'HATED' — literally, from sane, 'to hate'; but Hebrew uses it for the LESS-loved of two, so 'unloved' catches the sense: 'Jehovah saw that Leah was senuah, and opened her womb' (29:31, 33). The same idiom governs a real law — the man with a loved wife and a 'hated' (unloved) one may not deny the unloved wife's firstborn his double portion (Deuteronomy 21:15-17), the exact situation this chapter sets up. The heart of it: God SIDES WITH THE UNLOVED. Rachel is adored and barren; Leah is unloved and fruitful — and from unloved Leah come Levi (the priesthood) and Judah (the kings, and the Messiah). → first discussed at Gen 29:31