32 And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow; now my husband will have love for me.
And our cry went up to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord's ear was open to the voice of our cry, and his eyes took note of our grief and the crushing weight of our work:
And the people had faith in them; and hearing that the Lord had taken up the cause of the children of Israel and had seen their troubles, with bent heads they gave him worship.
And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away with nothing in my hands. But God has seen my troubles and the work of my hands, and this night he kept you back.
The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.
But when their cry came to his ears, he had pity on their trouble:
It may be that the Lord will take note of my wrongs, and give me back good in answer to his cursing of me today.
And the angel of the Lord said, See, you are with child and will give birth to a son, to whom you will give the name Ishmael, because the ears of the Lord were open to your sorrow.
And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.
Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power: But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean.
And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, even Jacob and all his sons: Reuben, Jacob's oldest son; And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi;
And Reuben said to them, Did I not say to you, Do the child no wrong? but you gave no attention; so now, punishment has come on us for his blood.
Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 29
Commentary on Genesis 29 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 29
This chapter gives us an account of God's providences concerning Jacob, pursuant to the promises made to him in the foregoing chapter.
Gen 29:1-8
All the stages Israel's march to Canaan are distinctly noticed, but no particular journal is kept of Jacob's expedition further than Beth-el; no, he had no more such happy nights as he had at Beth-el, no more such visions of the Almighty. That was intended for a feast; he must not expect it to be his daily bread. But,
Gen 29:9-14
Here we see,
Gen 29:15-30
Here is,
Gen 29:31-35
We have here the birth of four of Jacob's sons, all by Leah. Observe,