Leah - wikipedia Leah For alternate uses, see Leah ( disambiguation ). Dante 's Vision of Rachel and Leah -- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1855 Leah is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Laban. She and her younger sister Rachel became the two concurrent wives of Hebrew patriarch Jacob. She had six sons, whose descendants became some of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. She also had a daughter, Dinah. Contents 1 Personal history 1.1 Appearance 1.2 Marriage to Jacob 1.3 Motherhood 1.4 Rivalry with Rachel 1.5 Death and burial 1.6 Family tree 2 Medieval Christian symbolism 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links Personal history Appearance The Torah introduces Leah by describing her with the phrase, `` Leah had tender eyes '' ( Hebrew : ועיני לאה רכות ‎ ) ( Genesis 29 : 17 ). It is argued as to whether the adjective `` tender '' ( רכות ) should be taken to mean `` delicate and soft '' or `` weary ''. The commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leah 's eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacob 's older twin brother, Esau. In the Rabbinic mind, the two brothers are polar opposites ; Jacob being a God - fearing scholar and Esau being a hunter who also indulges in idolatry and adultery. But people were saying, `` Laban has two daughters and his sister, Rebekah, has two sons. The older daughter ( Leah ) will marry the older son ( Esau ), and the younger daughter ( Rachel ) will marry the younger son ( Jacob ). '' Hearing this, Leah spent most of her time weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as `` soft '' from weeping. God hearkens to Leah 's tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does. Marriage to Jacob Leah becomes Jacob 's wife through a deception on the part of her father, Laban. In the Biblical account, Jacob is dispatched to the hometown of Laban -- the brother of his mother Rebekah -- to avoid being killed by his brother Esau, and to find a wife. Out by the well, he encounters Laban 's younger daughter Rachel tending her father 's sheep, and decides to marry her. Laban is willing to give Rachel 's hand to Jacob as long as he works seven years for her. On the wedding night, however, Laban switches Leah for Rachel. Later Laban claims that it is uncustomary to give the younger daughter away in marriage before the older one ( Genesis 29 : 16 - 30 ). Laban offers to give Rachel to Jacob in marriage in return for another seven years of work ( Genesis 29 : 27 ). Jacob accepts the offer and marries Rachel after the week - long celebration of his marriage to Leah. Michelangelo 's Leah at the tomb of Pope Julius II at San Pietro in Vincoli. Motherhood Leah is the mother of six of Jacob 's sons, including his first four ( Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah ), and later two more ( Issachar and Zebulun ), and a daughter ( Dinah ). According to the scriptures, God saw that Leah was `` unloved '' and opened her womb as consolation. Seeing that she is unable to conceive, Rachel offers her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob, and names and raises the two sons ( Dan and Naphtali ) that Bilhah bears. Leah responds by offering her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and names and raises the two sons ( Gad and Asher ) that Zilpah bears. According to some commentaries, Bilhah and Zilpah are actually half - sisters of Leah and Rachel. One day, Leah 's firstborn son Reuben returns from the field with mandrakes for his mother. Leah has not conceived for a while, and this plant, whose roots resemble the human body, is thought to be an aid to fertility. Frustrated that she is not able to conceive at all, Rachel offers to trade her night with their husband in return for the mandrakes. Leah agrees, and that night she sleeps with Jacob and conceives Issachar. Afterwards she gives birth to Zebulun and to a daughter, Dinah. After that, God remembers Rachel and gives her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Rivalry with Rachel On a homiletical level, the classic Chassidic texts explain the sisters ' rivalry as more than marital jealousy. Each woman desired to grow spiritually in her avodat HaShem ( service of God ), and therefore sought closeness to the tzadik ( Jacob ) who is God 's personal emissary in this world. By marrying Jacob and bearing his sons, who would be raised in the tzadik 's home and continue his mission into the next generation ( indeed, all 12 sons became tzadikim in their own right and formed the foundation of the Nation of Israel ), they would develop an even closer relationship to God. Therefore, Leah and Rachel each wanted to have as many of those sons as possible, going so far as to offer their handmaids as proxies to Jacob so they could have a share in the upbringing of their handmaids ' sons, too. Each woman also continually questioned whether she was doing enough in her personal efforts toward increased spirituality, and would use the other 's example to spur herself on. Rachel envied Leah 's tearful prayers, by which she merited to marry the tzadik and bear six of his twelve sons. The Talmud ( Megillah 13b ) says that Rachel revealed to Leah the secret signs which she and Jacob had devised to identify the veiled bride, because they both suspected Laban would pull such a trick. Death and burial Leah died some time before Jacob ( according to Genesis 49 : 31 ). She is thought to be buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron alongside Jacob. This cave also houses the graves of Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebekah. Tomb of Leah, 1911. Family tree Terah Sarah Abraham Hagar Haran Nahor Ishmael Milcah Lot Iscah Ishmaelites 7 sons Bethuel 1st daughter 2nd daughter Isaac Rebecca Laban Moabites Ammonites Esau Jacob Rachel Bilhah Edomites Zilpah Leah 1. Reuben 2. Simeon 3. Levi 4. Judah 9. Issachar 10. Zebulun Dinah ( daughter ) 7. Gad 8. Asher 5. Dan 6. Naphtali 11. Joseph 12. Benjamin According to this tree, Leah 's husband Jacob is her first cousin ( through their mutual grandfather Bethuel ). They are also second cousins once removed ( Jacob 's great - grandfather through Abraham, Terah, is Leah 's great - great grandfather through Nahor ) ; and again second cousins once removed ( Jacob 's great - grandfather through Sarah, Terah, is Leah 's great - great - grandfather through Nahor ). Finally, they are second cousins twice removed ( Jacob 's great - grandfather through Abraham, Terah, is Leah 's great - great - great - grandfather through Milcah ) ; and again second cousins twice removed ( Jacob 's great - grandfather through Sarah, Terah, is Leah 's great - great - great - grandfather through Milcah ). Medieval christian symbolism In medieval Christian symbolism, Rachel was taken as a symbol of the contemplative ( monastic ) Christian life, and Leah as a symbol of the active ( non-monastic ) life. Dante Alighieri 's Purgatorio includes a dream of Rachel and Leah, which inspired illustrations by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and others : ``... in my dream, I seemed to see a woman both young and fair ; along a plain she gathered flowers, and even as she sang, she said : Whoever asks my name, know that I 'm Leah, and I apply my lovely hands to fashion a garland of the flowers I have gathered. '' Notes Jump up ^ ( Hebrew : לֵאָה ‬, Modern Lēʼa, Tiberian Lēʼā, ISO 259 - 3 Leˀa ; Syriac : ܠܝܐ ‎ La'ya ; from 𒀖 littu Akkadian for `` cow '' ) References Jump up ^ Meyers, Carol L. ; Craven, Toni ; Kraemer, Ross Shepard, eds. ( 2001 ), Women in Scripture : A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament, Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 108, ISBN 9780802849625 Jump up ^ Hepner, Gershon ( 2010 ), Legal Friction : Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel, Bern : Peter Lang, p. 422, ISBN 9780820474625 Jump up ^ `` ab ( COW ) '', The electronic Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, OCLC 163207721 Jump up ^ Bivin, David, `` Leah 's Tender Eyes, '' at jerusalemperspective.com Archived 2007 - 05 - 26 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` What 's in A Name, '' Vayetzei ( Genesis 28 : 10 - 32 : 3 ) at aish.com ^ Jump up to : Ginzberg, Louis ( 1909 ) The Legends of the Jews, Volume I, Chapter VI : Jacob, at sacred-texts.com Jump up ^ Mandrake Archived 2007 - 09 - 30 at the Wayback Machine. in the American Bible Society Online Bible Dictionary, 1865, Broadway, New York, NY 10023 - 7505 at www.bibles.com ^ Jump up to : Feinhandler, Yisrael Pesach, Beloved Companions, Vayetze - III, `` Jealousy Can Be a Tool for Spiritual Growth, '' at shemayisrael.com Jump up ^ Wagensberg, Abba ( 2006 ), `` Between The Lines, '' in Toras Aish, Volume XIV, No. 11, © 2006 Rabbi A. Wagensberg & aish.com Jump up ^ Richman, Chaim ( 1995 ), `` Focus on Hebron, '' © 1995 Light to the Nations, Rabbi Chaim Richman - All Rights Reserved, Reprinted from The Restoration newsletter, July, 1995 ( Tammuz / Av, 5755 ) at lttn.org Jump up ^ Genesis 20 : 12 : Sarah was the half -- sister of Abraham. Jump up ^ Genesis 22 : 21 - 22 : Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, and Jidlaph Jump up ^ Dorothy L. Sayers, Purgatory ( translation of Dante 's Purgatorio ), notes on Canto XXVII. Jump up ^ Dante 's Purgatorio, Canto XXVII, lines 97 -- 102, Mandelbaum translation. External links The dictionary definition of Leah at Wiktionary Media related to Leah at Wikimedia Commons Children of Jacob by wife in order of birth Leah Reuben ( 1 ) Simeon ( 2 ) Levi ( 3 ) Judah ( 4 ) Issachar ( 9 ) Zebulun ( 10 ) Dinah ( 11 ) Rachel Joseph ( 12 ) Benjamin ( 13 ) Bilhah ( Rachel 's servant ) Dan ( 5 ) Naphtali ( 6 ) Zilpah ( Leah 's servant ) Gad ( 7 ) Asher ( 8 ) Prophets in the Hebrew Bible Pre-Patriarchal Abel Kenan Enoch Noah ( in rabbinic literature ) Patriarchs / Matriarchs Abraham Isaac Jacob Levi Joseph Sarah Rebecca Rachel Leah Israelite prophets in the Torah Moses ( in rabbinic literature ) Aaron Miriam Eldad and Medad Phinehas Mentioned in the Former Prophets Joshua Deborah Gideon Eli Elkanah Hannah Abigail Samuel Gad Nathan David Solomon Jeduthun Ahijah Shemaiah Elijah Elisha Iddo Hanani Jehu Micaiah Jahaziel Eliezer Zechariah ben Jehoiada Huldah Major Isaiah ( in rabbinic literature ) Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel ( in rabbinic literature ) Minor Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah ( in rabbinic literature ) Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Noahide Beor Balaam Job ( in rabbinic literature ) Other Amoz Beeri Baruch Agur Uriah Buzi Mordecai Esther ( in rabbinic literature ) Oded Azariah Italics indicate persons whose status as prophets is not universally accepted. LCCN : n86093833 VIAF : 18705243 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leah&oldid=852512448 '' Categories : Prophets of the Hebrew Bible Biblical matriarchs Book of Genesis people Hebrew - language names Jacob Women in the Hebrew Bible Hidden categories : Articles containing Syriac - language text Articles containing Akkadian - language text Webarchive template wayback links Articles containing Hebrew - language text Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Brezhoneg Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Kiswahili Latina Magyar Malagasy Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Српски / srpski Svenska தமிழ் Türkçe Українська اردو 中文 27 more Edit links This page was last edited on 29 July 2018, at 14 : 06 ( UTC ). 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Question: who was the father of rachel and leah
Answer: Laban