Leah

Leah was the first wife of Jacob and mother of several sons identified with tribes of Israel. Leah served as prophet and Patriarchs. Leah is generally dated to 1732 BCE–1666 BCE.

Her rivalry with Rachel and position within Jacob’s household form part of the family history through which Genesis explains Israelite ancestry. Leah was born in Paddan Aram and died in Canaan.

Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent reimagines Leah from the viewpoint of the women in Jacob’s household rather than treating her chiefly as Rachel’s rival. As Dinah’s mother, Leah is central to the novel’s network of marriage, childbirth, work and female memory inside the red tent. Her difficult marriage to Jacob and relationships with Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah give the biblical family story an explicitly domestic perspective before Dinah’s life carries the narrative beyond the household.