of sex and botany

Good afternoon friends,
I'm sorry to send this out so late; my home internet is having issues. This story has always struck me as funny because the sisters, who compete for their husband's attention now trade his sexual favors. It's also funny because the Bible is often guilty (like most older writing) of objectifying women and here a man is the traded object. I hadn't ever known much about mandrakes, the plant for which Rachel trades a night with Jacob, but today I looked them up. Many strange legends exist about mandrakes, including one used in Harry Potter that the mandrake root screams when uprooted and the scream can be fatal. The root is hallucinogenic and toxic and is associated with various other properties including sexuality.

There were Jewish traditions that the mandrake was a useful remedy for infertility. Since Rachel hadn't been able to have children at this point in her marriage it makes more sense that she would really want the mandrakes. At any rate, I hope you enjoy this snippet of the story and I hope you stay safe and hydrated today.

God bless,
Sam

Genesis 30:14-24

14In 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, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15But 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.” 16When 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. 17And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband”; so she named him Issachar. 19And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she named him Zebulun. 21Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah. 22Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb. 23She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”; 24and she named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”