אור החיים — ראובן... שמעון... לוי

Q — Leah named her first son Reuven hoping 'now my husband will love me,' but only with her second, Shimon, said 'God heard that I was hated.' Shouldn't removing the hatred logically precede gaining love? And why call the third son Levi — 'now my husband will join me' — as if he had not been joined to her before?

A — Or HaChaim explains that Leah, scarred by the prophecy that she was destined for Esav, never believed she was truly Yaakov's 'bashert,' even after marrying him. Being a tzadeket who always judged favorably ('לדון לכף זכות'), it never occurred to her that she was actually hated; she assumed the first son was given out of God's mercy to complete the love she lacked. Only later did she perceive the dynamic of being unloved.