Leah

Adapted from She, Delighting in the Examples of the Women of the Bible, pp23 -24

Today’s Scripture: Genesis 29; 1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 31:30

“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”

Proverbs 31:30

Leah was the daughter of Laban, the sister of Rachel (who we will look at tomorrow), the first wife of Jacob, and the mother of seven of Jacob’s children – including Judah.

To truly appreciate the story of Leah and see God’s hand in her story, I believe it is helpful to understand how she came to be the wife of Jacob¹.

Leah serves as an example that God does not look on our outward appearance, but rather He looks upon our hearts.

She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, p24

“Leah’s first mention in the Bible comes in the story of Jacob. After Jacob tricked his father and stole his brother’s birthright (Genesis 27:1–29), he was forced to flee to the home of his uncle Laban in Harran. There, Jacob fell in love with Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel. Leah, being the older daughter, should have been the first to marry, unfortunately, she was homely, whereas Rachel was beautiful (Genesis 29:17). Because of his love for Rachel, Jacob made a deal with Laban to work seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage.”²

At the end of the seven years, as promised, Laban gave Jacob his daughter in marriage. However, because of cultural protocols of the day, Laban deceived Jacob and gave him Leah in place of Rachel. From there, Leah’s story unfolds, and we see God’s sovereign plan play out on the pages of Scripture (Genesis 29:30-31). It was a plan that included Leah giving birth to six of Jacob’s sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. From Leah’s line, through Judah, would come the prophesied Messiah.

Scripture makes it clear that Leah was not the one Jacob wanted (Genesis 29:16-18), for he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah ( Genesis 29:30). Nonetheless, Leah became:

• Jacob’s unplanned first wife. We know Jacob did not appreciate this, but I can’t help wondering how Leah felt about this. Was she happy that her father had carried out the cultural demands of the day? Or, was she embarrassed, sad, or even angry to be married to someone who did not want to be married to her? Did she feel bad for her sister or vindicated to have her rights as the first daughter?

She also became:

• The first to give birth to Jacob’s children. For “when the LORD saw that Leah was barren, He opened her womb: but Rachel was barren” Genesis 29:31.

God Sees the Heart

“Jacob may have loved Rachel more because of her outward beauty, but it was Leah whose inner beauty allowed God to choose her to birth the son of Jacob from whose line Jesus Christ came.” While Leah may have suffered the pain of being “second choice, the Lord chose to use her in a great way for His glory.”³

“…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

Knowing the full story of Jacob, when I read this portion of Leah’s story, I can’t help but think of the saying, “what goes around comes around.” I’m not at all saying this is what happened, but as Jacob’s deception cost Esau his birthright, Laban’s deception has now robbed Jacob of the ‘love of his life,’ at least for a short period of time. Apparently, the same cultural norms of the day that allowed Laban to justify his deception also allowed him to give Rachel to Jacob as soon as Leah’s bridal week was over. – YIKES! I cannot imagine living under such customs, nor can I help wondering how Leah and Rachel felt. Were they angry, hurt, embarrassed, or simply happy to be married?

Application and Reflection

How can you apply Leah’s character to your life?

The More We Know

1. Who was Jacob in the Bible?  ↩︎
2. Gotguestions.org,Who was Leah in the Bible ↩︎
3. She, Delighting in the examples of the women of the Bible, p23 ↩︎