Genesis 30:17-27

17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son unto Jacob.
18 And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband; and she called his name Issachar.
19 And Leah conceived again and gave birth to the sixth son unto Jacob.
20 And Leah said, God has endued me with a good dowry; now my husband will dwell with me because I have born him six sons; and she called his name Zebulun.
21 And afterwards she gave birth to a daughter and called her name Dinah.
22 And God remembered Rachel and God hearkened to her and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, God has taken away my reproach;
24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, Let the LORD add unto me another son.
25 And it came to pass when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, and I shall go unto my place and to my land.
26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go, for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.
27 And Laban said unto him, Let me now find grace in thine eyes, I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for thy sake.

Genesis 30:17-27 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010