Genesis 30. 14-20
And God heeded Leah and she conceived and
bore Jacob a fifth son…And Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
The extraordinary story of
Jacob’s tangled family continues with another episode in the sisterly rivalry
of Rachel and Leah. Leah’s son Reuben finds some mandrakes , plants thought to
aid fertility, and brings them to Leah. Rachel asks to have them – she has
still not been able to have a child. The price Leah demands is a night with
Jacob, who has evidently stopped sleeping with her; he prefers Rachel. Jacob is
told that this is the deal and he goes along with it. Leah conceives, though it
had seemed she was past childbearing, and bears a fifth and then a sixth son.
This story exposes some of the
complexities of polygamy, heightened in this case by Rachel and Leah being
sisters. The Bible later forbids a man from marrying his wife’s sister
Leviticus 18.18, but polygamy itself is never outlawed. It continues throughout
the Biblical period, though it gradually became less popular as it is displaced
by the Roman custom of serial monogamy. In Roman societydivorce was relatively
easy, but you could only marry one spouse at a time.
·
Jacob seems oddly passive throughout Rachel
and Leah’s manoeuvring. What impression have you formed of him as you have read
the stories over the last few days?
·
Why do you think so many societies have been polygamous
across history (many still are today)? Why might they have thought (and still think)
this was a good way to live?
·
Mandrakes were thought to be aids to
fertility. Pray for those undergoing modern fertility treatment, and those
hoping to foster, adopt or have children through surrogacy today.
Rochester Diocese is part of an initiative to
encourage fostering and adoption. Find out more at www.homeforgood.org.uk/kent. Families of all shapes and sizes, including
single people and same-sex couples can be considered as foster or adoptive
families.
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