Genesis 30:14 - Exposition

And Reuben (at this time four or five years old) went (probably accompanying the reapers) in the days of wheat harvest , and found mandrakes — דּוּדָאים , μῆλα μαδραγορῶν , ( LXX ; Josephus), apples of the mandragora, an herb resembling belladonna, with a root like a carrot, having white and reddish blossoms of a sweet smell, and with yellow odoriferous apples, ripening in May and June, and supposed, according to Oriental superstition, to possess the virtue of conciliating love and promoting fruitfulness — in the field (when at his childish play), and brought them unto his mother Leah (which a son of more mature years would not have done). Then Rachel (not exempt from the prevailing superstition) said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes (in the hopes that they would remove her sterility).