~~~~~Lesson: Genesis, Chapter 30 (reading below lesson)

For a chapter of the bible that is basically a genealogy, there is a lot of discussion material.

We have two sisters married to the same man, the elder sister not as pretty and not as loved.
God responds by giving her children and striking the beautiful, loved sister barren.
In desperation, she offers her servant (an acceptable, if not common practice) in order to have "children".
Leah stops bearing children and follows Rachel's step of giving her husband her servant.
Rachel bargains away a night with Jacob for some mandrakes (which were thought to help conception both in ancient times up through the middle ages) and Leah has MORE children.
At last, Rachel's prayer is answered and she gives birth to a son, who becomes his father's favorite.

Does Rachel deserve to be struck barren? Is maybe her behavior towards Leah unfriendly...does she take advantage of her being the "loved" and "beautiful one"?
Is the use of mandrakes to induce pregnancy all right?
Rachel did show fortitude in keeping praying to God all those years for a son? Is that why God rewarded her? Were her prayers heartfelt or simply desperate?


Reading: Genesis, Chapter 30

Jacob's children are vitally important as they go on to become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob will later take the name Israel before he dies.

Jacob, as you remember has two wives, Leah and Rachel. In addition, Leah has a servant, Zilpah, and Rachel has a servant, Bilhah. I will pick selected lines out of this section, as it is a long section. If the line starts with '-----' that is ME writing, NOT the bible

Genesis 29:31
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he made her fruitful, while Rachel remained barren.
-----Leah then bore Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

Genesis 30:1-3
When Rachel saw that she failed to bear children to jacob, she became envious of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I shall die!" In anger, Jacob retorted, "Can I take the place of God, who has denied you the fruit of the womb?" She replied, "Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Have intercourse with her, and let her give birth on my knees, so that I may have offspring, at least through her."
-----Bilhah bore Dan and Naphtali. When Leah saw that she wasn't having more children yet, she gave Jacob HER maidservant, Zilpah. Zilpah bore Gad and Asher.

Genesis 30:14-15
One day, during the wheat harvest, when Reuben was out in the field, he came upon some mandrakes which he brought home to his mother Leah. Rachel asked Head, "Please let me have some of your son's mandrakes." Leah replied, "Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you must now take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well, then!" Rachel answered. "In exchange for your son's mandrakes, Jacob may lie with you tonight."
----Leah then gave birth to Issachar, and later to Zebulun, and then to a daughter Dinah.

Genesis 30:22
Then God remembered Rachel; he heard her prayer and made her fruitful.
-----Rachel gave birth to Joseph. Years later, right before her death, she will birth to second son, Benjamin.