"And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing. And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan. And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son. And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher. And Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me. Because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulon. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son." (Genesis 29:31 thru 30:24)
Here are listed 11 of the 12 sons that will be Jacob's. The last one comes a bit later and we will get to him; but for now the "race" is on! A race or competition between two sisters to see who can produce the most sons for Jacob and who can claim his greater affection.
It seems that Leah wins in terms of the children she bears to Jacob; yet Rachel still has his greater affection. And neither are content with what they have. Leah longs for her husband to love her as he does Rachel; while Rachel envies her sister's position as first wife and elder sister, as well as envying all the children Leah has. She not only sins in her envy, but adds to her sin by adding such discontented nagging to it that Jacob, who loves her, ends up having to rebuke her.
It is clear from the mandrake episode that Jacob's time is spent mostly with Rachel, in her lodgings. Scholars don't agree on what these mandrakes actually were; some say they were just beautiful and rare flowers and Rachel was as envious of them as she was of everything else about Leah. Others say that they were some type of aphrodisiac or fertility enhancer. I favor the latter, as it seems to make clear sense of why Rachel makes such a big deal of them, even in "loaning" Jacob to her sister for a night, in order to possess the mandrakes. Although "loan" might be the wrong word, as Leah names the resulting son of that night spent with Jacob: "hire" or "wages".
I can't help but wonder how Jacob felt about being "sold."
In all of it, Rachel seems most lacking in her character. She is unlike other women in the bible whom we will meet who plead with God for a child and yet do not sin with such bad attitudes in the process.
What most scholars do agree on is that the reason for such fervor in obtaining sons is the hope that the expectant mother will be given the honor of producing the promised Messiah, according to God's promise to Abraham and to Jacob. Still, this is no excuse for bad attitude and sin.
I will just quickly go through the meanings of the names given to each of the 11 sons listed here, as their names will be used to identify the future "Twelve Tribes of Israel":
Reuben: behold a son or see a son
Simeon: heard or hearing
Levi: joined or attached – they will become the "priests."
Judah: praise
Dan: judging – not a great name to give a son – and we will see that Dan is marked for trouble for most of the way in scripture as it is through the tribe of Dan that idolatry will enter the land.
Napthali: wrestling
Gad: a troop (also Babylonian god of good fortune or of fate…like calling him "good fortune").
Asher: happy
Issachar: hire or wages
Zebulon: dwelling
Joseph: adding to (turns out to be a prophecy) and shows Rachel strong hopes that she will bear again.
There will be many times in scripture when these sons will be "listed." In this case they are listed in order of birth; other times they will be listed in order of how they are to enter battle; another time they are listed according to their placement in the camp.
And we will also see that Dan losing his place in the listing altogether (through sin) as does Levi (but only because the priests are kept out of battle); and Joseph's place in the listing will be split between his two sons (Epharim and Mannaseh) for reasons that will be discussed later. So that there are always just 12 tribes even when Dan and Levi are not counted in the list.
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