The Wife of Jacob in the Bible has a name. Her name is Leah. The bible mentions her when she gives birth to four sons and a daughter. She gave birth to Levi, Judah, Shimon and more notably Rueben and Simeon, who were born because she tricked her husband. Jacob married Leah before Rachel, although he loved Rachel more than her sister Leah. Yet after he discovered that some one had stolen his household gods, he decided not to return to his father in law Laban until Laban gave him his household Gods.
The only official Wife of Jacob in the Bible is Leah. Leah is the only wife of Jacob to bear Jacob’s name – Israel. However, Jacob later married Rachel as well as his two concubine/slave women, but neither bore him any children.
As a woman living outside the norms of her time, Rebekah made one of the most profound decisions any woman has ever made. The Biblical account of her life is scattered and full of gaps, which adds to her mystery. Of all the wives in the Bible, she is one of my favorites.
An examination on the wife of Jacob in the Bible. Wife of Jacob Most of us feel that there is much in life to be thankful for because we’ve been blessed with a large number of things. We are also thankful for our spouses and other people who have loved us unconditionally. Similarly, we can turn to the Bible and find different examples or individuals who were blessed by God beyond what most men can ask or think. There is the case of Isaac in the Bible. The Bible states that Isaac was one of the 12 sons of Abraham. Despite having a large number of children, Isaac was special in God’s eyes because he continued to be His covenant child even though he had not begotten any children yet at that time. For this reason, Isaac is compared with a man who has no children as shown below:
Wife Of Jacob In The Bible
Story of Leah in the Bible
Leah’s story starts in Genesis 29. Jacob’s uncle, Laban, had two daughters. Leah, the eldest, had eyes that were “delicate.” Rachel, with whom Jacob fell in love, was Laban’s younger daughter; and she “was beautiful of form and appearance” (Genesis 29:16-17).
Jacob made an agreement to serve Laban seven years for the opportunity to marry Rachel.
Jacob and Leah
At the end of the seven years, there was a marriage feast, with its usual eating and drinking. Laban deceptively gave Leah, instead of Rachel, to Jacob.
The Bible notes, “So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah.” This is surely an understatement of the surprise Jacob had when this switch was discovered! He demanded of his father-in-law, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?” (Genesis 29:25).
Laban responded that it was not the custom to give the younger daughter away in marriage before the older daughter. He told Jacob to fulfill Leah’s week of marriage festivities, and then he could have Rachel for his wife as well.
However, in order to have Rachel for his wife, Jacob had to give Laban seven more years of service (Genesis 29:26-27).
Leah’s marriage
After Jacob celebrated his marriage with Leah for one week, he then also took Rachel as his wife, and we’re told about a very important dynamic in this marriage in verse 30: “Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah.”
Laban thought he had succeeded in making a good bargain in these deals, but what impact did all this have on Leah? She was now the wife of Jacob, a man who had not desired her nor expected her to be his wife. Jacob had been in love with her younger sister Rachel all along!
Wife Of Jacob In The Bible
The complicated story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel comprises one of the larger sections of Genesis and includes much information relevant to the history of the Jewish people. Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, fled to his mother’s brother Laban. At the time, Jacob feared his twin brother, Esau, would kill him (Genesis 27:41–46). It was at Laban’s that Jacob met Leah and Rachel.
Laban offered his nephew Jacob a place to stay. Jacob soon fell in love with Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel, and agreed to work for Laban seven years in exchange for marriage to her (Genesis 29:16–20).
Laban agreed, but after seven years, he deceived Jacob. On the night that Jacob and Rachel were to be married, Laban gave Rachel’s older sister, Leah, to him as a wife instead. Jacob protested, but Laban argued that it wasn’t the custom to give the younger daughter in marriage first. So it was official: Jacob and Leah were to stay married. Laban then said Jacob could still have Rachel in exchange for another seven years of work (Genesis 29:21–30). In an ironic twist, the deceiver Jacob had himself been deceived. In exchange for fourteen years of labor, Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel.
Jacob showed favoritism to Rachael and loved her more than Leah. God compensated for the lack of love Leah received by enabling her to have children and closing Rachel’s womb for a time (Genesis 29:31). There developed an intense rivalry between the two wives. In fact, at one time the wives bartered over the right to sleep with Jacob. Genesis 30:16 says, “When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, ‘You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So he lay with her that night,” and Leah became pregnant. In the end, Jacob fathered twelve sons and a daughter. Jacob and Leah had six sons and a daughter; Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, bore Jacob two sons; Jacob and Rachel had two sons together; and Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, bore Jacob another two sons (Genesis 35:23–36).
After twenty years with Laban, Jacob and Leah and Rachel, now very wealthy, moved their family back to Canaan. As they were leaving Laban’s house, Rachel stole her father’s teraphim and lied about having them (Genesis 31). As he drew closer home, Jacob knew that he would have to face Esau again. He still feared Esau’s anger, and he sent gifts to satisfy him before he arrived. The night before Jacob crossed the Jabbok River, he “wrestled with God” and was given the name “Israel” along with God’s blessing.
The story of Jacob and Rachel ended tragically, as Rachel died giving birth to her second child, Benjamin. Rachel named him Ben-Oni (“son of my trouble”), but Jacob renamed him Benjamin (“son of my right hand”). Rachel “was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb” (Genesis 35:19–20).
Jacob and Leah’s marriage lasted longer, but eventually Leah, too, died in Canaan and was buried in the same tomb as Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 49:30–32). Jacob and his son Joseph would later be buried in this tomb as well (Genesis 50).
The story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel is filled with much difficulty, yet God used these people greatly to impact history. Their twelve sons were the leaders of the twelve tribes that became the nation of Israel. Through their family, God blessed the entire world, as Jesus Christ was born from the tribe of Judah and offers salvation to all (John 3:16; Luke 2:10).
