Genesis 29:32

32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, "The Lord has seen my trouble, and now my husband will love me"; so she named him Reuben.

Genesis 29:32 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 29:32

And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name
Reuben
That is, "see the son", as if she by this name called upon her husband, her friends, and all about her, to look at him, and view him; perhaps hoping and imagining he might be the famous son, the promised seed, the Messiah that was to spring to Abraham, in the line of Jacob; but if she so thought, she was greatly mistaken; for this son of hers proved unstable, and did not excel; or rather God hath seen or provided a son, as Hillerus ^F23 gives the signification of the name, which seems better to agree with what follows: for she said, surely the Lord hath looked on my affliction;
being deceived by her father, not so much loved by her husband as her sister was, and perhaps slighted by her: now therefore my husband will love me:
more than he has done, and equally as my sister, having bore him a son.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 918.

Genesis 29:32 In-Context

30 Jacob had intercourse with Rachel also, and he loved her more than Leah. Then he worked for Laban another seven years.

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was loved less than Rachel, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel remained childless.

32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, "The Lord has seen my trouble, and now my husband will love me"; so she named him Reuben.

33 She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, "The Lord has given me this son also, because he heard that I was not loved"; so she named him Simeon.

34 Once again she became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She said, "Now my husband will be bound more tightly to me, because I have borne him three sons"; so she named him Levi.

Footnotes

• [a]. reuben: [This name sounds like the Hebrew for "see, a son" and "has seen my trouble."]