Jacob

Leah, Ten (10) Bible Study Points – April 2, 2016

Leah: Her name may mean “Impatient” or “Wild Cow”

Her Character: Capable of both strong and enduring love, she was a faithful mother and wife. Manipulated by her father, she became jealous of her sister, with whom, it seems, she never reconciled.

Key Scriptures: Genesis 29-35; Ruth 4:11

  1. Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the youngest was Rachel.

 

  1. Leah is described as having weak eyes, but Rachel was very beautiful and well favored. (Genesis 29-17 NIV)

 

  1. Jacob was in love with Rachel, Leah’s younger sister

 

  1. Laban [the father] was deceptive by giving Leah to Jacob to marry instead of Rachel whom he was in love with. Genesis 29:16-30

Genesis 29:22-23 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her (Leah).

 

  1. Jacob worked Seven year with the intent on marrying Leah’s younger sister.

Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”  Genesis 29:26-27

Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. Genesis 29:30 NIV

  1. Jacob Married Leah and her sister

 

  1. Leah was not loved by Jacob

And when the LORD saw that Leah [was] hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel [was] barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD had looked upon my affliction, now therefor my husband (Jacob) will love me. 33And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I [was] hated, he hath therefore given me this [son] also: and she called his name Simeon. 34And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. Genesis 29:32

  1. Leah gave birth to her first son, believing that Jacob would love her.
  2. Leah had three sons that were fathered by Jacob
  3. Leah and her sister together were known for building up the family of Israel.

Ruth 4:11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.

Sources:

  1. NIV Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, 1995
  2. Syswerda, Jean, Women of the Bible, Zondervan, 1999
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Rachel Bible Study, 10 Points for Bible Study 4/25/2015

Rachel-A Woman of the Bible
By Ethel Robinson

Our Lesson of Rachel, comes from the book of Genesis 29-35; Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18

1. Her name means “Ewe”

2. Rachel was manipulated by her father; she has little to say over her own life circumstances and relationships. But rather than dealing creatively with a difficult situation, she behaved like a perpetual victim, responding to sin with yet more sin, making things worse by competing with her sister and deceiving her father in return. (2, page 32)

3. The Daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah.

4. Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful.

5. Jacob was in love with Rachel, and told Laban he would work seven years for him in the
return of his youngest daughter Rachel.

6. Rachel’s sister Leah was married to Jacob by deception
Genesis 29: 19-20 Laban said, “It is better that give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed to like only a few days to him because he loved her. Then Jacob said Laban, “give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.”

7. Rachel was deceived by her father.
Genesis 29:22-23 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her (Leah).

8. Rachel eventually marries Jacob after another seven years goes by.
Genesis 29: 26-28 Laban replied, “It is not our custom her to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work. And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.

9. After being barren God answered Rachel’s prayers.
Genesis 30:22-24 Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, God has taken away my disgrace. ”She named him Joseph, and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.

10. Rachel bore two sons Joseph and Benjamin.

1. The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan 2008 Edition (All scriptures)

2. Women of the Bible, 52 Bible Studies for Individuals and Groups, Jean E Syswerda, Zondervan, 1999, pg. 221.

Rebekah Bible Study, 10 Points for Bible Study 4/11/2015

For our lesson of Rebekah, Genesis 24; 25:19-34; 26:1-28 on pages 28-31, in our main text Women of the Bible by Jean E Syswerda.

1.  Her name probably means “Loop” or “Tie”. (2, pg.28.)

2.  Her character: Hard-working and generous, her faith was so great that she left her home forever to marry a man she had never met.  Yet she played favorites with her sons and failed to trust God fully for the promise he had made. ( 3, pg. 28)

3. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel, Abraham’s nephew, sister of Laban, wife of Isaac,and mother of Esau and Jacob. (1, pg. 14)

4. Genesis 24:1-9, Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4. but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.(Ft. nt.Gen. 24:2-chief servant in his household. Probably Eliezer of Damascus, see note on 15:2).  Put your hand under my thigh, Near the organ of procreation, probably because this oath was related to Abraham’s last will and testament and called for faithful implementation on the part of his son, Isaac must accept Abraham’s and God’s choice (see also Genesis 47:29 and note). 5. The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land?  Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” 6. “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7. “The Lord, the God of heaven,  who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me an oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’– he will send his angel before you so that you can get  a wife for my son from there. 8. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. (2, pg. 56)

5. Genesis 24:10-12 – Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master.  He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Then he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.(1, pg 56.)

6. Genesis 24:15-18 – Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.  She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.  The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her.  She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. (1, pg. 57)

7. Genesis 24:50-51 – Laban and Bethuel answered, this is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.  Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed. (1, pg 58)

8. Genesis 24:66-67 – Then the servant told Isaac all he had done.  Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah.  So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. (1, pg. 59)

9. Genesis 25:21-23 – Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.  The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.  The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?”  So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two people from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”(1, pg.60-61)

10. Genesis 25:24-26 – When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in the womb.  The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau.  After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.  Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. (1, pg. 61)

1. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume Four R-Z, In Four Volumes, Abingdon Press, New York 1962.

2. The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan 2008 Edition (All scriptures)

3. Women of the Bible, 52 Bible Studies for Individuals and Groups, Jean E Syswerda, Zondervan, 1999, pg. 221.