Genesis 30:8-28

8 And Rachel said, "With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali [that is, My wrestling].

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob for a wife;

10 and Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob a son.

11 And Leah said, "A troop cometh." And she called his name Gad [that is, A troop or company].

12 And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore Jacob a second son.

13 And Leah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed." And she called his name Asher [that is, Happy].

14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes."

15 But she said unto her, "Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight, for thy son's mandrakes."

16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, "Thou must come in unto me, for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.

17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob the fifth son.

18 And Leah said, "God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband." And she called his name Issachar [that is, A hire].

19 And Leah conceived again and bore Jacob the sixth son.

20 And Leah said, "God hath endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." And she called his name Zebulun [that is, Dwelling].

21 And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah [that is, Judgment].

22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb.

23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God hath taken away my reproach."

24 And she called his name Joseph [that is, Adding], and said, "The LORD shall add to me another son."

25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, "Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place and to my country.

26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee, and let me go; for thou knowest my service which I have done thee."

27 And Laban said unto him, "I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry; for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake."

28 And he said, "Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it."

Genesis 30:8-28 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 30

This chapter gives an account of Rachel's envy of her sister for her fruitfulness, and of her earnest desire of having children, which she expressed to Jacob in an unbecoming manner, for which he reproved her, Ge 30:1,2, of her giving her maid Bilhah to Jacob, by whom he had two sons, Dan and Naphtali, Ge 30:3-8; and of Leah's giving her maid Zilpah to him, by whom he had two other sons, Gad and Asher, Ge 30:9-13; and of Reuben's mandrakes he found in the field, and the agreement made between Rachel and Leah about them, Ge 30:14-16; and of Leah's bearing Jacob two more sons and one daughter, Ge 30:17-21, and of Rachel's also bearing him a son, whose name was Joseph, Ge 30:22-24; upon which he desires leave of Laban to depart into his own country, his time of servitude being up, Ge 30:25,26; which brought on a new agreement between him and Laban, that for the future he should have all the speckled, spotted, and brown cattle for his service, Ge 30:27-36; and the chapter is concluded with an account of a cunning scheme of Jacob's to increase that sort of cattle, which succeeded, and by which he became rich, Ge 30:37-43.