Genesis 29:31-35

"And Jehovah saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Because Jehovah hath looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me. And she conceived again and bare a son: and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I am hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon. And she conceived again, and bare a son; Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, This time will I praise Jehovah; therefore she called his name Judah; and she left off bearing."

"And Jehovah saw that Leah was hated ..." The word "hate" in its various tenses has in this usage of it, a meaning of "to love less." So, similarly, Jesus commanded those who would follow him to "hate" father and mother (Luke 14:26). Nothing of the usual meaning of the word clings to what is meant in such usage. It simply means that Jacob continued to love Rachel MORE THAN he loved Leah. "The word hated indicates less affection or less devotion; it does not indicate positive hatred."[20] One is left to wonder about the reason for Leah's distress. Did she not consent to the deception that placed her in the bed that by right of seven years of slavery had been won for Rachel by Jacob? Could she have been unaware that the wrong done to her sister was a very unlikely aid in winning the affections of Jacob? Was that deception, in which Leah was certainly an accomplice, the thing which provoked the resentment and hatred of Jacob? The fact is that the various evils which inherently belonged to that which Laban and his family did to Jacob set up and established an environment for Jacob's home in which happiness, in any ultimate sense, would forever be a stranger.

Aside from the human interest that attaches to this paragraph, the big thing in it is the birth of four of the patriarchs - Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Also, significantly, the names of Zilpah and Bilhah appear here. They were the handmaids presented to Leah and Rachel as wedding gifts. The system of concubinage later introduced into this family by Rachel would make them also co-mothers of the Twelve Tribes.

The names of the sons whose birth is given here will be discussed in the next chapter.