Will the Real Princess Leah Please Stand?

When one says Princess Leah (actually spelled Leia when adding Princess in front of it), they will most likely think of a well-known character in the famous Star Wars movies. But I submit to you a question: Should the Leah of the Bible be considered more royalty than the Leia of Star Wars?

Based on a cursory reading of the Bible, it doesn’t appear that Leah had a great life, let alone should she be royalty. She was married to the same man as her sister. As it turns out, her husband Jacob loved her sister Rachel more than he loved her. On top of that, Leah and Rachel were constantly at odds with one another, which is probably why God commanded a man not to marry two sisters while both are alive (Leviticus 18:18). But at the end of Leah’s life, we get a hint at her importance:

Genesis 49:31 – There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.

It was Leah, not Rachel, who was buried with Jacob in Hebron along with the other patriarchs and matriarchs, Abraham and Isaac, Sarah and Rebekah. If there were a Mt Rushmore of Biblical couples, these 3 couples would be on it! They are the foundation the nation of Israel was built on.

But what makes Leah specifically so important? For starters, she is the mother of 6 of the 12 sons of Jacob.

1. Genesis 29:32 – And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben…

2. Genesis 29:33 - She conceived again and bore a son…And she called his name Simeon.

3. Genesis 29:34 – Again she conceived and bore a son…Therefore his name was called Levi.

4. Genesis 29:35 – And she conceived again and bore a son…Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

5. Genesis 30:17 – And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 …So she called his name Issachar.

6. Genesis 30:19 – And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20…So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

There are a couple of items of note here. First of all, notice that after Leah had Judah, the Bible says Leah, “ceased bearing.” We should not take that lightly. It does not mean she just had trouble conceiving more children. It means that was all the children she was meant to have. If that is the correct translation, it means Leah was meant to have 4 sons, Rachel 4 sons, and Bilhah and Zilpah 2 sons each. But then the mandrake incident occurred in Genesis 30. Rachel trusted more in the mandrakes than in God and Leah did the opposite – she trusted in God more than the mandrakes. So Leah was rewarded with 2 more sons. Not only that, she also gave birth to the only daughter of Jacob. But notice that when she bore Dinah, it doesn’t say that Leah “conceived and bore” Dinah like the 6 sons. It simply says she “bore” Dinah. That leads many to believe that Zebulun and Dinah were twins. In total Leah has 7 children, 6 boys and 1 girl.

Is that number 7 significant, specifically separating the 7 to 6 and 1?

Exodus 20:9 – Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.

In Hebrew like in many other languages besides English, words are masculine or feminine. The Sabbath is always a feminine word. So the fact that Leah has Dinah last out of 7 children and she is the only female does not appear to be mere coincidence. Leah’s offspring appears to be a physical manifestation of the 7 days of Creation! Are you starting to see why Leah is special? What’s more, it appears that Zebulun and Dinah are twins. The 6th day is called “Preparation Day” because we prepare for the Sabbath. From that point of view, the 2 days are separate from the other 5, which is why Zebulun and Dinah being twins makes even more sense. Zebulun would be compared to the 6th day, and Dinah would be compared to the 7th day, or the Sabbath.

Now take into account the only story that Dinah plays a part in, which is what happened to her in Shechem. Genesis 34 tells us that Shechem, the son of Hamor, violated Dinah. We learn in Genesis 34:25 that all the males of Shechem were killed as a result of what happened to Dinah. Then we read in verse 27,

Genesis 34:27 – The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

Most probably think the punishment did not fit the crime. But consider the comparison that has been made here. What were they punished for? If Dinah = the Sabbath, they were punished for violating the Sabbath!

Exodus 35:2 – Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

The Bible is clear, the punishment for violating the Sabbath is death! What’s more, Dinah’s name is the feminine version of the Hebrew word ‘Din’ which means ‘Justice.’ So not only were they violating the Sabbath, but they were also defiling justice!

Now consider the importance of two other names in the order that Leah’s children were born.

Levi was the 3rd child of Leah. It would be the 3rd day, a day being a thousand years, that the Levites were designated as the priests of Yah. The Exodus occurred in the year 2448 from Adam, the years 2000 to 2999 being the 3rd day. God would declare that year that the Levites were to be set apart as His priests.

Judah was the 4th child of Leah. It would be the 4th day that we should have expected the lion from the tribe of Judah to make an appearance. That lion is the Messiah, Yeshua! It would be at the end of the 4th day, the year 3924 according to the best calculations I’ve seen, that Messiah was born.

Now do you see why Leah is so important? If the children she bears and the order in which she bears them tells us a prophetic story, how could we not elevate her status to royalty? Our only hope is to accept the beautiful Word as given to us!

One in Messiah (Echad b’mashiach - אחד במשיח)

On behalf of Life in the Way Congregation (Chaim b’Derech – בדרך חיים