Genesis 30:2

2 And Jacob {became angry} with Rachel. And he said, "[Am] I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

Genesis 30:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:2

And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel
Whom yet he dearly loved, hearing her talk in such an extravagant manner, as her words seemed to be, and were not: only expressive of great uneasiness and impatience, but implied what was not in the power of man to do: and he said, [am] I in God's stead:
do you take me to be God, or one that has a dispensing power from him to do what otherwise no creature can do; and which also he never gives to any? for, as the Targum of Jerusalem on ( Genesis 30:22 ) says, this is one of the four keys which God delivers not to an angel or a seraph; even the key of barrenness. Children are the gift of God, and his only, and therefore he is to be sought unto for them: hence Onkelos land Jonathan paraphrase it;

``wherefore dost thou seek them of me? shouldest thou not seek them of the Lord?''

who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
children, ( Psalms 127:3 ) ; not Jacob, but the Lord.

Genesis 30:2 In-Context

1 When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, "Give me children--if not, I will die!"

2 And Jacob {became angry} with Rachel. And he said, "[Am] I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

3 Then she said, "Here [is] my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children {as my surrogate}. Then I will even {have children} by her."

4 Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her

5 And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "became hot of nose"