Why Leah Was Called Hated - The Seven Wicked Kings of Judah

Another interpretation of (Genesis 29:31): "And the LORD saw that Leah was hated." This is what Scripture says (Jeremiah 12:8): "My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest [it has roared against Me; therefore I have hated her]." How so? The Holy One, blessed be He, saw that wicked sons were destined to come forth from her, and so He called her "hated." And these are the wicked ones: Jehoram, Jehoash, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah. Of Jehoram it is written (II Kings 8:18): "And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done." Of Ahaz it is written (II Kings 16:2): "And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD [his God], like David his father." Isaiah said to him (Isaiah 7:11): "Ask for yourself a sign from the LORD your God; make the request as deep as Sheol" — that the dead might live, or that Korah might come up from Sheol — "or as high as above" (ibid.): you may ask that Elijah come down from the heavens. He said to him: I know that He has the power to do it, but I do not want the Name of Heaven to be sanctified through me, as it is said (Isaiah 7:12): "And Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD." Of Jehoash it is written (II Kings 12:3 [12:2]): "And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, as Jehoiada the priest instructed him." But once Jehoiada died, he turned to evil, as it is said (II Chronicles 24:17): "And after the death of Jehoiada [the princes of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them]." See what is written of Manasseh (II Chronicles 33:7): "And he set up the carved image of the idol that he had made in the House of God." Of Amon it is written (II Chronicles 33:22-23): "[And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD] and to all the carved images that Manasseh his father had made [he sacrificed and served them; and he did not humble himself before the LORD, for he, Amon, multiplied guilt]." And of Jehoiakim it is written (II Chronicles 36:8): "And the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations [that he did], and what was found upon him" — that he despised circumcision, and drew the foreskin over himself, and entered through the opening from which he had come forth. Of Zedekiah it is written (II Chronicles 36:12): "And he did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD his God." Here, then, are seven wicked ones. Therefore the prophet cries out and says (Jeremiah 15:9): "She who bore seven languishes." Therefore (Genesis 29:31): "And the LORD saw that Leah was hated."