1 Now Rachel, because she had no children, was full of envy of her sister; and she said to Jacob, If you do not give me children I will not go on living.
Now the Lord, seeing that Leah was not loved, gave her a child; while Rachel had no children.
And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
Or does it seem to you that it is for nothing that the holy Writings say, The spirit which God put into our hearts has a strong desire for us?
But if you have bitter envy in your heart and the desire to get the better of others, have no pride in this, talking falsely against what is true.
Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God.
For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death.
A curse on the day of my birth: let there be no blessing on the day when my mother had me. A curse on the man who gave the news to my father, saying, You have a male child; making him very glad. May that man be like the towns overturned by the Lord without mercy: let a cry for help come to his ears in the morning, and the sound of war in the middle of the day; Because he did not put me to death before my birth took place: so my mother's body would have been my last resting-place, and she would have been with child for ever. Why did I come from my mother's body to see pain and sorrow, so that my days might be wasted with shame?
So they went on from Beth-el; and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, the pains of birth came on Rachel and she had a hard time. And when her pain was very great, the woman who was helping her said, Have no fear; for now you will have another son. And in the hour when her life went from her (for death came to her), she gave the child the name Ben-oni: but his father gave him the name of Benjamin. So Rachel came to her end and was put to rest on the road to Ephrath (which is Beth-lehem).
A quiet mind is the life of the body, but envy is a disease in the bones.
Is any one able to take up the argument against me? If so, I would keep quiet and give up my breath.
For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.
Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul; To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth; Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;
Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?
Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth, Job made answer and said, Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.
And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast: But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children. And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children; And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons?
And Moses said to him, Are you moved by envy on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 30
Commentary on Genesis 30 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 30
In this chapter we have an account of the increase,
Gen 30:1-13
We have here the bad consequences of that strange marriage which Jacob made with the two sisters. Here is,
Gen 30:14-24
Here is,
Gen 30:25-36
We have here,
Gen 30:37-43
Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his bargain more advantageous to himself than it was likely to be. If he had not taken some course to help himself, it would have been a bad bargain indeed, which he knew Laban would never consider, or rather would be well pleased to see him a loser by, so little did Laban consult any one's interest but his own. Now Jacob's contrivances were,