Genesis 30:14-21

OTHER CHILDREN OF LEAH, Genesis 30:14-21.

Reuben went He was now a boy of four or five years. Mandrakes דודאים , dudhaim, love-apples, a fruit, as appears from this context, believed to have the power of promoting conception . Hence the anxiety of Rachel to obtain them . The fruit here named is believed to be the Mandragora officinalis, described by Tristram as “one of the most striking plants of the country, with its flat disk of very broad primrose-like leaves, and its central bunch of dark blue bell-shaped blossom . The perfume of the flower we found by no means disagreeable, though it is said by some to be fetid . It has a certain pungency which is peculiar . We found it not uncommon in every part of Palestine, but chiefly in marshy plains . ” Land of Israel, 8vo edit . , p . 103 .