Family and Marriage
Leah was the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel. Her father dwelt in Paddan Aram, in the region near Harran in Upper Mesopotamia. Through Laban she was the niece of Rebecca and the granddaughter of Bethuel.
When Jacob came to Haran seeking a wife, he agreed to labor seven years for Rachel. On the wedding night, however, Laban substituted Leah for Rachel, so that Jacob married the elder daughter first. Jacob then married Rachel after a further seven years of labor, making Leah his first wife and Rachel his second and favored wife. The Torah describes Leah as having 'tender eyes,' a phrase variously understood as delicate, weary, or weak.
Children and Descendants
Leah bore Jacob six sons and one daughter. Her sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, followed by Issachar and Zebulun; her daughter was Dinah, Jacob's only daughter. She also raised Gad and Asher, the two sons born to her maidservant Zilpah.
Through her sons Levi and Judah, Leah became the matriarch of both the priestly tribe of Levi and the royal tribe of Judah in Israel. It is through Judah that her line leads to King David and, in Christian tradition, to Christ.
Death and Veneration
Leah died some time before Jacob and is held by tradition to be buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs (the Cave of Machpelah) in Hebron, alongside Jacob.
In the Orthodox Church, Leah is commemorated among the Holy Forefathers on the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ. This commemoration honors the ancestors of Christ from the Old Testament, the great patriarchs and matriarchs, naming among the foremothers Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.
