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Leah

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Jacob’s first wife in the Hebrew Bible, mother of six of the twelve tribes of Israel and daughter Dinah.

Detailed Definition
Unloved yet fruitful, Leah named her children expressing longing for love. Her perseverance shaped Israel’s tribes. In poetry, Leah symbolizes quiet endurance, the dignity of the overlooked, and the divine honoring of the unchosen through legacy.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Genesis 29:17, Leah is described as “tender-eyed,” a phrase poets like Adrienne Rich reinterpret as inner strength masked by sorrow; Elizabeth Barrett Browning alludes to Leah in “Aurora Leigh” as a figure of unchosen yet enduring love; In feminist midrashic poetry, Leah’s naming of her sons (Reuben: “See, a son!”) becomes an act of claiming agency; Contemporary verse contrasts Leah’s fertility with Rachel’s barrenness to explore divine compassion for the overlooked; In devotional poems, Leah’s burial in the Cave of Machpelah signifies her honored place among matriarchs; Some liturgical works include Leah in litanies of women who “built the house of Israel.”
Additional Notes
Leah, Jacob’s first wife (though not his chosen one), is portrayed as tender-eyed and resilient; despite being unloved, she bears six sons who become tribal patriarchs; her story offers rich emotional texture for poetry on longing, maternal strength, and divine compassion, especially as God “saw that Leah was hated” and opened her womb.
Also Known As
Leah daughter of Laban Leah wife of Jacob
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