Genesis 30:8

8 And Rachel said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali [that is, My wrestling].

Genesis 30:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:8

And Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my
sister
Or, "with the wrestlings of God" F1, wrestling and striving in prayer with God; being vehement and importunate in her petitions to him, that she might have children as well as her sister: some render it, "I used the craftinesses of God", or "great craftiness with my sisters" F2; by giving her maid Bilhah to her husband, and having children by her: and I have prevailed;
as she strove in her desires and prayers to have another child before her sister had; in that she prevailed, or she was succeeded in her desires, she had children as she wished to have: and she called his name Naphtali;
which signifies "my wrestling", being a child she had been striving and wrestling for: these two sons of Bilhah were born, as say the Jews, Dan on the twenty ninth day of Elul or August, and lived one hundred and twenty seven years; Naphtali on the fifth of Tisri or September, and lived one hundred and thirty three years.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Myhla ylwtpn) "luctationibus Dei", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Cartwright.
F2 "Calliditatibus Dei, Oleaster, astutiis Dei", Schmidt.

Genesis 30:8 In-Context

6 And Rachel said, "God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice and hath given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan [that is, Judging].
7 And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali [that is, My wrestling].
9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob for a wife;
10 and Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob a son.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.