Marshalltown trowels are the Air Jordans of archaeological tools. This is how that happened.

Rachel’s agreement in Genesis 30:14–24 with Leah to exchange sex with Jacob for mandrakes discovered by Leah’s son, Reuben, constitutes an exchange of sex for fertility drugs. The story is rooted in an ancient fertility myth in which mandrakes are understood to possess physical and chemical properties that enhance fertility. This article examines this exchange of sex for drugs in Genesis 30:14–24, the nature of mandrakes and the origin of the fertility myth, including the origin of the legend of the shrieking mandrake which is misattributed to Josephus, and examines the myth’s reception history, including apologetic devices employed by later biblical and extra-biblical authors to disguise the fertility myth, its efficacy, and the willingness of the biblical characters to participate in it.