File:Michelangelo-Leah.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Leah
Sign in to saveLeah () appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has three more sons, namely Simeon, Levi and Judah, but does not bear another son until Rachel offers her a night with Jacob in exchange for some mandrake root (, ''dûdâ'îm''). Leah gives birth to two more sons after this, Issachar and Zebulun, and to Jacob's only daughter, Dinah.
Key facts
- Person.image
- Michelangelo-Leah.jpg
- Person.caption
- Michelangelo's Leah at the tomb of Pope Julius II at San Pietro in Vincoli
- Person.name
- Leah
- Person.birth_place
- Paddan Aram, Aram-Naharaim(present-day Harran, Turkey)
- Person.death_place
- Canaan(present-day Israel)
- Person.spouse
- Jacob
- Person.father
- Laban
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Michelangelo-Leah.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Leah
- date of birth
- 1731-00-00
- date of death
- 1665-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Name
- Biblical narrative
- Overview
- {{anchor|Appearance|Weak eyes|Tender eyes}}Appearance
- Marriage to Jacob
- Motherhood
- Rivalry with Rachel
- Death and burial
- Medieval Christian symbolism
- Notes
- References
- External links
Leah () appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has three more sons, namely Simeon, Levi and Judah, but does not bear another son until Rachel offers her a night with Jacob in exchange for some mandrake root (, ''dûdâ'îm''). Leah gives birth to two more sons after this, Issachar and Zebulun, and to Jacob's only daughter, Dinah.
==Name== Leah means "wild cow”, a common title with ancient goddesses like Inana, Urash, and Nanshe. Rachel means "ewe lamb." Noegel says there's an irony involving Laban's flocks within this detail, one is on generative acts, - Give me my wife for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her (אליה) (29:21). Herein also lies a subtle pun on Leah's name, which occurs again in 29:23.