Genesis 30:18

18 Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. [a]

Genesis 30:18 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:18

And Leah said, God hath given me my hire
Of the mandrakes with which she had hired of Rachel a night's lodging with Jacob, and for which she had a sufficient recompense, by the son that God had given her: and she added another reason, and a very preposterous one, and shows she put a wrong construction on the blessing she received: because I have given my maiden to my husband;
which, she judged, was so well pleasing to God, that he had rewarded her with another son; and she called his name Issachar,
which signifies "hire" or "reward"; or, there is a reward, or a man of reward.

Genesis 30:18 In-Context

16 When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.
17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob.
18 Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
19 Again Leah conceived and bore a sixth son to Jacob.
20 “God has given me a good gift,” she said. “This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she named him Zebulun.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for wages or reward.
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