But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes." – Genesis 30:15

Today's Scripture Reading (August 28, 2021): Genesis 30

Trauma survivor Carolyn Spring argues that "the happy family is a myth for many." Dysfunctional relationships tend to be the norm, but why wouldn't that be true? We seem to pass our dysfunction down from generation to generation, teaching our children the same dysfunction that marks our existence. As a result, the number of dysfunctional families multiplies in each generation, which means that more and more of us are sharing our dysfunction with the next generation.

One of the refreshing things about the Bible is that there is no attempt to hide the dysfunction of the people at the center of the biblical stories. And that is true of this tale about Rachel and Leah. At the heart of this story are some mandrakes found by Leah's son, Reuben. Mandrakes were an edible root often called a 'love apple' in Hebrew. The belief was, and in some areas still is, that eating mandrakes would help with fertility. If a woman ate a mandrake and then made love with her husband, there was an increased chance of a pregnancy resulting from the act. The importance of the mandrake in this story is that both Rachel and Leah were competing for the love of Jacob, and both believed that the possession of the mandrakes would increase Jacob's desire to sleep with them, thinking that it was more likely that the union would result in a child.

But beyond the dysfunction revealed by the sexual competition between the women is Leah's charge that Rachel had stolen her husband from her. The background for the charge is that Leah and Rachel were sisters, but Jacob had married Leah first, even though that was not his intention. Jacob believed, at the time of his marriage to Leah, that he was marrying Rachel. But the reality was that Leah had exclusive access to Jacob for the first part of the marriage. All of that changed when Jacob finally got his wish and married Rachel as well. In Leah's eyes, Rachel had come between her and her husband. In reality, Rachel had always been a part of the marriage, and Jacob's desire had always been more for Rachel than it was for Leah (bringing us back to the role that mandrakes played in convincing a husband to sleep with one wife over another).

The pain and dysfunction in Jacob's family were obvious. And the dysfunction and favoritism present in the family of Jacob were also present in the family of Jacob's parents, Isaac and Rebekah. And this dysfunction would be passed down to the children of Jacob. In the end, it would be this favoritism that would result in the brothers selling Joseph (Rachel's son) into slavery and then telling Jacob that one of his sons had died.  Theologian Donald Barnhouse remarks, "Is it any wonder that this family had a history of strife and bloodshed? Children reflect the atmosphere of the home."

Maybe this dysfunction between Jacob, Leah, and Rachel is proof of the danger of polygamous relationships. God never intended for us to have more than one husband or one wife. In the creation dialogue, the intention is clear that God intended for one man to marry one wife. "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). And later, the Law of Moses would forbid marrying sisters. "Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living" (Leviticus 18:18). As for why we have to look no further than the dysfunctional relationship between Leah and Rachel.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 31