Old Testament Patriarch Jacob (Israel),
his wives Rachel and Leah Jacob
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What a homeless wanderer Go - from the well, to the well Wanderer - birthright from Isaac, remains - Blood-sweat, seven-year-old (But like a whip On the night of the wedding - What a wanderer - birthright - cured of love - Fight with God |
Jacob (Israel)
- Patriarch of the Old Testament Church, son of Isaac and Rebekah, brother of Esau and grandson of Abraham, legendary ancestor "twelve tribes of Israel". His story is told in the book of Genesis (XXV, XXVII-L). Even in the womb, Jacob's rivalry with his twin brother Esau begins, in everything opposite to him. Hearing how her sons began to fight in the womb, Rebekah asks God about this, and He answers her: "Two tribes are in your womb, and two different peoples will come from your womb; one people will become stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger"(Gen. 25, 23).
“And the time has come for her (i.e., Rebekah) to give birth,- says the writer, - and behold the twins in her womb. The first came out red all over, like skin, shaggy, and they called his name Esau. Then his brother went out, holding Esau's heel with his hand, and his name was called Jacob."
The children grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the fields, and Jacob became a meek man, living in tents. Jacob was the favorite son of Rebekah, his mother, and her instructions had a strong influence on him in some important cases of his life.
The first manifestation of his independent life, about which the book of Genesis narrates, points, as it were, to some cunning in his character. One day, taking advantage of Esau's tired hunger, Jacob buys from him for a meal of lentils (for "lentil soup") birthright (25, 29-34). Recall that primogeniture is one of higher values in Israeli society. The firstborn of the flock and the firstfruits are sacrificed to God as the Creator of life. The firstborn son (firstborn) is "fortress and the beginning of strength" father, "the height of dignity and the height of power"(Gen. 49-3). No wonder (let's run a little ahead) the pharaoh, who deceived Moses nine times, so painfully accepted the defeat of the firstborn, and only after this, the tenth "execution of the Egyptians" finally fulfilled his promise - let the people of Israel go.
The firstborn son had material and moral advantages over his brothers (a double share of the inheritance, the position of the head of the clan in the future). Birthright was seen as a gift from God and was inalienable. The rights of the firstborn were protected by law (Deut. 21). The only violation of this right was the case of Reuben, the son of Jacob, whom his father, dying, deprived of his advantage because he "defiled the bed" father, having entered into a sinful relationship with his concubine Valla.
Thus, Jacob (Israel) obtained the birthright illegally by persuading his twin brother Esau, who was the first to be born, to sell him the birthright for a bowl of lentil stew.
After that, Jacob, at the instigation of Rebekah, by deception - impersonating his brother - received a blessing from his half-blind father, giving the right to inherit all property and power over the brothers and the tribes over which they will stand.
Once, decrepit, Isaac sent Esau into the field to catch game and prepare food for his father: they say, at the meal, Isaac would give him a parental blessing. “And Rebekah took the rich clothes of her eldest son Esau, which were in her house, and put them on her youngest son Jacob; and she overlaid his hands and his smooth neck with the skin of goats; and gave the food and the bread which she had prepared into the hands of Jacob her son. He went in to his father and said: My father! He said: here I am; who are you my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn; I did as you told me; Arise, sit down, and eat of my game, so that your soul may bless me... And Isaac said to Jacob: Come, I will feel you, are you my son Esau or not? Jacob went up to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said: The voice, the voice of Jacob; but the hands, the hands of Esau. And he did not recognize him, because his hands were like the hands of Esau his brother, shaggy; and blessed him"(Gen. 27:15-23). Thus, by deceit, Jacob receives from his father a blessing as the firstborn son (and thus preferential rights to the fertile Canaan, while Esau gets the dry and rocky region of Edom).
As a result of this last act, he had to flee and, in accordance with the desire of his mother, retired to Mesopotamia, to Haran, to his uncle Laban. Before setting off on the journey, Isaac blessed Jacob and told him to look for a wife from the daughters of Laban (XXVIII, 1-5).
On the way, he had to spend the night in a certain place, right on the bare ground, placing a stone under his head. In a dream, he saw a ladder to heaven and angels on it. And he heard a voice announcing that God would give this land to him and his offspring, which would be as numerous as the earth's sand.
Waking up, Jacob realized that God was with him, and the place where he was was the house of God. He placed a stone at his head as a memorial and named the place Bethel. Here he promised to return to God a tenth of what God would give him, - tithe.
Jacob fled before his own blood, M. Lot-Borodina |
Living with Laban, Jacob fell in love youngest daughter his beauty Rachel
(which he met while still approaching Harran, at the well where Rachel brought the sheep to water) and served Laban for her for 7 years. But Laban tricked him into marrying him Leah
his eldest daughter. “Laban had two daughters; the name of the eldest is Leah, the name of the youngest is Rachel.
Leah was weak in her eyes, but Rachel was beautiful in shape and beautiful in face.
Jacob fell in love with Rachel and said: I will serve you seven years for your youngest daughter, Rachel.
Laban said, It is better to give it to me for you than to give it to someone else; live with me.
And Jacob served for Rachel seven years; and they appeared to him in a few days, because he loved her ...
... Laban called all the people of that place together and made a feast.
In the evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her in to him; and went in to her (Jacob).
In the morning it turned out that it was Leah. And (Jacob) said to Laban: What have you done to me? Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why did you deceive me?
Laban said: In our place they don't do that, to give the younger one before the older one. Finish this week; then we will give you the other one, for the service that you will serve with me for another seven years.
Jacob did so; and (Laban) gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife. And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah; and served with him for seven more years.”(Book of Genesis, ch. XXIX, vv. 1-6, 9-23, 25-28, 30).
Thus, Jacob receives Rachel as his wife, having served for her another 7 years. At that time, polygamy was commonplace, therefore, in addition to Leah and Rachel, Jacob took as his wife two more servants: Valla and Zelfa, and, thus, from four wives he had 12 sons and one daughter Dinah (XXIV, XXX, 1, XXXV, 16-19). After the birth of his son Joseph, Jacob decides to return from Mesopotamia to native land. From Laban, who wants to reward him, he asks only for motley sheep and spotted goats, the number of which in Jacob's flock has grown rapidly.
Jacob tells his loved ones a dream that he had at the time when the cattle conceive: an angel who appeared to him in a dream said: "Lift up your eyes and see; all the goats, climbing on the cattle, are motley, speckled and spotted"(30, 10). In the same dream, God tells Jacob to return to his homeland, to the land of Canaan. And 20 years after entering Mesopotamia, Jacob secretly leaves the house of Laban with his family and with everything that he had, and goes to the land of Canaan.
Upon learning of this, Laban set off in pursuit of him and overtook him at the city of Gilead and tried, although in vain, to return at least his household gods, whom he superstitiously worshiped and whom Rachel had stolen from him, hiding them under the saddle of his camel. However, the matter ended in reconciliation, and Jacob was able to continue on his way (XXX, 25-43, XXXIII).
In Mahanaim, God encouraged Jacob - he was met by the angels of God; but still, as he approached the Fatherland, he felt an involuntary fear in his soul, fearing a meeting with his brother Esau, whose anger against him, as he thought, had not yet completely subsided.
During one of the nights, he remains alone in the tent and endures in the dark a mysterious struggle with God, who appeared to him in the form of an Angel (in Scripture He is called "Someone") and gets a new name - Israel (God-fighter). As a memory of this meeting, Jacob was left with a limp for the rest of his life. This place of meeting with God Jacob called Penuel; " for he said, I saw God face to face and my soul was preserved"(Ch. XXXII).
Prayer of Jacob “I lived with Laban the rich; now But I stand before you as a petitioner!” Jacob was confused, filled with grief, And he fell on his knees in the darkness of the night, In the waterless desert You were my leader No measure! Covering with His cover, In anger he knows no mercy. But God! forgiving my treachery, |
Jacob's meeting with his brother, Esau, went off peacefully and lovingly. Having then reached Succoth, Jacob founded his dwelling here, but then moved to the city of Shechem, near which he pitched his tent, bought himself a part of the field and erected an altar here to the Lord. After an unfortunate event, namely, the dishonor inflicted by the prince of Shechem on his daughter Dina, and the cruel vengeance for this on the Shechemites by her brothers, Simeon and Levi, Jacob, at the command of God, gathered with his whole family to Bethel. But before setting off on his journey, he ordered all who were with him to abandon foreign gods, purify themselves and change their clothes. Bethel was the site of new revelations of God's mercy to Jacob. During the journey from Bethel, Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel, died from a difficult childbirth, giving birth to his son Benjamin, and they buried her near Bethlehem.
Isaac was still alive, being 180 years old, when Jacob visited him in Hebron, where, however, he soon died, and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him (XXXV).
After this, Jacob usually lived in the land of Canaan, but in a certain place, the book of Genesis does not exactly say. Once we meet him living in the valley of Hebron (XXXII, 1, 15). The cruelty of the sons of Jacob, when selling his beloved son Joseph to Egypt, served for him as a source of bitter sorrow and sorrow (XXXVII). The subsequent famine in the land of Canaan and the two trips of his sons to Egypt for bread also caused him much anxiety and grief. But finally, he was comforted by the joyful news that Joseph was alive and in high esteem, and at his request he undertook a journey to Egypt (XLII, XLV). On the way to Egypt, he received a new sign of God's blessing, namely in Beersheba, and finally arrived in Egypt with all his house, and was delighted at the sight of his son, who had long been considered lost. Going to meet his father in Goshen, Joseph fell on his neck and wept for a long, long time. "I'll die now when I see your face, Israel said to Joseph, because you are still alive(XLVI, 29-30).
Presented to the pharaoh in Egypt, Jacob was received very graciously by him. "How old is your life?" the pharaoh asked him. “The days of my wandering are one hundred and thirty years, Jacob answered. - small and miserable are the days of my life, and did not reach the days of my fathers in the days of their wanderings» (XLVII, 8-10). And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from him. At the command of Pharaoh, Jacob, with all his sons and his house, settled in the best part of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and remained in it until his death, which followed 17 years after his arrival in Egypt (XLVII). Before his death, he blessed the sons of Joseph, ordered to be buried in Hebron, and on his deathbed pronounced a solemn prophetic blessing to all his sons, announcing to them what would happen to them in the days to come (XLVII, 29-31, XLVIII, XLIX). After his death, his body was embalmed and transported with honor to the land of Canaan in Hebron and buried there in the cave of Machpelah, in accordance with his will (L, 1-13)...
From the aforementioned brief historical outline of the life of Jacob, one cannot fail to see that he was one of the greatest patriarchs of the Old Testament Church. He always endured the repeated trials and calamities of his long-suffering 140-seven-year life with unshakable fidelity to God, with firm patience and devotion to the Providence of God and with unchanging hope in Him in all the circumstances of his life; therefore, in all other books of the Bible, the name of Jacob has a very high value whether it is used in the sense of his descendants, or the Jewish people, or the people of God, etc.
Even more common in the Holy Scriptures is another and more remarkable name received by Jacob during his mysterious struggle with the heavenly adversary - Israel. Abraham is commonly regarded as the father of believers, but Jacob, or Israel, became, so to speak, the symbol or representative of the whole Church of God on earth. Expressions "Jacob's seed", "Jacob's children" often applied in general to the whole society of true believers on earth (Deut. XXXIII, 10, Ps. XIII, 6, etc.). New Israel often referred to as the New Testament Christian Church, founded on earth by the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles. About the life of the holy righteous foremother Leah
So little is known about some saints that there are no hagiographic descriptions of them. All that is known about Saint Leah
can be read in the Bible, Old Testament(Gen., ch. 29).
Rachel had no children for a long time, while Leah already had six sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun.
Jacob, forced to marry Leah, did not love her; she also sought to win the favor of her husband. This is evident, in particular, from the symbolic names given by her to her sons. Name Reuben interpreted as the fact that "God saw the grief of Leah, which her husband preferred Rachel, and gave her a son"; name Simeon “The Lord heard that I was unloved, and gave me this too”; name Levi derived in the Bible from the words spoken by Leah at his birth: “Now my husband will cling to me.” Thus God rewarded and comforted Leah by blessing her with children (Genesis 29:31).
The tribes of the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob formed, according to the Bible, the people of Israel. When the tribes are first listed, the Bible names them after the 12 sons of Jacob (Genesis 49:28).
According to legend, the holy foremother Leah rests in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
About the life of the holy righteous foremother Rachel
Rachel - the youngest daughter of Laban, sister of Leah, second wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin.According to the Bible, Rachel was "beautiful in shape and beautiful in face"(Gen. 29:17), and Jacob loved her more than "weak eyes" Leah (Gen. 29:30). However, Rachel remained barren for a long time and envied Leah's fertility. Desperate, she, as before Sarah (Gen., 16:2-4), gave her maid Bilha as a concubine to her husband; Rachel considered Dan and Naftali born to Bilha as her own sons (Gen. 30:1-8).
Eventually, Rachel became pregnant and gave birth to a son, saying: “God removed my shame. And she called his name Joseph, saying, the Lord will give me another son.”(Gen. 30:23-24).
Rachel, as we have already told, died during her second childbirth on the way from Beth-El to Efrat, in Beth-lehem; dying, she named her second son Ben-Oni ("son of my misery”), but Jacob gave him the name Benjamin. Jacob buried Rachel not in the family crypt in the cave of Machpelah, but where she died - by the road, and erected a stone monument over her grave (Gen. 35:16–21; cf. 48:7).
He did this because he foresaw how those exiled to Babylonia would pass here, and Rachel would pray to God to have mercy on them. The tomb of Rachel near Bethlehem is mentioned by early Christian writers (for example, by Eusebius); the earliest Jewish source describing this tomb is "Jerusalem Guide"» X c.
Jewish travelers, beginning with Benjamin of Tudela (about 1170), speak of a monument consisting of twelve stones, eleven of which were laid by the sons of Jacob, and on them - big Stone laid down by Jacob himself. A dome on four columns was built over the grave. V late XVIII v. a building was erected around the grave, which was repaired in 1841 with funds provided by M. Montefiore. During the Jordanian occupation (1948–1967), the area around Rachel's grave was turned into a Muslim cemetery. The building was later restored by the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs and today serves as a place of mass pilgrimage and tourism.
The memory of Rachel was preserved in her offspring in all subsequent times. In the time of Boaz and Ruth, the inhabitants and elders of Bethlehem, blessing the marriage of Boaz with Ruth, wished him the same happiness and blessing from God that Rachel and Leah brought to Israel (Ruth., 4:11). The prophet Jeremiah, depicting the disasters and captivity of the Jews, represents Rachel as the foremother of the Israelites, orphaned and inconsolably weeping for her sons, for they are gone (Jer., 31:15). And the Evangelist Matthew, seeing in this sad event an image of another sad event, namely, the beating of the Bethlehem babies by Herod, repeats the words of the prophet, applying them to the present event, - the children of Bethlehem belonged to the offspring of Rachel, and she, like their mother, cries inconsolably, because they are not (Matthew 2:18).
The Church venerates Saint James as a forefather, and his wives, Leah and Rachel, as foremothers, as pious and virtuous people, canonized by the Church, who are a model of virtue and who, according to the teachings of the Church, remain in Heaven after their death and pray before God for all members Churches still living on earth.
RACHEL
RACHIL (רָחֵל , Rachel) - one of the four foremothers of the Jewish people, the youngest daughter of Laban, sister of Leah, second wife of Jacob, mother of Joseph and Benjamin.
According to the biblical account, Jacob met Rachel when he arrived in Haran, fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau; Jacob fell in love with her at first sight and agreed to work for her for Laban seven years. When the term expired, Laban went to the trick and replaced Rachel with Leah on their wedding night.
Maurice Gottlieb. Rachel
Tomb of Julius II, Rachel and Leah, 1515,
Church of San Pietro in Vicoli.
Jacob and Rachel at the Well
Oil on canvas, 230 x 190 cm, 2006
When the next morning, Jacob discovered the substitution, Laban explained that he was obliged to marry the eldest daughter before the youngest, and agreed to give Rachel to him if Jacob agreed to work for him for another seven years.
Giacomo d'Antonio de Nigretti Palma Vecchio.
Date of Rachel and Jacob.
According to the Bible, Rachel was "beautiful in shape and beautiful in face," and Jacob loved her more than "weak eyes." However, Rachel remained barren and envious of Leah's fertility. Desperate, she, as before Sarah, gave her servant Bilh u as a concubine to her husband; born Bilkh oy Dana and Naftali Rachel considered her own sons.
Foremother Rachel and forefather Jacob.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin
In the end, Rachel became pregnant and gave birth to a son, saying: “God removed (asaf) my shame. And she called his name Joseph, saying, the Lord will give (Joseph) me and another son.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Rachel Hiding the Idols. 1726
Rachel died during her second childbirth on the way from Beth-El to Efrat, at Beth-Lehem; dying, she named her second son Ben-Oni ("son of my suffering"), but Jacob gave him the name Benjamin. Jacob buried Rachel not in the family crypt in the cave of Machpelah, but where she died - by the road, and erected a stone monument over her grave.
The tomb of the foremother Rachel - this is how it was in the 18th century.
According to the Haggadah, Jacob buried Rachel on the road near Bethlehem because he foresaw that the exiles to Babylonia would pass here, and Rachel would pray to God to have mercy on them. Jewish travelers, beginning with Benjamin of Tudela (circa 1170), speak of a monument consisting of twelve stones, eleven of which were laid by the sons of Jacob, and on them a large stone laid by Jacob himself. A dome on four columns was built over the grave.
Tomb Rachel. Late 19th century
At the end of the 18th century a building was erected around the grave, which was repaired in 1841 with funds provided by M. Montefiore. During the Jordanian occupation (1948-67), the area around Rachel's grave was turned into a Muslim cemetery. After the Six Day War, the building was restored by the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs and serves as a place of mass pilgrimage and tourism.
The largest number of Jewish pilgrims visit the grave of Rachel on the new moon, throughout the month of Nisan and the 14th day of the month of Cheshvan - the traditional date of the death of "our mother Rachel."
Abel Pann (1883-1963). Rachel
Anna Akhmatova
Bible Verses: Rachel
And Jacob served for Rachel seven years; and they appeared to him in a few days, because he loved her. Book of Genesis And Jacob met in the valley of Rachel, He bowed down to her like a homeless wanderer. Herds raised hot dust, The source was littered with a huge stone. He rolled away the stone with his hand And gave the sheep water to drink. But his heart began to feel sad in his chest, It hurts like an open wound, And he agreed to serve as a maiden for seven years as a shepherd at Laban. Rachel! For the one who is in your power, Seven years are like seven dazzling days. But the lover of money Laban is very wise, And pity is unfamiliar to him. He thinks: everyone will be forgiven deceit For the glory of Laban's house. And with a firm hand Leads blind Leah to Jacob in the bridal chamber. High night flows over the desert, Drops cool dews, And Lavan's youngest daughter groans, Tormenting her fluffy braids, Curses her sister and blasphemes God, And orders the Angel of Death to appear. And Jacob dreams of the sweet hour: The transparent spring of the valley, The merry glances of Rachel's eyes And her dove-like voice: Jacob, didn't you kiss me And call me your black dove? December 25, 1921
M. Chagall. Rachel hides her father's teraphim***
O Book of Books! Who has not experienced
in your changing fate,
how do you heal the one who betrayed
your weary spirit to you?
In a series of visions unchanged
how perfect and pure
your pages are penetrating
unfading beauty.
All the abysses of years have not drowned out
divinely simple motif.
The image of the feminine Rachel is alive,
Israel the God-fighter is alive...
You are forever new century after century,
year after year, moment after moment
you get up - an altar before a man,
O Bible! O Book of Books!
Valery Bryusov
OUR MAIN FOREMOTHER
AND HER TOMB:
Unloved wife. About Leah, Jacob's wife
On her advice, her beloved son leaves for Mesopotamia - where the servant of his grandfather Abraham once went for the bride of his father Isaac, his mother Rebekah. But Eliezer went there with a whole caravan of camels and many gifts for the future bride and her family. Jacob runs away from home with nothing in his hands but a staff. After all, he also went to Mesopotamia for a bride! How sad and lonely he was when he moved farther and farther from his home, remembering his well-being and wealth.
The day has turned to evening, the sun has set, and he is preparing his lodging for the night. Goes to bed under open sky putting a stone under his head. He does not go to the Canaanites to ask for a lodging for the night, remembering the order of his father, Isaac: not to mess with the Canaanites (Gen. 28:1). Tired of the exhausting journey, Jacob falls asleep, and the Lord vigilantly watches him and wants to console him in his distress and appears to him at night in a dream. Such a beautiful revelation: Jacob sees a ladder that stands on the earth, and the top of it touches heaven, and the angels of God ascend and descend on it. God stands at the top of this ladder and says: “... I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac ... And behold, I am with you; and I will keep you wherever you go; and I will bring you back to this land...” (Gen. 28:13,15). What a merciful and loving Lord! Not a word of reproach! The exhausted, weary fugitive needs encouragement, and the Lord encourages him: “...I will not leave you until I have done what I have told you” (Gen. 28:15).
Doesn't God view Jacob's act as a sin? Of course yes! But now smoking flax cannot be put out. The time will come, God will speak to him about the stolen blessing and will break it - wasn't it the same with Peter? And now is not the time. The angel tells the women after the resurrection: “Go, tell His disciples and Peter ...” (Mark 16:7), and then Christ will ask him three times: “Do you love Me? ..” (John 21:15-17 ). How kind and merciful is our God: He wants us to recognize our sin ourselves, understand our mistake and not repeat it!
Jacob was afraid of the Lord after this vision, he erected a monument, poured oil on top of it and made a vow to God, saying: if God will be with me and keep me on this journey in which I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothes to put on, and I I will return in peace to my father's house, and the Lord will be my God, then this stone, which I set up as a monument, will be the house of God; and of all that You, O God, give me, I will give You a tenth (Gen. 28:17-22). From these words one can see his desire to return to his father's house, as well as his strong nature - even at such a moment he is looking for his own benefit: if You, Lord, give me, I will give You! Twenty long years of tedious, hard work will pass, and Jacob will turn into Israel, and humble himself before his brother Esau (Gen. 33), but this will not be soon.
In the meantime, encouraged by the Lord, he continues on his way and comes to Mesopotamia. There he meets the shepherds at the well and learns that they are the shepherds and the sheep of his uncle Laban (Gen. 29:1-8). Delighted by this meeting, he saw the beautiful Rachel, the daughter of his mother's brother, kissed her, lifted up his voice and wept (Genesis 29:11). After living with Laban for one month, to his question: “... will you really serve me for nothing?” (Gen. 29:15) he answered: “...I will serve you seven years for Rachel your youngest daughter” (Gen. 29:18). Rachel was beautiful in shape and face, and Jacob himself decided the issue of marriage, because he fell in love with her at first sight. At this crucial moment of his life, it did not occur to him how Eliezer, the faithful servant of his grandfather Abraham, saw the beautiful Rebekah, knelt down and prayed! I think that his mother told him about it more than once or twice. He did not ask God if He ordained Rachel for him as a girlfriend of life, he himself decides everything! She is beautiful - and he does not need anything else!
Seven years passed, a feast was held, and after the feast, Jacob was deceived: instead of Rachel, Laban gave him Leah as his wife. What once sowed - it's time to reap! Jacob didn't think about it, and often we don't! Jacob is indignant and in his hearts says to Laban: "... why did you deceive me?" (Gen. 29:25) He insists that Rachel be given to him as well.
So, he has two wives: Leah, who was weak-eyed, and the beautiful Rachel. “Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah... The Lord saw that Leah was unloved...” (Genesis 29:30-31). The Lord, who surveys the whole earth, sees Jacob, all his deeds, and sees Leah, who is unloved ... After reading this verse, I was surprised: “The Lord saw that Leah was unloved ...” He sees all of us! He sees the wives he loves and the ones he doesn't! He knows their experiences! The Lord the Creator created a beautiful, tender and weak woman. She absolutely needs to love and be loved! Love is the most important component of the concept of a “happy life”.
Was Jacob's family happy? Not! Quarrels and disputes between two wives-sisters, and then their children. Did Leah want this? Of course not! Like every woman, she is looking for love and recognition. And the Lord helps her in this: seeing her suffering, He opened her womb, she gave birth to her first-born son and named him Reuben, because she said: “The Lord has seen my calamity; for now my husband will love me” (verse 32). This suffering heart, seeking love, understands the main thing: the Lord has looked upon her calamity. This humble heart feels that the Lord is with her, but still she wants to win her husband's heart by giving him a son! But the hope: “now my husband will cling to me” was not fulfilled - She gave birth to a second son, whom she named Simeon, and said: “The Lord heard that I was unloved ...” (verse 33) Through the second pregnancy, she realized that the Lord I saw her distress, I heard her sighs, complaints, secret tears: Jacob for her has neither a tender look, nor good word! And she continues to seek and crave his love. Having given birth to her third son, she said: “Now my husband will cling to me; for I bore him three sons” (verse 34). But this hope of hers collapsed - everything remained the same: Jacob is cold and indifferent to this modest, humble-hearted woman who sought and longed for his attention and understanding.
What does Leah do next? Goes away, how is it fashionable now? Not! After giving birth to her fourth son, she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” (verse 35). It would seem that nothing has changed in her life - why praise God? But complete humility before the Lord came: no complaints and no desires! In this school of family difficulties, she learned to praise the Lord for everything and to rely on Him! It was during this period of her life - complete obedience to the Lord - that Judas was born to her. From him will come the kings of Israel and the Savior Jesus Christ Himself. And not only. The tribe of Levi, who gave Israel the great leader Moses and the high priest Aaron.
"... humility goes before glory..." - so writes the wise Solomon (Pr. 18:12). Lord, sending difficulties on our life path wants to teach us complete submission to His will and perception of it. How blessed our life becomes when we understand and perceive this! There are no longer our desires - there is One Who leads us along the path according to His will.
At a time when Leah was in the school of humility and perfectly learned this life lesson, Rachel becomes more and more arrogant, proud, envious. Seeing the clear blessing of his sister,
she does not rejoice, but comes to Jacob and orders: “Give me children, and if not, I die” (Gen. 30:1). What audacity and injustice! Beauties always talk to their husbands like this, feeling that they own their heart: they are demanding, they threaten death or departure! Instead of humility before the Lord - ingratitude, instead of prayer - a threat to her husband!
Jacob was angry with her and said that it was not in his power, but in the hands of God. But Rachel does not draw any conclusion and continues to act willfully and insolently. She may not have her own children, but in order to take revenge on her sister, she gives her maid Balla to her husband. And when Balla gave birth to her second son, Naphtali, what foolish words Rachel says: “... I fought with my sister with a strong struggle, and prevailed” (Gen. 30:8). Thus says a proud heart: pride always fights and proves!
And Leah continues to communicate with God. He hears her and gives her a fifth son. After giving birth to Jacob's sixth son, Leah said, "God has given me a wonderful gift..." (Genesis 30:20). She talks to the Lord, praises Him and thanks Him! She is modest, quiet, silent, shy. She knows that her eyes are weak, that she is not distinguished by beauty, she has nothing to boast of. She grows rich in God and praises Him.But God also loves Rachel. He remembered her and gave her a son, and she realized that God could remove shame from her (Gen. 30:23). The loving Creator carefully breaks the pride of this beauty. He frees her from idols, that is, cleanses her heart from everything earthly, and ends her life when she gives birth to her second son. Why the Lord does this, we do not know - it is known only to Him. Maybe because Jacob loved Rachel excessively, and she was his idol? Or maybe she blossomed spiritually and was ready to meet the One Who worked so long and tirelessly on her soul? Many questions will only be answered in heaven! One thing is clear to us - the Lord left Jacob to continue his wandering on earth with the unloved Leah.
But this is not what we are talking about, dear sisters! Our speech is about the visually impaired modest Leah, who has always been second only to the beautiful Rachel, and unloved. She is a shining example for unloved wives! And how many of them are there in the world? Loving, suffering, unrecognized women!
Jacob overlooked the golden, faithful, kind and sensitive heart of ugly Leah. She does not leave him, does not repay him with evil, does not present an ultimatum, does not sting. Humbly, modestly, quietly bears his cross all his life. The Lord sees her, hears, remembers - and in her sorrow she praises God! And lives out his life together with Jacob. I think that their relationship has become warm and close. Towards the end of his life, having put his past in order, that is, having reconciled with his brother Esau, completing his will to his sons, Jacob commanded to be buried next to Leah (Genesis 49:30-32).
How comforting it is to know that the Lord is taking care of last days our life on earth. He renamed Jacob Israel, humbled Rachel, and together they all received a great honor - their names are written on the pages of Holy Scripture. Leah and Rachel became the founders of the Old Testament church. The elders of Bethlehem, blessing the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, wished him the same happiness and blessing from God that Rachel and Leah brought to Jacob! (Ruth 4:11).
Dear sister, if you are unrecognized, unloved, remember: the Lord loves you, He knows you, remembers you and will send what He wants - which leads us to joy, happiness!
Olga Mokan
Abstract on the topic:
Valla (Bible)
Valla(Hebrew בִּלְהָה , Bilha, Bilhāh, “Indecisive, shy”) is a character in the Book of Genesis, a servant of Rachel, who becomes the wife of Jacob and brings him two sons, Dan and Naphtali.
The Testament of Naphtali, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, says that Valla and Zelfa's father was called Ahiot (lit. "sisters"). He was taken captive and released by Laban, the father of Rachel and Leah, who gave him a wife named Hannah, who was their mother. Talmudic sources (Midrash Rabbah, Gen. 74:13 and others), on the other hand, state that Valla and Zilpha were also Laban's daughters, through his concubines, making them the half-sisters of Rachel and Leah.
According to Rashi, while Rachel was alive, Jacob kept his bed in her tent and visited other wives in their tents. When Rachel died, Jacob moved his bed to the tent of Bilha, who was Rachel's tutor, in order to maintain closeness to his beloved wife. However, Reuben, Leah's eldest son, feeling that this step neglected his mother, who was the chief wife, moved Jacob's bed to his mother's tent. This invasion of Jacob's privacy was taken so seriously that the Bible equated it with adultery, and Reuben, his firstborn son, lost the right to a double inheritance.
Valla is believed to be buried in the Tomb of the Foremothers in Tiberias.
In popular culture
The idea of concubines is explored in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. In the novels The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and Rachel and Leah by Orson Scott Card, Valla and Zelf are Leah and Rachel's half-sisters from different mothers, following the Talmudic tradition.
Notes
- Talmudic sources (Midrash Rabbah, Gen. 74:13 - en.wikisource.org/wiki/Genesis#74:13 etc.)
- 1 2 Testament of Naphtali, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls
- Gen.30:3-5 - en.wikisource.org/wiki/Genesis#30:3-5, 35:25 - en.wikisource.org/wiki/Genesis#35:25
- Gen.35:22 - en.wikisource.org/wiki/Genesis#35:22, 49:3,4 - en.wikisource.org/wiki/Genesis#49:3.2C4; Deut.21:17 - en.wikisource.org/Deuteronomy#21:17
This abstract is based on an article from the Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed on 07/11/11 09:28:42
Related abstracts: Walla-walla (tribe),
Poor Rachel!
If we assume that the stories told in the Bible actually happened - sometime, in time immemorial, how sad is the fate of Rachel!
And what a tangled, tragic knot the fate of all the characters in this story intertwined: Jacob, Rachel and her sister Leah, and all this happened at the behest of the cunning and ruthless father of the two sisters - Laban, and also at the will of the Lord God - just, but no less cruel in his justice than Laban in his cunning.
Such a usual beginning of the story: a traveler, who came from foreign lands, went to the well, where the shepherds gathered, who watered their flocks here, and saw a beautiful shepherdess - Rachel.
The weary traveler who completed his journey is Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah.
Jacob, his mother's favorite... What brought him the birthright and the blessing of his father, obtained by maternal cunning, besides exile?
A hasty flight to Mesopotamia from the fury of a deceived brother, barely covered by the need to marry in foreign lands, because the local girls are bad - irreverent and quarrelsome.
Long way from Canaan to Mesopotamia; and finally, the place where his maternal uncle Laban lives, where an exile can find shelter and protection, and a wife according to the taste of his parents - one of Laban's daughters. Obviously, such a wife will be to the taste of her parents, because she will be exactly like Rebekah's mother in her youth.
And how lucky that the beautiful girl he met at the well turned out to be one of Laban's daughters!
Finally, the exile will find peace: he is among his relatives; and, perhaps, he will marry Laban's daughter, if her father agrees to give her for him ... And here we learn for the first time that Laban had two daughters: the eldest, Leah, was not very beautiful, and, moreover, "weak in eyes"; the youngest, Rachel, was "beautiful in face" and "slender in shape."
And Laban agreed to give Jacob his daughter Rachel as a wife; but since Jacob, who came to his house as an exile, did not have any property, and in those parts and at that time it was customary to pay a bride price, the groom and the father of the bride agreed that Jacob would work for Laban for seven years to get wife, his youngest daughter Rachel.
"And Jacob served for Rachel for seven years, and they seemed to him a few days, because he loved her." These are lines from the Bible - so poetic, so heartfelt about love ...
People who have not had a chance to know love in their lives consider it an idle invention of fools who can and should be deceived using this “love” of theirs. Such was Laban, the father of Rachel. After the seven years stipulated in the contract, Laban, with an unwavering hand, brought not Rachel, but Leah, his eldest daughter, into Jacob's wedding tent in the evening. It was dark in the tent, the bride, according to custom, was under a veil, and her voice did not betray herself either.
Israel Museum. bride's outfit
It’s a pity, of course, for Leah, who, in agreement with her father, went to this deception - she probably had no prospects for another marriage. But how did Rachel feel that night, when instead of her, her sister was given in marriage to her beloved Jacob?...
The deceived Jacob, in the light of the morning, saw next to him not Rachel, but Leah. Terrified, he asks Laban, “What have you done to me?! After all, I asked you to marry Rachel, and I worked for you for seven years!”
This is the whole reason for Laban's deceit: for seven years a worker who did not need to be paid worked for him; and he worked, as they say, “not out of fear, but out of conscience”, trying to please his future father-in-law - so that he would not change his mind, would not give Rachel in marriage to another ...
And suddenly lose such an employee?!
Laban had already thought of everything: “In our area, the youngest daughter is not given in marriage before the eldest! And that you worked for seven years, then I don’t give my daughters away for free: my daughters are my property, each is worth seven years of work!
Indeed, there was such a custom, and not even in such remote antiquity, that the youngest daughter could not marry before the eldest; But surely Laban did not say this to Jacob when he asked his youngest daughter for his wife!
And Laban said to Jacob: “Well, what is wrong here?! You will have two wives, because I will also marry you my youngest daughter ... just work for her for another seven years! And I will do you a favor - I will give Rachel in advance; just wait a week, live with Leah - after all, you are her husband now. And in a week we will play the second wedding! And you will work after the wedding - seven years of work for Rachel, as agreed.
And so began a life together - three of us: two women and one man. Two sisters, two rivals… One is beloved, but the second is also a wife, with all the rights that are due to her: to clothes, to jewelry… and to a shared bed. One receives everything as a gift; the second - by duty.
And here, according to the Bible, the situation intervened Lord Gd... He became bored in heaven; decided to play a trick on three not too happy people chained to each other. God loves jokes and unconventional solutions...
So, "the Lord saw that Leah was unloved and opened her womb, but Rachel was barren."
At the ugly and unloved Leah, sons are born one after another: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judas.
And Rachel is barren.
The nights spent with her are the nights of love, but they are empty, useless nights, they do not bear fruit.
After these nights no children will be born who will continue the father's work; there will be no successors who will come out of their father's house to develop new lands; daughters will not appear who will rest and undead an aged father in their home.
The barren woman is cursed, despised by all; the husband has the right to divorce her and return her to her parents' house as defective goods.
Poor Rachel!
Her tears have become a household word in history:
And nearby is sister Leah with her sons, the sons of Jacob, Rachel's beloved husband, who are so similar to Jacob ... Leah can caress them, play with them ... and Jacob rejoices, looking at the children, and knows that Leah is the mother of his children, Leah - descendant of the family.
Rachel cries and asks: “Jacob, give me, give me children, or I will die!”
And Jacob was angry with Rachel, and said: “Am I the G-d who did not give you the fruit of the womb? Ask the Lord for children!”
Desperate Rachel resorted to the help of - as they would say now - a surrogate mother: she gave her slave Valla as a concubine to Jacob. When Walla became pregnant and the time came for her to give birth, Rachel immediately took the newborn on her lap - such was the rite of adoption of a child by a woman, already in those days. Now Rachel already had a son from Jacob - Dan, as she called him; but Valla gave birth again from Jacob, and Rachel accepted this child on her knees as her own ... And now Rachel has two sons from her beloved husband!
What about Leah? Leah, who Lately for some reason, she stopped getting pregnant, afraid of losing her role as the main, prolific woman in the family, she also resorts to surrogate motherhood! She immediately also sends her slave Belpha to Jacob's bed, who also gives birth to a son, Jacob, whom Leah recognizes as her own.
In general, Jacob lived well ...
And after that it starts dark and not quite beautiful story with mandrake. Mandragora is a plant in the nightshade family, and like almost all nightshades, it is highly poisonous. However, in antiquity and even in the Middle Ages, the mandrake was considered a magical plant, used in various witchcraft rites; and most importantly, it was believed that mandrake tincture cures women of infertility.
It so happened that one day Leah's eldest son, Reuben, found mandrakes and brought them to his mother. Rachel saw this, and asked her sister for mandrakes: “Why do you need them, Leah? But I am barren and cannot give birth to a son to our husband and master.
And Leah answered: “Is it not enough for you to take possession of MY husband, that you still covet my son’s mandrakes?”
These words contain an answer to those who claim that the sisters peacefully divided one husband into two, and that Rachel, allegedly, herself helped dress Leah in her, Rachel's, clothes before the wedding - because, allegedly, without the participation of Rachel, it was impossible to carry out the substitution bride. Yes, Rachel, most likely, was simply locked somewhere during the marriage ceremony, when Leah, wrapped in veils, portrayed Rachel! And then, when Jacob nevertheless married Rachel, Rachel was always the second, younger wife, and according to Leah, the usurper who captured her, Leah, her lawful husband!
And Leah said mockingly: “Buy me mandrakes! What can you give me equivalent for magical mandrakes that cure infertility ?!
And Rachel answered her: “For the mandrakes of your son, I will give you my night with my husband. Let him lie in your bed today, not mine.
Leah went out to meet Jacob, who came from the field in the evening, and announced: “I bought you for tonight for the mandrakes of my son!” And Jacob obediently went to Leah's bed, not indignant at being the subject of a bargain, a bargain.
What about the rest characters this story?
Rachel received mandrakes and, apparently, began to be treated for infertility with their help.
Leah here acts as a dexterous tradeswoman who turned out a successful deal, a practical and resourceful woman.
And the Lord God? How did he react to a woman's belief that her husband could be trafficked? He stroked his smart daughter Leah on the head and sent her two more sons and one daughter. In total, Leah bore Jacob six sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah.
And Rachel dreamed of children all this time, but could not get pregnant ...
And finally, “... Gd remembered Rachel, and Gd heard her, and opened her womb. She conceived and gave birth to a son; and said: removed G-d shame my".
Poor Rachel!
Her sister, giving birth to her many children, who were given to her so easily, sought to achieve the love of her husband - someone else's fiance, obtained by fraud and secure her position in the family.
Lonely Rachel's big family where there was another woman and many of her children, was a stranger and an outsider; her position was unclear: yes, wife, but where are her children? - rather a lover, a concubine, a woman for the pleasure of the owner, an object of universal contempt and ridicule. That is why Rachel, having finally given birth to the long-awaited child, says: “God removed my shame!”
Shortly after Rachel gave birth to the long-awaited son, Jacob was about to return to his homeland; he asked Laban for a calculation - how much is due to him for many years of work for the glory of Laban's house?
The cunning Laban, who did not want to part with a good worker, declared that Jacob was not supposed to do anything: he only worked out the ransom for his two wives. Laban encouraged Jacob to continue working for him. For what fee? This needs to be thought...
Jacob himself proposed a type of payment: from those Lavan flocks that he grazes, he will take cattle, as they would say now, “substandard” - with spots and specks.
After that, Jacob served Laban for another six years.
Jacob works for Laban
All these years, Lavan's cattle mainly gave birth to offspring, motley, spotted and speckled. It happened, as the Bible and Tanakh write, thanks to the help of the Gd of Jacob, and his own, Jacob, tricks - Jacob, as they would say now, conducted purposeful breeding work to breed motley cattle. True, the method described in Scripture is somewhat strange in our modern opinion, but, nevertheless, in six years, Jacob acquired huge herds of motley sheep and goats, and Laban's herds were significantly reduced, since "conditional" cattle were born much less often in these years. than "substandard".
After six years, Jacob, now a rich man, decided that the time had come to return to his native Canaan. Fearing that Laban would oppose his departure, he decided to do it in secret, and both wives - Leah and Rachel - agreed with this; it turned out that they also had a grudge against their father: "... he sold us and did not allocate a share" and some "he ate our silver." Naturally, for women who have lived 20 years with their husband, the husband is already dearer than their father, and the well-being of their family is more important than the well-being of their father and brothers.
Together with wives, children, other children and households, together with herds acquired for six recent years work, Jacob set out in Laban's absence. His father-in-law returned home only three days later and, not finding Jacob and his family, rushed after him.
Having caught up with them, Laban reproached Jacob: “Why did you leave in secret? He didn’t let me say goodbye to my daughters, kiss my grandchildren for the last time ... And in addition, he robbed me! ” It turned out that without the knowledge of Jacob, someone stole the shrine and value - the idols of Laban's house (Lavan, it turns out, although he believed in "the God of our father", at the same time kept idols at home and worshiped them!) .
Jacob was sincerely indignant: “What idols? I didn't take it! Search our whole camp, you won't find it, I'm sure. And if you find someone, he will not be alive!”
And indeed, they did not find it ... So they parted, saying goodbye.
And Rachel took the idols: either she was afraid to be left without their patronage, or she wanted her beloved husband to have everything, even her father's idols; so that these idols would no longer help Laban, but their beloved husband, Jacob. But someone else claims that Leah loved her husband more than Rachel ...
Then there were many more events, since Jacob's wanderings did not end: he met his brother Esau, instead of whom he received his father's blessing by deceit; Jacob, knowing his guilt, bowed low to Esau, calling him his master, and himself his slave, and gave him expensive gifts.
Meeting of Jacob and Esau
There were wanderings among hostile tribes, murders and betrayal, and again wanderings. All this concerns Rachel only insofar as she finally became pregnant again and, somewhere along the way, gave birth to a second son; she gave birth hard, and, having given life to the child, she herself did not survive, she died; her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, Jacob always loved more than all his children.
Rachel's Tomb
And Leah? Leah lived many more years, yet she died before Jacob; was buried in the family tomb in the cave of Machpelah, next to other forefathers and foremothers of the Jewish people.
Such is this ancient history love-hate three people Jacob, Rachel and Leah. All three names have been popular among the Jewish people for thousands of years, newborns are called by their names. According to Kabbalah, along with the name, the newborn accepts the fate of the person who was previously called that. All parents want their children to be happy. So who was happier: Leah or Rachel? And what is happiness in general, and is love really necessary for it?
This is the old legend as told in the Bible. However, over many centuries a lot of interpretations, myths, legends have accumulated that supplement the Bible ... and, as it were, slightly correct it. In them, unexpectedly, the characters of the sisters - Leah and Rachel - and their role have changed.
Leah suddenly began to be extolled as a "real wife" "who loved her husband to self-forgetfulness", her qualities are "patience, humility and immense love for her husband." “Leah was resigned, she knew how to endure even lies, and calmly endured difficult circumstances. With all this, she was pleased and grateful", "Her weak, dull eyes emanated shyness and helplessness" and even her eyes, according to some legends, became "weak" due to the fact that she "cried" them as a girl when, according to some legends, she “asked G-d for a righteous husband”, and according to others, “she learned that she, as the eldest daughter of Laban, was destined to become the wife of the eldest son of Isaac, Esau, about whose bad temper she had heard a lot” ( while Esau did not even hear about it, having taken two wives in his native places, as the Bible says).
The image of Rachel, too, suddenly began to be interpreted differently. Her qualities suddenly became “pride, envy, struggle with her sister”, “stubborn stubbornness”. “Rachel was impudent not only in dealing with people, but also in relation to God Himself. When something did not go according to her will, she quarreled and argued with Him, but if her desire was fulfilled, then she wanted even more! She treated her sister ugly. ”(The last quote is taken from one of the Christian sites that teaches women humility and love for Gd; it’s interesting, after all, how the authors, after several millennia, found out such details of Rachel’s relationship with Gd, who, except for them, are not known to anyone.) And even her misfortune is blamed on Rachel: that she gave birth to her first son only after seven years after the wedding.
Indeed, poor, poor Rachel!
Four foremothers of the Jewish people:
Sarah, Rivkah, Leah and Rachel
(Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel)
However, the Jewish tradition calls both sisters "foremothers" - the progenitors of the Jewish people, and rewards each according to her merits. Leah became the ancestor of eight "tribes of Israel" out of twelve; as the eldest daughter, Leah received great gifts from God: her descendants own both the priesthood (her descendant Aaron) and the kingdom (her descendant David).
Rachel (Rachel) is also not forgotten: her first-born, Joseph, during the famine saved all the offspring of Jacob from starvation, and all the sons of Leah "bowed down at his feet." Rachel, as stated, was an intercessor before Gd for the Jewish people in times of their disasters, and prayed to the Lord to have mercy on people driven into captivity in Babylon. As the exiles walked past her grave, they heard Rachel crying: Rachel mourned the fate of her descendants. But then the voice of the Almighty was heard: “Keep your voice from sobbing, and your eyes from tears ... and they will return from a foreign land! There is hope for your future ... and the children will return to their own borders!
In addition, according to some sources, one of the sacred 4 plants of the Sukkot (Tabernacles) holiday, namely, the river willow, which wilts first, symbolizes Rachel, whose life was short.
And, finally, in the Christian tradition, Rachel became a symbol of speculative monastic life, and Leah - an active worldly and continuer of the family.
Michelangelo. Rachel (left) and Leah (right).
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