Genesis 29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive. 32 Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The Lord heard that I am unloved and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon.
34 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi.
35 And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.
The Lord had mercy on Leah and gave her sons for Jacob because Jacob loved Rachel more. So by this point, Leah had 4 sons. Rachel had no children.
Genesis 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children from you?”
Jacob was right! He is not God. He has not withheld children from her.
Genesis 30:3 Then she said, “Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me so that through her I too can build a family.” 4 So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son,” and she named him Dan.
7 Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali.
We see here some sisterly rivalry. Rachel was jealous that Leah had bore Jacob sons. She wanted desperately to have a son too. She gave Jacob her slave to he could have sons through her. Her slave bore Jacob 2 sons.
Genesis 30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” and she named him Gad.
12 When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13 Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,” so she named him Asher.
Leah, not wanting to be out-done by her sister, gave her slave to Jacob also. So, Leah's slave also bore 2 sons to Jacob.
Genesis 30:14 Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”
“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar.
19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 “God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun. 21 Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
It does not tell us how much time passed between Leah's 4th son and 5th son, but it was long enough for two slave girls to bear 2 sons each. It was probably several years, since the story seems to say that Rachel gave her slave, she bore children and then Leah gave her slave. So in total, right now, Jacob has 6 sons from Leah, 2 from her slave and 2 from Rachel's slave. He also has 1 daughter, that we know of. That is 10. The last two, we know will come from Rachel.
Leah was under the impression she could win Jacob's affections by giving him many sons, but we know this is not true. Jacob continued to love Rachel more, even though she was childless. When she did give him a son, that son was loved more than any of the others.
Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my shame.” 24 She named him Joseph:“May the Lord add another son to me.”
Rachel has finally given Jacob a son. There is no telling how many years went by from their marriage until Joseph's birth. I would guess more than the 7 years Jacob was to work for Laban, since Leah herself had 7 children and several years between the 4th and 5th. I would venture to guess more than 10 years of marriage before Joseph was born, if not more.
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