Strife Bred of Envy and Competition

Genesis 30:1-24

1 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”  2 And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”  3 So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.” 4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.. 7 And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.
    9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. 10 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad. 12 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.  14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest 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.”  15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?”  And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes.”  16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, 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.” And he lay with her that night.  17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar. 19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.  22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”

The competition between the two wives of Jacob increased as children were born, the younger sister Rachel became jealous with envy for her older sister because she herself had no children to make her husband want her more.  She even demanded children from Jacob who reminded her that he was not God to be able to make her fruitful.  Rachel’s desperation led her to give her servant as a third wife to her husband to bring children by proxy to make Rachel be more favored (as she thought).  She viewed this as a wrestling match which she won somehow by doing this which was not God’s command for two alone to become one.  Then the older sister wife stopped having children and followed suit by giving her servant as a fourth wife to their husband, and more children. This led to further rivalry and conflict.  Yet out of all these things against God’s commands, He used for good to create the twelve sons who would become the tribes of Israel.  We also know of at least one daughter, Dinah.  The last to be born was Joseph, who later would be sold off to Egypt and deliver Israel from bondage and servitude to sin.