to teach that the firstborn should have come from Rachel, as says, "These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph," but Leah prayed for mercy before Rachel did. On account of Rachel's modesty, however, God restored the rights of the firstborn to Rachel's son Joseph from Leah's son Reuben. To teach what caused Leah to anticipate Rachel with her prayer for mercy, Rav taught that Leah's eyes were sore (as reports) from her crying about what she heard at the crossroads. There she heard people saying: "Rebecca has two sons, and Laban has two daughters; the elder daughter should marry the elder son, and the younger daughter should marry the younger son." Leah inquired about the elder son, and the people said that he was a wicked man, a highway robber. And Leah asked about the younger son, and the people said that he was "a quiet man dwelling in tents." So she cried about her fate until her eyelashes fell out. This accounts for the words of , "And the Lord saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb," which mean not that Leah was actually hated, but rather that God saw that Esau's conduct was hateful to Leah, so he rewarded her prayer for mercy by opening her womb first. The seven days of Jacob's wedding feast in are reflected in the Sages' ruling that if a groom developed symptoms of skin disease (tzaraat) they granted him a delay of inspection to the end of the seven days of his marriage feast. The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught that Leah and Rachel were two of seven barren women about whom says (speaking of God), "He . . . makes the barren woman to dwell in her house as a joyful mother of children." The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana also listed Sarah, Rebekah, Manoah's wife, Hannah, and Zion. The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught that the words of , "He . . . makes the barren woman to dwell in her house," apply to Leah, for reports: "And the Lord saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb," implying that she had previously been barren. And the words of , "a joyful mother of children," apply to Leah, as well, for reports that Leah said, "I have borne him six sons." The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana taught that the words of , "He . . . makes the barren woman