1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!"
2 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of Gods, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
Rachel and Bilhah represent soul attitudes. The name Rachel means "journeying," "migrating," which indicates a transitory state. In this instance, Rachel was finding fault with Jacob (Spirit). Such an attitude thwarts the inflow of Spirit. This is why Rachel had not conceived.
3 Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her."
4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her.
5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6 Then Rachel said, "Gods have judged me, and have also heard my voice and given me a son"; therefore she called his name Dan.
Dan symbolizes good judgment, born from spiritual inspiration caused by a modest and teachable attitude toward this inspiration.
7 Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed"; so she called his name Naphtali.
This same attitude produces strength of character (Naphtali). That there is a close relation between the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of strength is shown by the fact that the back becomes tired when thoughts of the burdens of materiality are held. The realization that all strength is primarily spiritual relieves this condition, and strength is restored.
9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 Then Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
Leah's maid Zilpah (whose name means "distilling," "extracting an essence") was the mother of the next two sons, Gad and Asher.
11 And Leah said, "Good fortune!" so she called his name Gad.
Gad symbolizes power, which at this stage of development is on the personal plane. Divine Mind gives man power over his thoughts and ideas and the forces of the soul. In the higher consciousness, this power is exercised over the self and inner conditions rather than over other persons and the world without.
12 Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me happy"; so she called his name Asher.
Asher symbolizes understanding, which corresponds to wisdom in the realm of Spirit (Thomas). Through his knowing faculty, man acquires a body of knowledge by study and observation of the world without. Through the same faculty, he acquires wisdom by being receptive to the Spirit within.
14 In the days of wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then, Rachel said to Leah, "Give me, I pray, some of your son's mandrakes."
15 But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" Rachel said, "Then he may lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."
16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So, he lay with her that night.
To get his attention, Leah bargained with Rachel to keep out of the way for a while, and as a reward, gave her some mandrakes or "love apples" that her son Reuben had brought in to her. Leah had great zeal and was never discouraged by her failure of her attempts to win Jacob's favor.
17 And Gods hearkened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
18 Leah said, "Gods have given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband"; so she called his name Issachar.
When the child was born she called him Issachar, a name meaning "there is reward." Metaphysically, he represents the faculty of Zeal, active in substance and in the body consciousness.
Zeal is a strong force, the urge behind all things and the impulse to every achievement. It sets in motion all the machinery of the universe to attain the object of its desire. It should be tempered with understanding and love, else it becomes a destructive force. Even a criminal may be zealous in his work.
19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Then Leah said, "Gods have endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons"; so she called his name Zebulun.
The last one she brought forth was Zebulun (whose name means "habitation," "neighbor") and who symbolizes the faculty of order. Order is the first law of the universe. Indeed there could be no universe unless its various parts were kept in perfect harmony. In the sense mind, there is disorder, manifest in confusion of thought and action, while in Divine Mind, everything is perfect order. Therefore, it is most important, if we are to survive at all, that our thoughts be put in order and kept in harmony with divine intelligence.
Even in the small details of life, such as dress, conversation, eating, sleeping, and working, system and order enables one to live a richer and fuller life. But only in divine order can be found the life abundant and eternal.
This order is established in our body and affairs when we live up to the higher convictions of our being under the guidance of spiritual understanding. No man-made law can be strong, true, or exact enough to insure perfect order. Only when man becomes conscious of who and what he is can he exercise his God-given dominion and bring his life into line with the principle of divine order, which is mind, idea, and manifestation.
21 Afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
The name Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, means "judged," "justified," "acquitted," "avenged." Dinah represents the soul side or feminine aspect of the judgment faculty in man; it might be called intuition, the intuition of the natural man.
22 Then Gods remembered Rachel, and Gods hearkened to her and opened her womb.
23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, "Gods have taken away my reproach";
24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, "May YHVH add to me another son!"
During all this time, Jacob had been serving his father-in-law Laban in the country of Haran. This was a high or mountainous place and, metaphysically, denotes the high state of consciousness in which the individual is strengthened and given the determination to go forward to spiritual enlightenment and full development. Eleven of Jacob's sons were born in Haran, the last of whom was Joseph, the child of Rachel, the beloved. In the high state of spiritual consciousness man develops the faculties from the simple one of seeing to that of Imagination, the faculty represented by Joseph.
25 When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.
26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service which I have given you."
27 But Laban said to him, "If you will allow me to say so, I have learned, by Divination, that YHVH has blessed me because of you;
28 name your wages, and I will give it."
The natural man learns to respect Spirit by results. However, once those results are experienced, the natural man does all he can to maintain them.
These passages in Genesis show the urge toward higher things on the part of those who received the quickening of the Spirit. Jacob, Laban, and Laban's family were of the same stock, but Jacob was more spiritually awakened, and because of his superior understanding all those with whom he was associated enjoyed increase of understanding and substance.
29 Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and YHVH has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?"
This scene depicts the attempt by the natural consciousness to become more spiritual. This happens when the natural person observes and finally acknowledges the blessings received by the spiritual person.