Gen 30: Rachel's maid, Leah's maid, Leah and Rachel all bearing children for Jacob

Jacob had many more children through Rachel's and Leah's maids, besides Leah and Rachel. God continued to bless Jacob, and his stock of cattle continued to grow in numbers.

• v1: Rachel envied her sister i.e. she grieved at the good of another. (the obvious consequences of marrying two sisters?) She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die". Her heart was set on the desires of temporal comforts, yet she forgot to apply to God through prayer too. Hannah, in 1 Samuel, wept and petitioned God for a child; Rachel was filled with jealousy and wallowed in self pity.
• v2: Jacob was angry, and reproved his wife in love. He acknowledged the hand of God in her affliction, and also his own inability to alter what God had determined.
• v3: At the persuasion of Rachel, Jacob took Bilhah her handmaid as his wife, that according to the custom of his day, his children by her would be adopted and owned as Rachel's children. She was more concerned with having children to rule by name, than to have children to love (there was no reason why as an aunt she couldn't shower Leah's children with love)
• v6-8: Rachel took pleasure in giving her children (born by Bilhah) names that marked her strife with her sister. She called the first son Dan (jusdgement), implying that God had given sentence in her favour, and called the next Naphtali (my struggle), implying that she had a great struggle with her sister and emerged victorious.
• v9: The continuation of the struggle between Leah and Rachel - Leah persuaded Jacob to take Zilpah her hdmaid to be her wife. God in His wisdom hence divinely appointed the unity of one man and one woman only, for "God has called us to live in peace". (1 Co 7:15)
• v11: Gad = good fortune/a troop. She found her happiness in bearing many children, and promsied herself an entire troop of children
• v13: Asher = happy. Leah was caught up in the foolishness of the world, and valued herself more than reputation than what her husband or God thought.
• v15: The law of Moses supposed it common that if a man had two wives, one would be loved and the other hated (Deu 21).
• v14-16: Rachel's coveting of the mandrakes resulted in a bargain being struck with Leah, just as Esau coveted Jacob's food after his day of hunting. The most hilarious story ever, where Leah goes out to meet Jacob in the fields, saying "You must sleep with me tonight, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes". ^^
• v17-18: Issachar = reward. Leah abused God's mercy and for some weird reason thought that God was blessing her follies/faults.
• v20: Zebulun = honour. This is perhaps a reflection of the patriarchal attitudes of the day, where women judged based on their childbearing.
• v22-23: Rachel fruitful at last - God remembered her, when He seemed to have forgotten. God's answer to our desires may not always be immediate.
• v25: Jacob served his time faithfully with Laban, but he always thought of home and the land of promise. Although he was with Laban many years, he did not settle there, but always kept his gaze on the land God had promised. "For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come" (Heb 13:14)
• v27-28: Laban endeavoured to persuade Jacob to continue to work in his household. Lban knew that his prosperity was due to God's blessing, and this was due to Jacob's piety. (just like Joseph caused the people around him in the prison to be blessed)
• v29-43: ????? :S