Children in Rachel and Leah's Narratives
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Share(לא) כי שנואה לאה שהכיר בה אחר כך סימני עקרה כאמרו ויפתח את רחמה וחשב שבשביל זה הסכימה להטעותו:
(31) כי שנואה לאה, because after his first meeting with her Yaakov recognised that Leah bore the symptoms of a woman who is unable to have children.
Mey on Genesis 29:31:1
(31) Maybe Leah thought she was hated because Yaakov would not "call upon her"...
(31) Maybe Leah thought she was hated because Yaakov would not "call upon her"...
(לב) בעניי שהיה בעלי חושדני שהסכמתי להטעותו ותמורת החשד נתן האל ית' לי זרע כענין בסוטה:
(32) בעניי, that my husband suspected me of agreeing to deceive him. As compensation for having been unfairly suspected G’d granted me male seed. (compare the reward for a woman unjustly suspected of infidelity Numbers 5,25)
(כא) וְאַחַ֖ר יָ֣לְדָה בַּ֑ת וַתִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמָ֖הּ דִּינָֽה׃
(21) Last, she bore him a daughter, and named her Dinah.
(כא) דינה פֵּרְשׁוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁדָּנָה לֵאָה דִּין בְּעַצְמָהּ, אִם זֶה זָכָר לֹא תְהֵא רָחֵל אֲחוֹתִי כְּאַחַת הַשְּׁפָחוֹת, וְהִתְפַּלְּלָה עָלָיו וְנֶהְפַּךְ לִנְקֵבָה (ברכות ס'):
(21) דינה DINAH (Judgment) — Our Rabbis explained, that Leah set herself up as judge (דנה) against herself saying: “If this be a son, my sister Rachel cannot be even the equal of any of the handmaids”. She, therefore, offered prayer regarding it, and its sex was changed (Berakhot 60a).
(כא) ותקרא את שמה דינה - ולא נכתבה הודאה על לידת הבת לדעת למה נקראת כן, שאין מודים על הבת כמו על הבן ולהודיעך בא שכל בני יעקב היו זכרים חוץ מזו. וכן: ושם בת אשר סרח. בכל ע' נפש לא היו רק שתי בנות יוכבד וסרח.
(21) ותקרא את שמה דינה. No mention is made of Leah giving thanks to the Lord for giving birth to a daughter, seeing that one does not express gratitude for bearing a daughter in the same degree as one does for bearing a son. The reason that the birth of this daughter is mentioned is to inform us that with the exception of this one girl Yaakov’s children were all males. The same thing is true of the daughter of Asher, Serach being mentioned; (46,17) among all the 70 Israelites descending to Egypt only two were females.
“‘When the Lord saw that Leah was hated’ – Yaakov did not [actually] hate her; he loved her, but because he loved Rachel more than he did Leah, Leah is described as being ‘hated.’ In other words, in comparison with the love for Rachel, she was hated.
In contrast to Radak, Ramban explains that Yaakov actually did feel hatred towards Leah owing to her deception of him, which forced him to serve Lavan for an extra seven years and to end up in the complicated position of being married to two sisters. Even according to Ramban, however, this hatred was clearly limited in its scope and intensity, since Yaakov did engage in intimacy with Leah, fathered seven children with her (six sons and a daughter), agreed to her request that he marry Zilpa, too, and eventually commanded his sons to bury him at her side in Me’arat ha-Makhpela.
In contrast to Radak, Ramban explains that Yaakov actually did feel hatred towards Leah owing to her deception of him, which forced him to serve Lavan for an extra seven years and to end up in the complicated position of being married to two sisters. Even according to Ramban, however, this hatred was clearly limited in its scope and intensity, since Yaakov did engage in intimacy with Leah, fathered seven children with her (six sons and a daughter), agreed to her request that he marry Zilpa, too, and eventually commanded his sons to bury him at her side in Me’arat ha-Makhpela.
Rachel's Alternative Complex:
In her despair and distress Rachel begins to suspect that during their times of intimacy it is Yaakov’s intention that she should not conceive, in order that she will remain beautiful. This was a well-established phenomenon in the ancient world: This suspicion is unfounded, and it is this that leads Yaakov to be angry with Rachel.
In her despair and distress Rachel begins to suspect that during their times of intimacy it is Yaakov’s intention that she should not conceive, in order that she will remain beautiful. This was a well-established phenomenon in the ancient world: This suspicion is unfounded, and it is this that leads Yaakov to be angry with Rachel.