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Help[Opinions] Re: Leia
in reply to a message by Perrine
You can still pronounce Lea as Leia. Many cultures pronounce it that way. If you don't love star wars or have some connection otherwise with Leia I would stray from using it if "Did you name her after Leia in Star Wars?" comments would start to annoy you.
P.S. Leah wasn't unattractive in the Bible, she had an eye condition considered "weak eyes" so she may have needed glasses, which they didn't have at the time, or she was born with some other partial blindness or eye problem. There is an alternate idea that "weary" actually means "delicate" and she had delicate eyes.
From Wikipedia: The commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leah's eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacob's older twin brother, Esau. In the Rabbinic mind, the two brothers are polar opposites; Jacob being a God-fearing scholar and Esau being a hunter who also indulges in murder, idolatry, and adultery. But people were saying, "Laban has two daughters and his sister, Rebekah, has two sons. The older daughter (Leah) will marry the older son (Esau), and the younger daughter (Rachel) will marry the younger son (Jacob)." Hearing this, Leah spent most of her time weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as "soft" from weeping. God hearkens to Leah's tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does.
There are a couple of translations for Leah, one which is "ewe" which isn't common, one which is the Hebrew "weary" which probably describes an eye condition she was born with, or a Chaldean name meaning "mistress" or "ruler" in Akkadian. Take your pick.
P.S. Leah wasn't unattractive in the Bible, she had an eye condition considered "weak eyes" so she may have needed glasses, which they didn't have at the time, or she was born with some other partial blindness or eye problem. There is an alternate idea that "weary" actually means "delicate" and she had delicate eyes.
From Wikipedia: The commentary of Rashi cites a Rabbinic interpretation of how Leah's eyes became weak. According to this story, Leah was destined to marry Jacob's older twin brother, Esau. In the Rabbinic mind, the two brothers are polar opposites; Jacob being a God-fearing scholar and Esau being a hunter who also indulges in murder, idolatry, and adultery. But people were saying, "Laban has two daughters and his sister, Rebekah, has two sons. The older daughter (Leah) will marry the older son (Esau), and the younger daughter (Rachel) will marry the younger son (Jacob)." Hearing this, Leah spent most of her time weeping and praying to God to change her destined mate. Thus the Torah describes her eyes as "soft" from weeping. God hearkens to Leah's tears and prayers and allows her to marry Jacob even before Rachel does.
There are a couple of translations for Leah, one which is "ewe" which isn't common, one which is the Hebrew "weary" which probably describes an eye condition she was born with, or a Chaldean name meaning "mistress" or "ruler" in Akkadian. Take your pick.
This message was edited 3/11/2017, 9:19 PM
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You make some interesting comments about Leah and the origin of her name. I have heard that many scholars have gathered that she had delicate eyes. In the Bible, she was definitely a pitiable character but not someone I would want to name a daughter after.
You should suggest to Behind the Name that they add the Chaldean meaning. It would help round out the name a little more.
You should suggest to Behind the Name that they add the Chaldean meaning. It would help round out the name a little more.
1