Mother of six of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar) and adoptive mother to two others (Gad and Asher).
Leah becomes Jacob’s wife through a trick by her father Laban. Jacob wants to marry her sister Rachel. Laban switches Leah for Rachel. Later Laban claims that it is against custom to give the younger daughter away in marriage before the older one (Genesis 29:16-30). Laban offers to give Rachel to Jacob in marriage in return for another seven years of work (Genesis 29:27). Jacob accepts the offer and marries Rachel after the week-long celebration of his marriage to Leah.
Leah’s firstborn son Reuben returns from the field with mandrakes for his mother. Leah has not had a child for a while, and this plant is thought to be an aid to fertility. Frustrated that she is not able to conceive at all, Rachel offers to trade her night with their husband in return for the mandrakes. Leah agrees, and that night she conceives Issachar.