Genesis 30:1-7

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[a] from you?"
3 Then she said, "Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she'll bear [children] for me[b] 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.[c]
7 Rachel's slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

Genesis 30:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 30

This chapter gives an account of Rachel's envy of her sister for her fruitfulness, and of her earnest desire of having children, which she expressed to Jacob in an unbecoming manner, for which he reproved her, Ge 30:1,2, of her giving her maid Bilhah to Jacob, by whom he had two sons, Dan and Naphtali, Ge 30:3-8; and of Leah's giving her maid Zilpah to him, by whom he had two other sons, Gad and Asher, Ge 30:9-13; and of Reuben's mandrakes he found in the field, and the agreement made between Rachel and Leah about them, Ge 30:14-16; and of Leah's bearing Jacob two more sons and one daughter, Ge 30:17-21, and of Rachel's also bearing him a son, whose name was Joseph, Ge 30:22-24; upon which he desires leave of Laban to depart into his own country, his time of servitude being up, Ge 30:25,26; which brought on a new agreement between him and Laban, that for the future he should have all the speckled, spotted, and brown cattle for his service, Ge 30:27-36; and the chapter is concluded with an account of a cunning scheme of Jacob's to increase that sort of cattle, which succeeded, and by which he became rich, Ge 30:37-43.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Lit the fruit of the womb
  • [b]. Lit bear on my knees
  • [c]. The name Dan sounds like Hb "has vindicated," or "has judged."
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