The Bible doesn't give us much to work with when it comes to the life of Leah, first wife of Jacob, but there are definitely tidbits to be gleaned. As one of the most relatable women in the Bible, I think it's important we look at her story and try to understand it from all angles.

Many people assume Leah was ugly because when she is introduced, she is contrasted to her sister's beauty.

There are actually several reasons the author could have made this contrast, some of which don't end with Leah being "ugly." In fact, it might not even be a contrast! Below are some thoughts and research on this particular verse.

Have you ever been in an interview where they ask you to describe yourself? Or better yet, they ask you how your friends would describe you? Think of someone you know well; what is the first word that pops in to your head to describe them? Now, thinking more broadly, if you did this exercise for everyone you know, how many times would beautiful be the first word that came to mind? Just because that isn't the descriptor that first comes to mind doesn't mean the person is ugly; it simply means other adjectives are more prominent. Even for someone as high profile as Beyoncé, this first thought that pops in to my head is not beautiful (it's along the lines of her dedication to putting on a high quality show). What we can say for a fact is that the most distinguishing feature for Rachel was beauty, but something else shined brighter for Leah.

Speaking of Beyoncé, can you imagine being Solange? I could definitely see someone penning a sentence like "Beyonce was beautiful, but Solange was deep." Both women are beautiful and perhaps both women are deep, but Solange is known more for her sound than her looks. Most people are average looking (that's the definition of average after all). Each of us would be the Solange to Beyoncé, but that doesn't mean we're ugly. Fortunately, most of us aren't surrounded by models, which means it's not as obvious how average we are.

Granted, a lot of speculation hinges on just what Leah's descriptor means. There's no ambiguity in the description of Rachel as beautiful, but what does it mean to be "tender eyed" (KJV)? Some translations render this as "weak eyes" (NIV, NASB). One translation actually says "Leah had lovely eyes" (Good News Translation). So what does that actually mean?

Weak eyes sounds like someone with vision trouble to me. Someone in my Sabbath school kept saying she had a lazy eye (I'm not sure where the person deciphered that). Tender eyed makes me think of someone who is gentle and meek being contrasted with someone who is more "in your face." Of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't suggest we go straight to the source!

The Hebrew text uses two words to describe Leah: רַךְ and עַיִן.

רַךְ can mean anything from tender to fainthearted. The official definition says that it means tender or soft, which by implication means weak.[1] Note that this isn't weak in the sense of failing, but weak in the sense of gentle. The same word is used in Deuteronomy 28:56 to describe dainty women and in 2 Samuel 3:39 to describe David as vulnerable. Another example is in Proverbs 15:1: the word rendered "soft" is the same in Hebrew.

The second word (עַיִן) is usually translated as "eye" but it is also translated as face, color, or presence in some places—sometimes it's even translated as fountain or well![2] The phrase could mean anything from she had a soft presence to she had poor sight (or a lazy eye).

What's more is that using Hebrew grammar and the use of the letter "waw" to join the clauses, an argument can be made to translate the verse to use the disjunctive "but" or the connective "and." Given the latter, the text would read, "Lead was tender eyed and Rachel was beautiful."[3] Combining that with the ambiguity of the original text, it could actually read "Leah was of soft presence and Rachel was beautiful." We really don't know...

There are several theories about what this phrase actually means, and some of them include a belief that Leah was also beautiful.[4]

One of the biggest mysteries in the Bible (in my opinion) is how Leah ended up married to Jacob in the first place. There are so many questions:

I'm sure there are other questions to be asked, but these are the ones that popped in to my head immediately. There are equally as many scenarios that could have lead to this union.

Not much is said about Leah, but we do get a glimpse of her thoughts as she names her children.

There are a couple interesting things here. The main thing is that after all but one of her sons' births she makes reference to her position with Jacob. The inference being that she thought Jacob would love her if she gave him a son or that she was being rewarded for not being loved through children. Note that in that time (really even through modern day) a woman's only value was her ability to provide a male heir. The one child she seems to have for herself and simply praises God for without mentioning Jacob is Judah. It is from Judah that we get Boaz, David, Solomon, and eventually the Messiah. It is from Judah that we have the lineage of kings! It is from Judah that the southern region of Israel inherited the name Judea and it's inhabitants would eventually be known as Jews...

Also from Leah is the tribe of Levi, the priests of Israel. All other tribes of Israel were "lost" to Assyria;[5] so we only know of Leah's descendants today and only Leah's descendants are carrying on the legacy.

Based on the expressions she has after each child, it would seem that Jacob never cared for Leah, but when you look at the overall story, I'm not so sure. We know that Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, her second child and Jacob's 12th son. How long after that did Leah live? It's possible that their relationship thrived after the death of Rachel.

I make this observation because it is Leah, not Rachel, who is buried in the family tomb. Jacob chose to be buried with Leah instead of Rachel which I find odd.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that just because Jacob favored Rachel, it doesn't mean he mistreated Leah. The fact that Leah had seven children proves that something was going on between them. Now sure, it could have been "duty," but if Leah was "ugly" and truly hated, Jacob could have neglected to sleep with Leah. Do you really think Solomon slept with all 1000 of his wives regularly?

I don't know that we'll ever know the exact situation for Leah, but I like to think that even though she wasn't Jacob's favorite, she still managed to live a happy life.

Leah is the daughter of Laban, who is the brother of Rebekah. Laban and Rebekah are the children of Bethuel, who is the son of Nahor. Nahor was Abraham’s brother. (Genesis 22:20-23; 24:29)