Królów II 8:18 Midrasz: Midrash Tanchuma Buber & Aggadat Bereshit

Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. This text is related (to Jer. 12:8): MY HERITAGE HAS BECOME FOR ME LIKE A LION IN THE FOREST … [THEREFORE I HAVE HATED IT (literally: HER)]. How so? The Holy One saw that wicked children were going to issue from her; so he called her HATED. Now the wicked ones are these: Jehoram, Jehoash, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, < and > Zedekiah. About Jehoram, it is written (in II Kings 8:18): AND HE WALKED IN THE WAY OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AS THE HOUSE OF AHAB HAD DONE. About Ahaz, it is written (in II Kings 16:2): AND HE DID NOT DO WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD [HIS GOD] AS HIS ANCESTOR DAVID < HAD DONE >. Isaiah had said to him (according to Is. 7:11): ASK A SIGN FROM THE LORD YOUR GOD. MAKE IT AS DEEP AS SHEOL, for the dead to live again or for Korah to rise from Sheol. (Ibid., cont.:) OR AS HIGH AS ABOVE. You may ask for Elijah to descend from the heavens. He said to him: I know that he has power to do < such things >, but I do not want the name of names to be sanctified at my hands. Thus it is stated (in vs. 12): I WILL NOT ASK, NOR PUT THE LORD TO THE TEST. About Jehoash, it is written (in II Kings 12:3 [3]): AND JEHOASH DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD ALL HIS DAYS AS THE PRIEST JEHOIADA INSTRUCTED HIM. But when Jehoiada died, evil occurred, as stated (in II Chron. 24:17): NOW {IT CAME TO PASS} AFTER THE DEATH OF JEHOIADA, < THE PRINCES OF JUDAH CAME AND BOWED LOW TO THE KING. THEN THE KING HEARKENED UNTO THEM >…. See what is written about Manasseh (in II Chron. 33:6-7): < HE DID MUCH EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD TO ANGER HIM >, AND HE SET UP A SCULPTURED IMAGE, WHICH HE HAD MADE, IN THE HOUSE OF GOD. About Amon, it is written (in II Chron. 33:22-23): AND HE DID WHAT WAS EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD…. AND TO ALL THE IMAGES WHICH HIS FATHER MANASSEH HAD MADE < AMON SACRIFICED >…. [MOREOVER, HE DID NOT HUMBLE HIMSELF BEFORE THE LORD…. FOR AMON INCURRED A LOT OF GUILT]. About Jehoiakim, it is written (in II Chron. 36:8): NOW AS FOR THE REST OF THE ACTS OF JEHOIAKIM, [THE ABOMINATIONS WHICH HE DID], AND WHAT WAS FOUND AGAINST HIM < HERE THEY ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH >. Thus he repudiated circumcision, extended the foreskin (to disguise circumcision), and entered the orifice through which he had come out.⁴⁰I.e., he had sexual intercourse with his mother. So Lev. R. 19:6; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1. The text might possibly mean that he had entered the orifice through which one empties the bowels. About Zedekiah, it is written (in II Chron. 36:12): AND HE DID WHAT WAS EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD HIS GOD…. Here are the seven wicked men; therefore, the prophet < Jeremiah > cries and says (in Jer. 15:9): SHE WHO BEARS SEVEN IS WRETCHED. Therefore, (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED….

[4] Another interpretation: "And the Lord saw that Leah was hated. So she remained a barren woman in the wilderness..." (Jeremiah 12:8), what does it mean that "the Lord saw that Leah was hated"? God saw that Leah was destined to bear wicked children, and so he called her "hated." These wicked kings were Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, Menasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. Jehoram is referred to as "he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did" (2 Kings 8:18). As for Ahaz, what is written about him? "And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done" (2 Kings 16:2). Isaiah said to him, "Ask for a sign from the Lord your God, whether it be in the depths or in the heights above" (Isaiah 7:11). Ahaz replied, "I do not want to test the Lord" (Isaiah 7:12). Joash, the third king, even though it is written about him that "Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him" (2 Kings 12:2), once Jehoiada the priest died, Joash became evil, as it is written: "When Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols" (2 Chronicles 24:17-18). "The fourth is Manasseh, as it is said, 'And he set up the image of Asherah, which he had made, in the house of which the Lord said...' (2 Kings 21:7). The fifth is Amon, as it is written of him, 'And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done, and among all the idols that Manasseh his father had made, Amon sacrificed and served them and did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done' (2 Kings 21:20-22). The sixth is Jehoiakim, as it is written of him, 'And the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did...' (2 Kings 23:37), and not only that, but he also despised the word and drew the foreskin for himself. The seventh is Zedekiah, and what is written of him is, 'And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord' (2 Kings 21:12). Thus, there were seven wicked kings, and therefore the prophet cries out, 'Woe to her who is pregnant with wickedness, to the daughter of seven! (Micah 5:1).' Therefore it is said, 'And the Lord saw that Leah was hated' (Genesis 29:31), see what will come out of the children of Leah, and he called her 'hated,' and the Lord saw that Leah was hated."