Genesis 30:16

16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, "Come in to me, for {I have hired} you with my son's mandrakes." And he slept with her that night.

Genesis 30:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:16

And Jacob came out of the field in the evening
From feeding his flocks; and Leah went out to meet him;
knowing full well the time he used to come home: and said, thou must come in unto me;
into her tent, for the women had separate tents from the men; as Sarah from Abraham; and so these wives of Jacob had not only tents separate from his, but from one another: for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes:
that is, she had hired that night's lodging with him of Rachel, with the mandrakes her son Reuben had brought out of the field. Jacob made no objection to it; but consented, being willing to please both his wives, who he perceived had made this agreement between themselves: and he lay with her that night;
and that only, for the present: for, by the way of speaking, it looks as if he did not continue with her more nights together at that time, but went, as before that evening, to Rachel's tent.

Genesis 30:16 In-Context

14 And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
15 And she said to her, "[Is] your taking my husband [such] a small [thing] that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?" Then Rachel said, "Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."
16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, "Come in to me, for {I have hired} you with my son's mandrakes." And he slept with her that night.
17 And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.
18 Then Leah said, "God has given [me] my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband." And she called his name Issachar.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "I have fully paid for"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.