²⁵ Next is the territory of Issachar with the same eastern and western boundaries.

The Land Given to Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Issachar.

²³ The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Issachar included these towns and their surrounding villages.

¹⁴ One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?”

Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”

¹⁶ So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah. ¹⁷ And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ She named him Issachar,^[a] for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.”