Genesis 29-35: What's in a Name?

Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.
Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.
She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children. -Gen. 29:32-35

Even today, some people study the meaning of a name before giving it to a child, and in some cases the meaning of those names follow throughout our lives.  Nancy, which is derived from the name Ann, and Ann, which is my middle name, both mean grace.  I like to think that the meaning of those names have been true in my life.  Not because I am graceful, which I am certainly not, but because my life has been and continues to be touched by God's grace.  What more could one ask?

When Leah named her sons, she considered her circumstances and their names followed.  'The Lord has seen my misery," she said when she gave Reuben his name.  Reuben ended up bearing a lot of misery for the family of Jacob.  He is the one who tried to protect Joseph when the brothers wanted to kill him.  He is the one that pleaded with Joseph on behalf of the brothers when they went down to Egypt for food.  He is the one who had to tell Jacob that Simeon had been left behind in Egypt.  Their names became prophetic.

Then, there is Judah.  The one from which the line of the Savior would come.  Only when Leah let go of her circumstances, only when she decided that she would praise the Lord in spite of her second class status in the eyes of Jacob, did redemption come.  Judah, the one whose descendant would redeem the world, was born out of a heart full of praise.