Genesis 30:13

13 And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”

Genesis 30:13 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:13

And Leah said
Upon the birth of the second son by her maid: happy am I;
or, "in my happiness"; or, "for my happiness" ^F3; that is, this child is an addition to my happiness, and will serve to increase it: for the daughters will call me blessed; the women of the place where she lived would speak of her as a happy person, that had so many children of her own, and others by her maid; see ( Psalms 127:5 ) : and she called his name Asher,
which signifies "happy" or "blessed". These two sons of Zilpah, according to the Jewish writers ^F4, were born, Gad on the tenth day of Marchesvan or October, and lived one hundred and twenty five years; and Asher on the twenty second day of Shebet or January, and lived one hundred and twenty three years.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (yrvab) "in felicitate mea", Montanus; "ob beatitatem meam", Drusius; "hoc pro beatitudine men", V. L. "pro beatitudine mihi est", Schmidt.
F4 Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 4. 1.

Genesis 30:13 In-Context

11 Leah named him Gad, for she said, “How fortunate I am!”

12 Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son.

13 And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”

14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?” Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”

Footnotes

• [a]. Asher means “happy.”