God formed Jacob's family, the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, as He had promised Jacob at Bethel. Unfortunately Jacob and his wives lived in envy and friction over how God chose to bless them.
"Jacob had planned to take Rachel as his wife, but God intended him to have Leah. Thus in two major reversals in Jacob's life, we can begin to see the writer's theme taking shape. Jacob sought to marry Rachel, but Laban tricked him. Then Jacob sought to build a family through Rachel, but she was barren; and God opened Leah's womb."703
This record of Jacob's children, the center of the Jacob story structurally, is important for at least three reasons.
1. It shows God's faithfulness in providing descendants as He had promised.
"Now the account centers on the fulfillment of Yahweh's promise to be with Jacob and to bless him."704
2. It gives the origins and circumstances surrounding the births of the tribal heads of Israel.
"The themeof the Pentateuch is not difficult to discern. It is the story of the birth and adolescence of a nation."705
3. It explains much of the tribal rivalry that follows in Israel's history.
The section culminates with the birth of Joseph (30:24), which was the cue for Jacob to return home (30:25).
29:31-35 Moses recorded the births of Leah's first four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. When the clause "the LORD saw"occurs (v. 31), His acting decisively, often for the weak and oppressed, follows soon (cf. 6:5; 7:1; 18:21; 31:12; Exod. 2:25; 4:31).
30:1-8 Rachel's reaction to her barrenness and Jacob's response contrast with how Rebekah and Isaac, and Sarah and Abraham behaved in similar circumstances. Sarah resorted to a custom acceptable in her culture, though contrary to God's will, to secure an heir for Abraham (cf. 16:1-2). Isaac prayed that God would open Rebekah's womb and waited (25:21). Rachel and Jacob followed the example of Sarah and Abraham.
The conflict between Rachel and Leah focuses on love and motherhood. Rachel had Jacob's love, but she could not become a mother. Conversely Leah was the mother of Jacob's children, but she could not win his love.706
The account of the birth of Bilhah's sons, Dan and Naphtali, follows (vv. 5-8).
30:9-13 Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob two sons: Gad and Asher.
30:14-20 The mandrake is a plant that bears bluish flowers in winter and yellowish plum-sized fruit in summer. The fruit has a strong, pleasant fragrance, and was thought to help barren women conceive. Some Arabs still use it as an aphrodisiac (cf. Song of Sol. 7:13).707
"The outcome was ironical, the mandrakes doing nothing for Rachel, while Leah gained another son by parting with them."708
"Just as Jacob had purchased the birthright for a pot of stew (25:29-34), so also Leah purchased the right to more children by Jacob with the mandrakes of her son Reuben (30:14-16)."709
Leah received her other children, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, because "God gave heed to Leah"(v. 17), not because of some magic supposedly connected with the mandrakes.
Jacob may have had daughters besides Dinah (cf. 37:35 and 46:7). She may be the only one mentioned by name because she is the only one whose experience Moses recorded later in Genesis (ch. 34).
30:22-24 Eventually God granted Rachel a son, Joseph. He was born at the end of Jacob's fourteenth year in Laban's service.
The jealousy, bickering, superstition, and weak faith demonstrated by Jacob and his wives stand out in this section. God's gift of children was gracious; He gave them in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the parents. Rachel acknowledged this finally (vv. 23-24) as did Jacob. The use of the names "Elohim"and "Yahweh"reflects the attitudes of the various characters to God and shows their relationships with Him.
"On the human plane the story demonstrates the craving of human beings for love and recognition, and the price of thwarting it; on the divine level it shows once again the grace of God choosing difficult and unpromising material."710
"Jacob's partiality and his general handling of his family led to strife and mother groupings that were to affect the history of Israel for centuries thereafter."711
Believers should not envy and strive, which leads to bitter conflicts, but should obey God trusting Him to dispense His blessings wisely, justly, and compassionately.
The actions of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah in this chapter, and those of Abraham and Sarah in chapter 16, raise questions about surrogate parenting. Today husbands and wives who cannot have children normally sometimes choose to secure the services of a third person who can provide a needed function and thus enable them to have children. For example, if the wife cannot carry a baby in her womb for a full term pregnancy some doctors recommend that the couple use the services of another woman. If acceptable, they implant the couple's fertilized egg in her womb that she agrees to "rent"for the nine-month gestation period. Another example is the securing of sperm from a donor if the husband is sterile. There are many ways in which childless couples can now become parents with this kind of help from a third, and sometimes fourth party. These situations are somewhat similar to what we find in Genesis 16 and 30. The common tie is that in all these cases someone other than the husband and wife is essential to the conception of the child. I do not believe that adoption is similar because in adoption a husband and wife simply agree to rear a child that has been or will be born. They do not require a third party for the conception of the child as in surrogate parenting.
