Genesis 29:31–30:24

Jacob is now married—to two sisters, Leah and Rachel. Though Leah is unloved, her womb was open, and she proceeds to bear four sons in what is literarily rapid succession (Gen 29:30–35a). Rather than speaking to Jacob, Leah addresses God in the naming of each son, hoping against hope that her husband’s attitude to her will change. There is no response from Jacob; in fact, the man does not even seem to play a role in the four instances of Leah’s conception, let alone in the naming of his children!

The pathos of Leah’s unloved state.
[This narrative detail, being specific for the story’s circumstances, is not really “theological” in the sense of it going beyond the textual situation.]

Also significant is that Leah stops bearing thereafter (29:35b; also 30:9). Why, we are not told. It cannot be age, for she seems fertile enough to bear three more children later (30:17–21). It could be a divine, sovereign act of womb-closing, of course, but the text gives no hint about that. (We’ll find out the reason later.)

The pathos of Leah’s unloved state culminating in her stoppage of conception.
[Narrative detail.]

This frenzy of baby-production by the unloved woman with the open womb, puts the loved woman with the closed womb in the green grip of jealousy (30:1) and on a course of threatening, manipulation, monopolizing, exchanging, and domineering: a highhanded attitude. She wants to be blessed, but her idea of how this can be accomplished is way off the mark—she appeals to Jacob (not God!) in a fit of pique, demanding that he provide her with children (30:1–2). Nothing changes with that, so she takes matters into her own hands, arranging for her maid, Bilhah, to be Jacob’s concubine (30:3–4): she will do anything to get blessed, even if it means offering Jacob a surrogate womb. But Leah counters with her own maid, Zilpah (30:9–13). So that strategy doesn’t make Rachel a winner, either.

At that juncture, Leah’s oldest, Reuben, brings home mandrakes, considered in those days to be an aphrodisiac, and another exchange is accomplished: Jacob for mandrakes (30:14–16). Rachel gets the mandrakes. Leah gets Jacob. And with that we discover why Leah had stopped bearing: Rachel, apparently, had prevented Jacob from having relations with Leah (30:15). If she could not conceive, then her sister certainly was not going to be permitted that privilege! But despite all these manipulative maneuvers, Rachel remains barren.

The pathos of Leah’s unloved state culminating in her stoppage of conception. Rachel’s attempts to force the blessing of pregnancy: throwing tantrums, arranging concubinage, employing aphrodisiacs, preventing Leah from having relations with Jacob—all without result.
[Narrative detail.]
Improper, highhanded posture for experiencing divine blessing.

And, surprisingly, after the exchange, Leah continues to conceive and deliver: not once but thrice (30:17, 19, 21), after what had been negotiated as a one-night stand (30:15). What happened? Were there more mandrakes that bought Leah a few more nocturnal trysts with Jacob? Unlikely, since mandrakes are not mentioned after 30:14–16 (they had no effect the first time anyway). Did Leah manage to consort with Jacob unbeknownst to Rachel? Unlikely. Nothing seems to have gotten past the scheming woman thus far. Did Rachel forget the one-night deal she had made? Unlikely. With the score now Leah 5 and Rachel 0, how could she forget? It appears, then that Rachel had finally given up. Nothing had worked for her, not jealousy, not tantrums, not concubinage, not obstruction, not aphrodisiacs—nothing! The narrator is implying that Rachel surrendered and renounced her manipulative and conniving and deceptive tendencies, and, instead, submitted to the will of Yahweh.

No wonder, then that, immediately after we are nudged towards such a conclusion, we are told: “Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her” (30:22). God remembered Rachel when Rachel had given up and, perhaps, when she called upon God for the first time in the narrative (God is said to have “listened to her”). You see, the proper posture to experience the blessings of God is not one of highhandedness, grasping, exploitation, and overbearing. If one is to experience the blessings of God one must take on the posture of openhandedness, of letting go, of gracious generosity, and humility, and dependence upon God.

Rachel’s attempts to force the blessing of pregnancy: throwing tantrums, arranging concubinage, employing aphrodisiacs, preventing Leah from having relations with Jacob—all without result. And so Rachel gives up and prays, appealing to God. Then she conceive.
[Narrative detail.]
Proper posture, submission, for experiencing divine blessing.

And with that, quite abruptly, it seems that Jacob, too, comes to his senses. It appears that, after all the frenzied conceptions, gestations, and parturitions, that he has landed at the same place of helplessness as back home in Canaan involving a sibling and a parent whom he has treated most shabbily. It that Jacob has perceived—as has Rachel—that manipulation and conniving and deception never succeed. Rather, dependence upon God alone does. And so he says, “I have to go back home” (30:25).

Rachel’s attempts to force the blessing of pregnancy: throwing tantrums, arranging concubinage, employing aphrodisiacs, preventing Leah from having relations with Jacob—all without result. And so Rachel gives up and prays, appealing to God. Then she conceives. And at her delivery of Joseph, Jacob, too, realizes the true posture for experiencing divine blessings. He plans to return home to take care of some unfinished business.
[Narrative detail confirming proper posture for receiving divine blessing.]

Converting this long-winded statement that has quite a bit of narrative detail into a crisp Theological Focus that removes the narrative detail, we get:

Highhandedness precludes God’s blessing, but faithful dependence upon God brings it about.