וַיִּֽהְי֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יַעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר׃ בְּנֵ֣י לֵאָ֔ה בְּכ֥וֹר יַעֲקֹ֖ב רְאוּבֵ֑ן וְשִׁמְעוֹן֙ וְלֵוִ֣י וִֽיהוּדָ֔ה וְיִשָּׂשכָ֖ר וּזְבֻלֽוּן׃ בְּנֵ֣י רָחֵ֔ל יוֹסֵ֖ף וּבִנְיָמִֽן׃ וּבְנֵ֤י בִלְהָה֙ שִׁפְחַ֣ת רָחֵ֔ל דָּ֖ן וְנַפְתָּלִֽי׃ וּבְנֵ֥י זִלְפָּ֛ה שִׁפְחַ֥ת לֵאָ֖ה גָּ֣ד וְאָשֵׁ֑ר אֵ֚לֶּה בְּנֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֻלַּד־ל֖וֹ בְּפַדַּ֥ן אֲרָֽם׃
Now the sons of Yaakov were twelve: The sons of Le’a: Yaakov’s firstborn, Re’uven; Shim’on, Levi and Yehuda, Yissakhar and Zevulun. The sons of Rahel: Yosef and Binyamin. And the sons of Bilha, Rahel’s maid: Dan and Naftali. And the sons of Zilpa, Lea’s maid: Gad and Asher.
These [were] Yaakov’s sons, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
Now Lavan had two daughters: the name of the elder was Lea, the name of the younger was Rahel. Le’a’s eyes were delicate, but Rahel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance. And Yaakov fell in love with Rahel. He said: I will serve you seven years for Rahel, your younger daughter.
Rabbi Moshe Alshich was a prominent 16th-century rabbi, in Safed, Ottoman Palestine. The Alshich was a popular preacher who gave lengthy lectures on the weekly Torah reading. These lectures were later published as a commentary, under the name Torat Moshe, c.1540 - c.1590 CE. His style in Torat Moshe is to raise a number of questions and difficulties on a verse and then answer them all together by offering a new insight into the subject matter of the verse. His foremost aim in his commentary is to find fundamental moral and ethical lessons in the verses, or point out good qualities of character, such as faith, patience, humility, and so on.
כי רכו עיניה מלבכות פן תפול בגורל עשו. כי אמרו לרבקה שני בנים וללבן שתי בנות. ימהרו הגדול לגדול וקטנה לקטן... על כן עיני לאה רכות ולא עיני רחל כי לאה יראה פן יאמרו הגדולה לגדול והיא הגדולה: והנה הודיענו תורתנו הקדושה כמה מעלות טובות לנפש. תדרוש את ה' אלהינו ותתחנן אליו ית'... ועל שעיני לאה רכות שהתחננה לה'.
The eyes of Leah were tender. Her eyes were soft from weeping lest she fall victim to the fate of marrying Esau. They said, "Rebekah has two sons and Levan has two daughters. Let the elder rush to the elder and the younger to the younger."... Therefore, Leah's eyes are soft and not Rachel's eyes, because Leah will fear, lest they say that the elder is for the elder and she is the elder: and here we have revealed in our holy Torah how many virtues are good for the soul. Demand the Lord our God and beg Him... And Leah's eyes were soft and begged God. [Her tearful prayers overcame all Yaakov’s efforts to marry only Rahel.]
Now in the evening he took Le’a his daughter and brought her to him, and he came in to her. Lavan also gave her Zilpa his maid, for Le’a his daughter as a maid.
Chizkuni is the commentary on the Torah of Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah, composed in mid-13th century in France. It is actually a compilation of insights culled from the Midrashim, as well as the writings of twenty other Rishonim, including Rashi, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra. However, Chizkuni does not name any of his sources (other than Rashi), in order to encourage objective study, as he felt that one should focus on the message rather than the messenger.
את זלפה שפחתו, “his servantmaid Zilpah;” how could the Torah describe them as servantmaids when they were actually Lavan’s daughters? We must therefore assume that the Torah used the terminology of the people at that time who described their daughters born by concubines as their servantmaids.
If you should ever afflict my daughters,
if you should ever take wives besides my daughters …! No man is here with us,
[but] see, God is witness between me and you!
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) lived in Troyes, France (1040-1105). Rashi’s commentary is an essential explanation of the Tanakh and resides in a place of honor on the page of almost all editions of the Tanakh. Over 300 supercommentaries have been written to further explain Rashi’s comments on the Torah. While quoting many midrashim and Talmudic passages, Rashi, in his commentary, states that his purpose is to present the pshat (contextual meaning) of the text.
Now in the morning: here, she was Le’a!
He said to Lavan: What, now, have you done to me? Was it not for Rahel that I served you? Why have you deceived me? Lavan said:
Such is not done in our place, giving away the younger before the firstborn; fill out the bridal-week for this one, and we shall give you that one also, for the service which you will serve me for yet another seven years.
Tractate Megillah (“Scroll”) was written c.450 - c.550 CE and is part of the Talmud. It discusses the laws of reading the scroll of Esther on the holiday of Purim, as well as the laws of public reading of the Torah and Prophets, public prayer, and treatment and selling of sacred objects and synagogues.
מְסַר לַהּ סִימָנִים. כִּי מְטָא לֵילְיָא, אֲמַרָה: הַשְׁתָּא מִיכַּסְפָא אֲחָתַאי. מְסַרְתִּינְהוּ נִיהֲלַהּ. וְהַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיְהִי בַבֹּקֶר וְהִנֵּה הִיא לֵאָה״, מִכְּלָל דְּעַד הַשְׁתָּא לָאו לֵאָה הִיא? אֶלָּא: מִתּוֹךְ סִימָנִין שֶׁמָּסְרָה רָחֵל לְלֵאָה — לָא הֲוָה יָדַע עַד הַשְׁתָּא.
So Jacob gave her certain distinguishing signs that she should use to indicate to him that she was actually Rachel and not her sister. When the wedding night arrived, and Laban planned to switch the sisters, Rachel said to herself: Now my sister will be embarassed, for Jacob will ask her for the signs and she will not know them. So she gave them to her. And this is as it is written: “And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah” (Genesis 29:25). Does this imply by inference that until now she was not Leah? Rather, due to the distinguishing signs that Rachel had given to Leah, he did not know until now, when it was light outside, that she was Leah.
Yaakov did so—he fulfilled the bridal-week for this one, and he gave him Rahel his daughter as a wife. And Lavan also gave Rahel his daughter Bilha his maid,
for her as a maid. So he came in to Rahel also, and he loved Rahel also, more than Le’a. Then he served him for yet another seven years.
Rabbi David Kimchi (1160–1236), known as Radak, lived in France. One of the the most famous Bible commentators of his time, Radak was a grammarian, which is reflected in his commentary.
YHWH saw that Le’a was hated,
so he opened her womb, while Rahel was barren. And Le’a became pregnant and bore a son; she called his name: Re’uven/See, a Son! for she said: Indeed, YHWH has seen my being afflicted, indeed, now my husband will love me! She became pregnant again and bore a son, and said: Indeed, YHWH has heard that I am hated, so he has given me this one as well! And she called his name: Shim’on/Hearing. She became pregnant again and bore a son, and said: Now this time my husband will be joined to me,
for I have borne him three sons! Therefore they called his name: Levi/Joining. She became pregnant again and bore a son,
and said: This time I will give thanks to YHWH! Therefore she called his name: Yehuda/Giving-Thanks. Then she stopped giving birth.
Or HaChaim is a classical commentary on the Torah written by Rabbi Hayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar c.1718 - c.1742 CE. Rabbi Hayyim was a Moroccan Kabbalist and Talmudist, which is reflected in his commentary.
וירא ה' כי שנואה לאה. יכוין לומר כי ה' לבדו הוא שידע והכיר כי היא שנואה לא כן היא שלא הרגישה בשנאתה אלא שהיתה חושבת שאינה אהובה לבד:
וירא ה׳ כי שנואה לאה, God saw that Leah was hated, etc. The Torah tells us here that only God was aware of the fact that Leah was hated; she herself only felt that she was not beloved.
Rahel saw that she could not bear [children] to Yaakov, and Rahel envied her sister. She said to Yaakov: Come-now, [give] me children! If not, I will die! Yaakov’s anger flared up against Rahel; he said: Am I in place of God, who has denied you fruit of the belly? She said: Here is my slave-girl Bilha; come in to her, that she may give birth upon my knees, that I too may be built-up-with-sons through her. She gave him Bilha her maid as a wife, and Yaakov came in to her. And Bilha became pregnant and bore Yaakov a son.
And Bilha became pregnant and bore Yaakov a son. Rahel said: God has done-me-justice; yes, he has heard my voice! He has given me a son! Therefore she called his name: Dan/He-Has-Done-Justice. And Bilha, Rahel’s maid, became pregnant again and bore a second son to Yaakov. Rahel said:
A struggle of God have I struggled with my sister; yes, I have prevailed! So she called his name: Naftali/My Struggle.
Le’a saw that she had stopped giving birth,
so she took Zilpa her maid and gave her to Yaakov as a wife. And Zilpa, Le’a’s maid, bore Yaakov a son. Le’a said: What fortune!
So she called his name: Gad/Fortune. And Zilpa, Le’a’s maid, bore a second son to Yaakov. Le’a said: What happiness! For women will deem me happy. So she called his name: Asher/Happiness.
Re’uven went in the days of the wheat-harvest and found some love-apples in the field, and brought them to Le’a his mother.
Rahel said to Le’a: Pray give me some of your son’s love-apples! She said to her: Is your taking away my husband such a small thing that you would now take away my son’s love-apples? Rahel said: Very well, he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s love-apples. Yaakov came home from the field in the evening, and Le’a went out to meet him and said: You must come in to me, for I have hired, yes, hired you for my son’s love-apples. So he lay with her that night. And God hearkened to Le’a, so that she became pregnant and bore Yaakov a fifth son. Le’a said: God has given me my hired-wages, because I gave my maid to my husband! So she called his name: Yissakhar/There-Is-Hire.
Once again Le’a became pregnant, and she bore a sixth son to Yaakov. Le’a said: God has presented me with a good present, this time my husband will prize me, for I have borne him six sons! So she called his name: Zevulun/Prince. Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name: Dina.
Midrash Tanchuma is a midrash (explanation) on the five books of the Torah, structured as sermons on the opening verses of each paragraph in the Torah. Named for the talmudic sage Rabbi Tanchuma, it was composed in Babylon, Italy, and Israel c.500 - c.800 CE.
But God kept Rahel in mind; God hearkened to her and opened her womb, so that she became pregnant and bore a son. She said: God has removed/asaf my reproach! And she called his name: Yosef, saying: May YHWH add/yosef another son to me!
And Yaakov called the name of the place where God had spoken with him: Bet-El/House of God! They moved on from Bet-El. But when there was still a stretch of land to come to Efrat, Rahel began to give birth,
and she had a very hard birthing. It was, when her birthing was at its hardest,
that the midwife said to her: Do not be afraid, for this one too is a son for you! It was, as her life was slipping away —for she was dying— that she called his name: Ben-Oni/Son-of-My-Woe. But his father called him: Binyamin/Son-of-the-Right-Hand. So Rahel died; she was buried along the way to Efrat—that is Bet-Lehem. Yaakov set up a standing-pillar over her burial-place; that is Rahel’s burial pillar of today.
אקברה שם וְלֹא הוֹלַכְתִּיהָ אֲפִילּוּ לְבֵית לֶחֶם לְהַכְנִיסָהּ לָאָרֶץ, וְיָדַעְתִּי, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּלִבְּךָ עָלַי; אֲבָל דַּע לָךְ, שֶׁעַל פִּי הַדִּבּוּר קְבַרְתִּיהָ שָׁם, שֶׁתְּהֵא לְעֶזְרָה לְבָנֶיהָ כְּשֶׁיַּגְלֶה אוֹתָם נְבוּזַרַאְדָּן, וְהָיוּ עוֹבְרִים דֶּרֶךְ שָׁם, יוֹצֵאת רָחֵל עַל קִבְרָהּ וּבוֹכָה וּמְבַקֶּשֶׁת עֲלֵיהֶם רַחֲמִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר קוֹל בָּרָמָה נִשְׁמָע וְגוֹ' וְהַקָּבָּ"ה מְשִׁיבָהּ יֵשׁ שָׂכָר לִפְעֻלָּתֵךְ נְאֻם יי וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים לִגְבוּלָם (ירמיהו ל"א)
AND I BURIED HER THERE and did not carry her even the short distance to Bethlehem to bring her into a city. I know that in your heart you feel some resentment against me. Know, however, that I buried her there by the command of God”. And the future proved that God had commanded him to do this in order that she might help her children when Nebuzaradan would take them into captivity. For when .they were passing along that road Rachel came forth from her grave and stood by her tomb weeping and beseeching mercy for them, as it is said, (Jeremiah 31:15) “A voice is heard in Rama, [the sound of weeping … Rachel weeping for her children]”, and the Holy One, blessed be He, replied to her (v. 16) “There is a reward for thy work, says the Lord etc. (v. 17) for thy children will return to their own border”.