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Rachel
Leah is one of Laban’s daughters, making her Bethuel’s granddaughter and Jacob’s cousin. She is less beautiful than her sister, Rachel. After Jacob has worked for seven years to marry Rachel, Laban marries Leah to Jacob first. Leah is painfully aware that Jacob does not love her. Seeing that Leah is unloved, God grants her many children: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
Leah Quotes in Genesis
The Genesis quotes below are all either spoken by Leah or refer to Leah. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 30 Quotes
When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” […]
Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”; and she named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Leah Character Timeline in Genesis
The timeline below shows where the character Leah appears in Genesis. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 29
...Jacob shouldn’t work for him for free—what should his wages be? Laban has two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Though Leah has lovely eyes, Rachel is more beautiful. Jacob tells Laban he...
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...asks Laban for Rachel, and Laban throws a marriage feast. But that night, he brings Leah to Jacob’s tent instead. The next morning, when Jacob realizes what’s happened, he demands to...
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God sees that Leah isn’t loved, so while Rachel remains barren, he enables Leah to conceive a son. Leah...
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Chapter 30
Rachel, still barren, envies Leah for her many children. She tells Jacob to give her children or else she’ll die....
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Leah stops bearing children, so she gives her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. Zilpah...
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During the wheat harvest, Reuben brings his mother, Leah, some mandrakes. Rachel asks Leah for some of the mandrakes, but Leah refuses, saying it’s...
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Chapter 31
...Jacob to return to his homeland. So Jacob summons his wives and tells Rachel and Leah that he has served Laban well for a long time, but that now Laban has...
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Continuing his explanation to Rachel and Leah, Jacob says that once, while the flock was mating, he dreamed that all the male...
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...them. Laban says that God will be witness between them if Jacob mistreats Rachel and Leah or takes any additional wives. Jacob swears accordingly, and they eat bread together. Early the...
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Chapter 33
...400 men, so he divides up his household with the maids in front, followed by Leah and her children, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. Jacob walks in front, bowing...
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Chapter 34
Leah’s daughter, Dinah, goes to visit some neighbor women. As she goes, Shechem son of Hamor,...
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Chapter 35
...sleeps with Bilhah, and Jacob hears about it.) Jacob has 12 sons altogether: six from Leah, two from Rachel, and two each from Bilhah and Zilpah. Jacob comes to Isaac at...
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Chapter 49
...sons to bury him in the cave of Machpelah, where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah are buried. Then Jacob breathes his last.
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