The Children of Rachel and Leah

The account of Leah and Rachel naming the sons of Jacob in Genesis 29–30 may initially seem to have some strange and even unnecessary details. James Bejon unpacks the narrative and the meaning of the names to help us understand its significance.

Genesis 29–30 is a remarkable story about two women who bear great fruit in difficult circumstances. Yet it’s also a slightly strange story. Consider its broader context. World-changing events are in train. In Genesis 11, human beings seek to ‘make a name for themselves’, which God is not happy with. He scatters Shinar’s inhabitants throughout the earth (Genesis 11:4) and promises to make Abraham’s name great instead (Genesis 11–12).

God’s promise soon starts to take effect. Wherever Abraham goes, he prospers (despite some bad decisions). He betters men of the stature of Pharaoh (Genesis 12), defeats coalitions of kings (Genesis 14), and amasses great riches in the process (Genesis 13:2, 6; 24:30; 26:13).

So it’s a bit odd when we get to Genesis 29–30 and find Jacob—the inheritor of Abraham’s promise (Genesis 28:4)—in a foreign land, breeding sheep for his kinsman Laban. (The particular way in which he breeds sheep is also a bit odd, as is the way he ends up married to Leah and Rachel.) It feels as if the story of Scripture has taken a rather strange and slightly anticlimactic turn, especially given the amount of time it devotes to all these events. Indeed, the text devotes over four times as many verses to the birth of Jacob’s children as it does to the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:2-9, 29:31–30:24). Why?

A few answers can be given. One is that, in the context of the book of Genesis, naming is a significant activity. God creates the world without form and void, then, on days one to three, he adds form to it and names what he has formed (the Day and Night, Heaven, Earth, and Seas). Here, Scripture associates the act of naming with dividing things up, which is a major theme of the book of Genesis.

A single stream of humanity is divided up into two branches (Cain’s and Seth’s). Then, after the flood, Seth’s branch divides into three (Shem’s, Ham’s, and Japheth’s), which populate the earth. Not long afterwards, Shem’s branch divides into two (Genesis 10:25), and then Terah’s into three (Genesis 11:26). And so things continue, most often in divisions of two or three, until we get to Genesis 29–30 where the line of Jacob/Israel is divided up into eleven branches, soon to become twelve with the birth of Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-18). Each of these branches is assigned a name by Leah and Rachel (with the exception of Benjamin, whom Rachel names Ben-oni, but then is given the name Benjamin by Jacob), which becomes ingrained into the fabric of world history. The names that Leah and Rachel give their children (and those of their servants Zilpah and Bilhah) will be expanded on in Genesis 49, where Jacob’s blessings for the tribes play on their names. These names will also be borne before the Lord on the high priest’s ephod (Exodus 28:9-12), and one day will be inscribed on the gates of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12). Leah’s and Rachel’s actions in Genesis 29–30 thus influence the entire shape of world history.

But it’s not just the acts of Leah and Rachel naming their children that are significant; the meanings of the names are also significant. Many of them reflect the grief that Leah and Rachel experienced as a result of their unhappy situation. The name Reuben has to do with ‘affliction’ (Genesis 29:32). The name Simeon concerns the fact that Leah is hated, and that God has ‘heard’ about it (Genesis 29:33). Implicit in the name Levi is Jacob’s lack of interest in Leah (Genesis 29:34). Dan’s name reflects Rachel’s belief that her decision to obtain a child through Bilhah (her maidservant) had been vindicated (Genesis 30:6). And the name Naphtali concerns Rachel’s continued ‘striving’ to have a child (Genesis 30:8).

So, while Leah and Rachel are fruitful, their fruitfulness emerges out of a backdrop of pain and travail (as all children do to some degree!). As such, the story of Genesis 29–30 is distinctly reminiscent of a related story about fruitfulness in the midst of pain—the Exodus. Consider the similarities between them: Jacob, who is also called Israel, relocates to a foreign land, where he labours for a foreign master (Laban/Pharaoh). Although that master seeks to trick him and change his wages, Jacob/Israel is fruitful and greatly multiplies. Indeed, the more his master seeks to hinder him, the more he prospers (Genesis 30:35, 41-43, Exodus 1:12). The relationship between Israel and Laban/Pharaoh thus starts to turn sour. And so, in the end, Israel is forced to leave the land, which he does along with Laban/Pharaoh’s riches. Then the former master chases after him in an unsuccessful attempt to recover them.

The similarities between these two stories are underlined by their use of certain key Hebrew words. Both Jacob and Israel are said to ‘increase’ (paratz) in size (Genesis 30:43, Exodus 1:12). As a result, both Laban and Pharaoh seek to ‘cheat’ (talal) Jacob/Israel (Genesis 31:7, Exodus 8:29). And, in both stories, deliverance comes because God ‘looks’ (ra’ah) down in mercy on the ‘affliction’ (oni) of his people (Genesis 29:32; Exodus 3:7), which are the two words from which the name Reuben is composed.

Yet while five of the first six names of Leah and Rachel’s children reflect grief and sorrow, that is not the case for all eleven. Three of Leah’s children’s names are more positive: Judah means ‘praise’, Gad means ‘good fortune’, and Asher means ‘blessed’. And these names seem to set the stage for better things to come. Rachel is soon to have a child of her own. First, however, the author of Genesis tells us about an unusual incident. Reuben comes across some mandrakes while he’s out in the field and gives them to Leah. In exchange for them, Rachel allows Leah to spend a night with Jacob. How we’re supposed to interpret this incident isn’t clear to me. What is clear, however, is its outcome—the birth of Issachar (Genesis 30:14-18). It is an important event, both because of the meaning of the name Issachar and because of an allusion to it in the book of Jeremiah.

The name Issachar is unusual. It’s built around the Hebrew word sachar, which denotes a ‘wage/reward’, and the way it’s spelt suggests it should be etymologised as yesh-sachar and translated as ‘There is a reward’. In fact, the prophet Jeremiah hints at this in his description of Israel’s restoration.

Prior to Jerusalem’s fall at the hands of the Babylonians (587 BC), Jeremiah likens Judah’s coming exile to Rachel’s barrenness. Just as Rachel went without children for most of her life, which was a reproach to her, so Judah will be left childless by the exile (Jeremiah 31:15). Yet Jeremiah encourages Judah not to lose heart because her children and fortunes will ultimately be restored. For those who continue in their labours, Jeremiah says, there will be a reward—a statement he conveys via the Hebrew words yesh sachar (Issachar!) (Jeremiah 31:16). And the nature of that reward is noteworthy. It will come in the form of the new covenant and thus involve the reconciliation of two sisters—Judah and Israel/Ephraim (Jeremiah 3:6–7, 31:18–34, Ezekiel 37:15–28). All of this brings us back to the events of Genesis 30 where the birth of Issachar marks a turning-point in the lives of Leah and Rachel. After his birth, their rivalry is not mentioned any more, and they do not assign sorrowful names to the children they go on to have. Instead, Leah bears a sixth son named Zebulun (‘Honour’), at which point Rachel finally conceives and bears Joseph, whose name (which sounds like the verb ‘to take away’) describes the way God has taken away her reproach (Genesis 30:23).

So while the details of Genesis 29–30 might initially seem strange and even unnecessary for us to know, they are important.  There is a significance to the fact that Leah and Rachel name their children, as there is to the meanings of the names they choose and the ways those names link up with the rest of Scripture. And tying all those things together is the story’s central message: even in the midst of great difficulties, God’s people can bear great fruit, which is a message we all need to hear from time to time.

Listen to the Tyndale House Podcast for more information on this topic

James discussed the names of Jacob's sons in depth with Caleb Howard on the Tyndale House Podcast in a two-part episode titled, 'What do the names of Jacob's sons means?' 

Listen wherever you get your podcasts from or watch on YouTube.

Part 1

Part 2