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Genesis 29 · a question people ask

Did Jacob hate Leah?

In the text

Genesis says, "he loved also Rachel more than Leah" (29:30), and in the next verse, "The LORD saw that Leah was hated" (29:31). The law later uses the same pair of words for a man with two wives, "the one beloved and the other hated" (Deuteronomy 21:15). Leah's own words show how she felt: "now my husband will love me" (29:32), and "the LORD has heard that I am hated" (29:33).

The verses

“He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years. The LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because the LORD has looked at my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again, and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Simeon.”
Genesis 29:30-33 · World English Bible
“If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated,”
Deuteronomy 21:15 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 29

Genesis 29: This time I will praise

Jacob served seven years for Rachel and was given Leah instead: the man who had come to his father as the firstborn was told "It is not done so… to give the younger before the firstborn." The LORD saw that Leah was hated and gave her four sons, and with the fourth she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." That son, Judah, is the one from whom Jesus comes.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions