“Genesis 30:14-21”

Monday, February 10, 2020

“Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, 'Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.' But she said to her, 'Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?' So Rachel said, 'Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.' When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, 'You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.' So he lay with her that night. God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, 'God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.' So she named him Issachar. Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, 'God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' So she named him Zebulun. Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.”

---End of Scripture verses---

The mandrake incident is one of the strangest little episodes in all of the Bible. Some suggest that the mandrake was an aphrodisiac, and in the orient it was believed to possess power to help a woman conceive children. Since we have no reason to believe that this was anything other than sheer superstition, that would lead us to wonder all the more why this event was recorded in the annals of inspired history. I believe the purpose of the text is to clearly emphasize that the mandrakes had nothing whatsoever to do with the pregnanacies of the women involved, even though they were persuaded otherwise. Perhaps it is the Lord's way of demonstrating to us the bizarre beliefs and mindsets of these backward people, and that His hand was still firmly in control of the helm of human events, and that He would implement His plan of Salvation, in spite of the fact that His flawed people were more than a little bit erratic and irrational.

Here is James Burton Coffman's take on Rachel's mindset: “When Rachel saw Reuben with the mandrakes, she evidently supposed that, at last, she had found out Leah's secret for bearing children, so she traded one night with Jacob to Leah for the mandrakes. Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), called 'The Love Apple,' is a stemless perennial of the night shade family, having emetic, purgative, and narcotic qualities. The forked, torso-like shape of the tap-root gave rise to many superstitions. Aphrodisiac properties were ascribed it. The plant grew widely in Palestine. The use of mandrakes as an aid to women who wish to bear children is, of course, not approved by anything in the Bible. The superstitions connected with this plant were in no sense reliable, but Rachel, who was by no means free from pagan ideas, was in a desperate mood and willing to try anything. She later took personal charge of Laban's household gods (Genesis 31:34). And the impression through Genesis is that she was more than a little contaminated by pagan beliefs.”

“Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah.” (verse 14) “This is mentioned to fix the time, namely, early in May. As Laban led a settled life, he may have grown wheat, as Jacob did in Canaan (Genesis 37:7), but mandrakes would most assuredly not be found on tilled land.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers) “Then Rachel said to Leah, 'Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.'” Seemed like a harmless enough request that a loving sister would gladly comply with and willing part with a few pieces of wild fruit. But, just as Jacob refused to freely give his brother a bit his red stew without a striking a bargain first, so Leah required Rachel to play “Let's Make a Deal”.

“'Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” (verse 15) Leah responds to her sister's request in a very disproportionate way. Equating husbands with mandrakes is nowhere near comparing apples to apples. She obviously had something up her sleeve, and like most of the members of her family where inclined to do, she found an angle to set her loved one up to take advantage of her compromised position. “So Rachel said, 'Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.'” (verse 16) Rachel, ever the shrewd bargainer herself, permitted Leah to spend some time with her own husband (please note intended sarcasm), in exchange for (seemingly all of) Reuben's mandrakes. And you thought your family was dysfunctional!

“When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, 'You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.' So he lay with her that night.” (verse 16) Hey a bargain is a bargain. Jacob had no choice in the matter since Rachel and Leah had struck a deal involving vegetation to seal his fate for that night. It really does seem like the continual tensions between these two sisters controlled the movements of this patriarch to a great degree. At this stage of his life he appears to me to be an incidental player kind of like a pawn on a chess board.

“God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.” (verse 17) Beginning with this verse, the narrative strongly suggests that the mandrakes had nothing to do with the conception of Jacob's children and reveals the superstition for what it was. “It is significant that the subsequent narrative tacitly, but effectively, neutralizes this aspect, dismissing the notion that such superstitions may have any validity. Leah, who gives up the mandrakes, bears three children; Rachel, who possesses them, remains barren for apparently three more years. Further, both sisters, as well as the narrator, repeatedly emphasize that all events are by the will of God under His control. It can hardly be coincidental that God is mentioned seven times in all.” (Nahum Sarna) In today's verses alone we read: “God gave heed to Leah...” (verse 17); “God has given me...” (verse 18); “God has endowed me...” (verse 20).

“Then Leah said, 'God has given me my wages because I gave my maid to my husband.' So she named him Issachar.” (verse 18) “As is so often the case in Hebrew names, there is a double play in the word: for, first, it alluded to the strange fact that Jacob had been hired of Rachel by the mandrakes; but, secondly, Leah gives it a higher meaning, 'for God,' she says, 'hath given me my hire.' In her eyes the birth of her fifth son was a Divine reward for the self-sacrifice involved in giving her maid to Jacob, and which had been followed by years of neglect of herself.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)

“Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Then Leah said, 'God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' So she named him Zebulun.” (verses 19-20) “And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry,.... Having so many children; for though her husband could give her nothing at marriage, and her father gave her no more than one handmaid, yet God had abundantly made it up to her, in giving her so many sons: these are the heritage of the Lord, Psalm 127:3, now will my husband dwell with me; constantly; and not come to her tent now and then only, as he had used to do: because I have borne him six sons; this she thought would fix his affections to her, and cause him to cleave to her, and continue with her: and she called his name Zebulun; which signifies 'dwelling'.” (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)

“Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.” (verse 21) “And called her name Dinah; which signifies 'judgment': perhaps she may have some reference to the first son of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, whom she called Dan, a name of the same signification; intimating as if it was a clear case that judgment went on her side; and that by the number of children she had, it was plain God had determined in her favour.” (Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible) Dinah is mentioned by name, as well, in anticipation of the dreadful events that would occur in Genesis chapter 34.

Please read Genesis 30:22-24 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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