Gen 29:31 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD compensates Leah for Jacob’s lack of love for her. God is also the God of compensation. Leah is the first one to have children. The names of the children tell about her experiences. The first she calls “Reuben”, which means ‘see, a son’. She is full of joy and thankfulness to the LORD. She sees in this boy a proof of the care of the LORD for her. That is good. She now also expects the love of Jacob. She is mistaken in this. The second child she has, she calls “Simeon”, which means ‘heard’. With this she expresses that she has gone to the LORD with her need and that He has heard her. The third son she calls “Levi”, which means ‘united’, ‘added’. This expresses her hope that she will now have won Jacob’s affection and that he will unite with her. She desires, what women in general desire, that the union should not be limited to a physical one, but that Jacob will now really attach himself to her, that he will show her that she really belongs to him. In the name of the fourth son which she conceives, whom she calls “Judah”, she turns only to the LORD. Disappointed in men, in her husband, she knows that her strength is in the LORD. She will praise Him. That is what ‘Judah’ means: ‘He will be praised’.

‏ Genesis 29:31

The First Children of Leah

The LORD compensates Leah for Jacob’s lack of love for her. God is also the God of compensation. Leah is the first one to have children. The names of the children tell about her experiences.

The first she calls “Reuben”, which means ‘see, a son’. She is full of joy and thankfulness to the LORD. She sees in this boy a proof of the care of the LORD for her. That is good. She now also expects the love of Jacob. She is mistaken in this.

The second child she has, she calls “Simeon”, which means ‘heard’. With this she expresses that she has gone to the LORD with her need and that He has heard her.

The third son she calls “Levi”, which means ‘united’, ‘added’. This expresses her hope that she will now have won Jacob’s affection and that he will unite with her. She desires, what women in general desire, that the union should not be limited to a physical one, but that Jacob will now really attach himself to her, that he will show her that she really belongs to him.

In the name of the fourth son which she conceives, whom she calls “Judah”, she turns only to the LORD. Disappointed in men, in her husband, she knows that her strength is in the LORD. She will praise Him. That is what ‘Judah’ means: ‘He will be praised’.