Chapter 1
1 The copy of the words of Issachar. For he called his sons and said to them: Hearken, my children, to Issachar your father; Give ear to the words of him who is beloved of the Lord.
2, 3 I was born the fifth son to Jacob, by way of hire for the mandrakes. For Reuben my brother
4 brought in mandrakes from the field, and Rachel met him and took them. And Reuben wept, and
5 at his voice Leah my mother came forth. Now these (mandrakes) were
sweet-smelling apples
6 which were produced in the land of Haran below a ravine of water. And Rachel said: I will not give them to thee, but they shall be to me instead of children. For the Lord hath despised me,
7 and I have not borne children to Jacob. Now there were two apples; and Leah said to Rachel:
8 Let it suffice thee that thou hast taken my husband: wilt thou take these also? And Rachel said
9 to her: Thou shalt have Jacob this night for the mandrakes of thy son. And Leah said to her:
10 Jacob is mine, for I am the wife of his youth. But Rachel said: Boast not, and vaunt not thyself; for he espoused me before thee, and for my sake he served our father fourteen years.