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Genesis 30:1-21

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1 When Rachel saw that 1she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall die!"
2 Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, 2who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
3 Then she said, "Here is my servant 3Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth 4on my behalf,[a] that even I may have children[b] through her."
4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.
5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6 Then Rachel said, "God has 5judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.[c]
7 Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings[d] I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." So she called his name 6Naphtali.[e]
9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and 7gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10 Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, 8"Good fortune has come!" so she called his name 9Gad.[f]
12 Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13 And Leah said, "Happy am I! For women 10have called me happy." So she called his name Asher.[g]
14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found 11mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
15 But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" Rachel said, "Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."
16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that night.
17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
18 Leah said, "God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband." So she called his name Issachar.[h]
19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name 12Zebulun.[i]
21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
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Genesis 30:1-21 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 12

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. Hebrew on my knees
  • [b]. Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
  • [c]. Dan sounds like the Hebrew for judged
  • [d]. Hebrew With wrestlings of God
  • [e]. Naphtali sounds like the Hebrew for wrestling
  • [f]. Gad sounds like the Hebrew for good fortune
  • [g]. Asher sounds like the Hebrew for happy
  • [h]. Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for wages, or hire
  • [i]. Zebulun sounds like the Hebrew for honor
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.