Genesis: Love and Hate - Genesis 29:30-35 and 30:1-24

In this Podcast, we will learn the 3 C’s of Haran: Customs, Culture, and Contracts or Covenants.  These customs set the foundation for the birth of a nation and the 12 tribes of Jacob or Israel. 

Leah not only was the first, but the older sister of Rachel. Jacob never wanted Leah, but was bound by custom to take her as a wife. Jacob loved Rachael, and Leah felt he hated her.  YeHoVaH saw how Jacob was treating Leah and intervened by opening her womb to conceive. 

Leah gives birth to the first four of Jacob’s eventual 12 sons.  Two of Jacob’s sons came through Rachel’s handmaiden Bilhah.  Jacob’s seventh and eighth sons came through Leah’s handmaiden Zilpah.   

Rachel gives birth to her first son, Joseph.  Then Leah gives birth to two more sons and a daughter.  At the end of this passage, Jacob has 11 sons and one daughter.