Genesis 29:30

Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

Ver. 30. And he went in also unto Rachel.] Which incestuous fact cannot ordinarily be justified, nor may at all be imitated. Wicked Julia, soliciting Caracalla to incestuous marriage with her, when he answered, Vellem si liceret , replied impudently (and is therefore, by very heathens, condemned extremely), Si libet, licet: an nescis te Imperatorem esse, leges dare non accipere ?& c. Herod, for marrying his brother’s wife, was reproved, and punished.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:30 Jacob loved Rachel much more than Leah: Favoritism was an ongoing cause of dysfunction in Jacob’s family (cp. 25:28; 37:3). Jacob’s favoritism had lasting effects: his family was never together, and their descendants, the tribes of Israel, were rarely unified.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

30. And he loved also Rachel more than Leah. No doubt Moses intended to exhibit the sins of Jacob, that we might learn to fear, and to conform all our actions to the sole rule of God’s word. For if the holy patriarch fell so grievously, who among us is secure from a similar fall, unless kept by the guardian care of God? At the same time, it appears how dangerous it is to imitate the fathers while we neglect the law of the Lord. And yet the foolish Papists so greatly delight themselves in this imitation, that they do not scruple to observe, as a law, whatever they find to have been practiced by the fathers. Besides which, they own as fathers those who are worthy of such sons, so that any raving monk is of more account with them than all the patriarchs. It was not without fault on Leah’s part that she was despised by her husband; and the Lord justly chastised her, because she, being aware of her father’s fraud, dishonorably obtained possession of her sister’s husband; but her fault forms no excuse for Jacob’s lust.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated,.... Not properly and simply hated by Jacob, as appears by his doing the duty of an husband to her, but comparatively; she was less loved than Rachel: and there are many things to be said for it; she was not beautiful as Rachel was; she was not Jacob's choice, as she was but imposed upon him through deceit, and he was forced to marry her, or he could not have Rachel his beloved wife: but the Lord had pity on her, and that she might have a share in her husband's affections:

he opened her womb; or gave her conception; as Onkelos paraphrases it:

but Rachel was barren; bare no children as yet, and for many years after, Gen 30:22.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Latter. Jacob is the figure of Jesus Christ; who rejected the synagogue, and treated his Church, gathered from all nations, with the utmost affection. (Calmet) --- Lia means "painful or labourious;" and Rachel a sheep; denoting, that a quiet contemplative life must be united with an active one; and that the Church must suffer here, and be crowned in heaven. (Haydock) (St. Gregory, Mor. vi. 28.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah (implying, however, that Leah had a place in his affections), and served with him yet seven other years. The seven years cunningly exacted for Leah was thus the second fraud practiced upon (Gen_30:26 Gen_31:41; Hos_12:12)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

עוד שבע שנים אחרות YET SEVEN OTHER YEARS — Scripture adds the apparently redundant word אחרות another seven years, for the purpose of comparing them to the preceding seven years. — Even as he had worked faithfully during the earlier period (not anticipating any deception on Laban’s part), so he worked faithfully during the latter period, although he (Laban) had practised this deception on him (Genesis Rabbah 70:20).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND HE LOVED RACHEL MORE THAN LEAH. The reason why Scripture mentions that he also loved Rachel more than Leah is that it is natural for a man to have more love for the woman with whom he first had relations, just as the Sages have mentioned with reference to women: “And she makes a firm commitment only to he who marries her first.” Thus Jacob’s loving Rachel more than Leah was unnatural. This is the sense of the word gam: [and he loved ‘gam’ Rachel than Leah].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויתן...ויבא גם אל רחל, just as he had slept with Leah previously, he now slept with Rachel.

ויאהב גם את רחל, the Torah had to write this in order to inform us that Yaakov loved Leah also, even though originally he had not chosen her to become his wife. In the event, now that she had become his wife, he loved her just as most husbands love their wives. However, he loved Rachel better.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.