How do you define victory? Is it reaching the goal or is it finding contentment and learning to hold your dreams with very loose fingers? For Leah, it was both.

All her life Leah had played second to her younger sister. Others might have noticed Leah's tender, expressive eyes, but when Rachael entered a room the response was electric. Her perfect form and face captured immediate attention. The difference between the girls had always been a topic of conversation but at no time was it more pointed-and painful-than when their handsome cousin arrived from Palestine searching for a bride. He was immediately captivated by Rachael's beauty while Leah stood by and watched.

Leah kept standing by for seven years as Jacob worked to earn the bride price from their father. Seven years of watching them exchange tender words and touches. Seven years of being the big sister, the good sport, the friend. Then on Rachael's wedding night, her father's deceptive nature and shrewd business dealings came to a head. Leah was quickly shoved into a burka covering her from head to foot and led on her father's arm to darkened bridal tent where Jacob waited. She had no choice, but she also loved Jacob, so she kept silent in the dark.

Then morning came-it always does-and the girl who grew up being second was rejected once again. She listened as Jacob's angry shouts echoed through the compound. Where was Rachael, his beloved? Then-as though she were piece of livestock-a business deal was struck. If Jacob would fill the marriage contract by living with Leah one week and agree to work for her father another seven years, he could have two wives. Rachael would also be given to him at the end of seven days.

The Bible account reads like a dry listing of facts. A few of the men's emotions are mentioned but nothing of Leah's sorrow until God is brought into the tale. "When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb." [1] These are the first words of tender understanding in the whole sordid tale. [It's basically a story of deception, theft, jealousy and manipulation yet through it all Leah's character is relatively unscathed. When gold is stolen, Rachael is the culprit. When idols are coveted, Rachael again is guilty. When Jacob finds his sexual services sold from one sister to the other, it's Rachael's idea. Not that Leah is perfect-the Bible exposes her struggles with jealousy, broken dreams, and anger toward her sister-but Leah is a woman who can grow and seeks the LORD; one evidence of this is found in the names she gave her baby boys.

Although some obscurity will always surround the ancient names, when we weave Leah's stated reasons for picking certain names and string them together in the order of birth, a kind of story unfolds."Behold (Ruben) God has seen my sorrow. He has heard (Simon) me and turned His ear toward me. Now, I trust my husband and I can be joined in harmony (Levi) and when that happens I will praise (Judah) the Lord." But, again, her hope for Jacob's love is dashed as four other sons are conceived by the handmaidens of the sisters. Finally, Leah again gives birth and this time her attitude seems to have undergone a subtle shift. Although she still hopes Jacob will one day dwell permanently in her tent, Leah's focus seems more God-ward as she names the boys: "I am content for God has given me all I have worked for (Issachar). I am rich and I have received a good endowment (Zebulun) from my God." [3]

Rachael, too, eventually had children but she never achieved the peace Leah found. When her first is born she anxiously calls him, "God will provide even more increase (Joseph)" and as she lay dying after the birth of her last son she called him, "Son of my sorrow (Ben-Oni)." It was a name his father could not bear so he changed it to "Son of my own right hand (Benjamin)."

After Rachael's death, grief stricken Jacob would naturally have turned to Leah for comfort and eventual companionship. At last, she had no rival for his love; no competition for his attention. Still, one can't help wonder how this chosen-by-default position may have felt for Leah. Was she resentful of still being Jacob's second best? Did she miss her sister or grieve for her? The Bible is silent.

But, a subtle thread of victory runs through her story and in the end a knot is tied between she and Jacob that only eternity will break. When Jacob was near the end, he instructed his sons to take him out of Egypt and bury him in the cave in Palestine. "There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah." Rachael had a tomb near Bethlehem but Jacob chose instead to wait the resurrection by the side of the woman with tender eyes, Leah.