between the two wives. Later, we’ll learn that this animosity is passed on to their children. Let’s consider the names of the sons that tell the story.

Reuben (Leah): The Lord sees my affliction (Gen. 29:31-32)

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. Leah named him Reuben “because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She is hoping to gain Jacob’s love.

Simeon (Leah): The Lord hears (Gen. 29:33)

Leah named her second son Simeon “because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.”

Levi (Leah): Hope for attachment (Gen. 29:34)

Leah named her third son Levi, believing that Jacob would now be attached to her because she had given him three sons.

Judah (Leah): Praise for the Lord (Gen. 29:35)

Leah declared when she had her fourth son, “This time, I will praise the Lord.” Remember, God had promised he would send One to crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15). This One would come through the lineage of Abraham, and through him, all nations of the world would be blessed. Jesus came through the ancestry of Judah (Luke 3:31-34).

Dan (Rachel’s servant Bilhah): Judged (Gen. 30:5-6)

Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son.”

Naphtali (Rachel’s servant Bilhah): Mighty struggle (Gen. 30:7-8)

Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.”

Gad (Leah’s servant Zilpah): Good fortune (Gen. 30:10-11)

            Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. She said, “Good fortune has come!”

Asher (Leah’s servant Zilpah): Happiness (Gen. 30:12-13)

            Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.”

Issachar (Leah): Wages (Gen. 30:14-18)

One day, Reuben came in from the field with mandrakes for his mother, Leah. Mandrakes were thought to be aphrodisiacs, so Rachel asked for some. Leah said, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” You can hear the contempt! Finally, Leah agreed to give Rachel the mandrakes for the right to sleep with Jacob that night. The night’s union produced a son. Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.”

Zebulun (Leah): Honor (Gen. 30:19-20)

Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me because I have borne him six sons.” Leah hopes that Jacob will honor her.

Joseph (Rachel): May he add (Gen. 30:22-24)

Finally, Rachel had a son and praised God for taking away her “reproach.” She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

If the tension in the home was not enough, Jacob also had problems with his father-in-law, Laban. The narrative through the rest of Genesis 30 moves to the interaction between these two men.

Jacob was ready to take his family and return home. But Laban knew that God had blessed him through Jacob (Gen. 30:22) therefore he was reluctant to let Jacob go. Finally, they struck a deal. Jacob would take all the speckled and spotted sheep and goats and the black lambs as his wages to keep him there.

Genesis 30:33-34
“So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.”

But once again, the deceiver was deceived. Laban removed all the speckled, spotted, and black animals and put his sons in charge of them (Gen. 30:35).

Jacob devised another way to grow his herd. In line with the thought of the day, he cut fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled back the bark to make white streaks on them. He placed the sticks in front of the troughs where the animals would mate. Perhaps this was an ancient lore of breeding, but God used it, and Jacob credited God with his success (Gen. 31:9). Jacob’s flocks increased, and God made him a wealthy man—just as he had promised some two decades earlier when the Lord appeared to him at Bethel (Gen. 28:10-22).

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 30. As you read this chapter, here are two points of focus. Don’t miss the tension between Leah and Rachel and the tension between Jacob and Laban. When God writes our story, he doesn’t leave out challenging relationships in our lives.

Talking to God
We see again in this chapter how our natural bent is to take matters into our own hands. Ask God for the courage to depend on him and his timing.

Have Questions?
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