Bible Character Explorer
Patriarchs • c. 1900 BC (approximate)
Leah
MatriarchJacob's unloved but fruitful wife, whose son Judah became the ancestor of both David and Jesus Christ.
"And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah."
Genesis 29:35 (KJV)
Overview
Leah was the elder daughter of Laban, described in Scripture as tender-eyed in contrast to her sister Rachel's beauty. Given to Jacob in the darkness of his wedding night through Laban's deception, Leah became Jacob's wife while knowing she was not the one he loved. Scripture records plainly that 'the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb,' and she bore Jacob four sons in succession, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, naming each with words that reveal her longing for her husband's affection giving way, by the fourth son, to simple praise of God. She continued to bear children, including two more sons through her servant Zilpah, and later Issachar, Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah, becoming the mother of more of Jacob's children than any other wife. Though never the favored wife in life, Leah was the one buried beside Jacob in the cave of Machpelah, and her son Judah became the ancestor of both King David and, ultimately, Jesus Christ.
Gospel Connection
Leah's son Judah becomes the ancestor of King David and, through the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, of Jesus Christ himself, described in Revelation 5:5 as 'the Lion of the tribe of Judah.' The unloved wife's line, not the favored wife's alone, carries forward the promise of the Messiah, a quiet picture of God's grace toward the overlooked.
Discover More
See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.