Mandrakes

Mandrakes (Hebrew dudaim, meaning love-plants) appear in two biblical passages. In Genesis 30:14–16, Reuben found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah; Rachel bargained with Leah for the mandrakes (exchanging a night with Jacob), giving rise to an irony: Leah, who gave away the mandrakes, conceived that night and bore Issachar, while Rachel, who obtained the mandrakes believed to promote fertility, remained barren until God specifically remembered her (Genesis 30:22). The episode subtly undermines confidence in folk fertility remedies while affirming that children come from God's opening of the womb.

Song of Solomon 7:13 uses the mandrake's fragrance erotically: "The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits." The mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) is a Mediterranean plant with forking roots that vaguely resemble a human form, bearing small yellow-orange berries in spring with a distinctive sweet smell. It was widely believed in antiquity to have aphrodisiac and fertility-promoting properties. The biblical treatment neither endorses nor ridicules these folk beliefs but uses the plant as a realistic cultural detail in the narrative.