Leah
Patriarchs (Abraham–Joseph)
Early Patriarch
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H3812
Leah, the first wife of Jacob and mother of six of his sons and his daughter Dinah.
Leah was the older daughter of Laban and the first wife of Jacob, whom he married by her father's deception before later marrying her sister Rachel (Genesis 29:16–28). Despite being less loved than Rachel, she was the more prolific mother, bearing six of Jacob's sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun—as well as a daughter, Dinah. Her sons Levi and Judah are particularly significant: Levi became the ancestor of the priestly tribe, and Judah the ancestor of the royal line culminating in David and Jesus. Leah was buried in the cave of Machpelah alongside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah (Genesis 49:31).