Cindy Jensen

Leah is the sister of Rachel, and many of the stories about her center around her turbulent relationship with her sister, as they are both Jacob’s wives.

Jacob clearly prefers Rachel, and God compensates Leah by making her fertile while Rachel remains barren.

Both sisters ultimately bear Jacob many sons, and Jacob’s twelve sons eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel.

But the sisters repeatedly compete with each other for Jacob’s affection, mostly by trying to bear him more children.

Although Leah is given little attention outside of her complicated relationship with Rachel and Jacob, she and Rachel are remembered as the ancestresses “who built up the house of Israel”