Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Genesis » Chapter 30 » Verse 5-20

Genesis 30:5-20 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

5 And Bilhah H1090 conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 Jacob H3290 a son. H1121

6 And Rachel H7354 said, H559 God H430 hath judged H1777 me, and hath also heard H8085 my voice, H6963 and hath given H5414 me a son: H1121 therefore called H7121 she his name H8034 Dan. H1835

7 And Bilhah H1090 Rachel's H7354 maid H8198 conceived H2029 again, and bare H3205 Jacob H3290 a second H8145 son. H1121

8 And Rachel H7354 said, H559 With great H430 wrestlings H5319 have I wrestled H6617 with my sister, H269 and I have prevailed: H3201 and she called H7121 his name H8034 Naphtali. H5321

9 When Leah H3812 saw H7200 that she had left H5975 bearing, H3205 she took H3947 Zilpah H2153 her maid, H8198 and gave H5414 her Jacob H3290 to wife. H802

10 And Zilpah H2153 Leah's H3812 maid H8198 bare H3205 Jacob H3290 a son. H1121

11 And Leah H3812 said, H559 A troop H1409 cometh: H935 and she called H7121 his name H8034 Gad. H1410

12 And Zilpah H2153 Leah's H3812 maid H8198 bare H3205 Jacob H3290 a second H8145 son. H1121

13 And Leah H3812 said, H559 Happy am I, H837 for the daughters H1323 will call me blessed: H833 and she called H7121 his name H8034 Asher. H836

14 And Reuben H7205 went in H3212 the days H3117 of wheat H2406 harvest, H7105 and found H4672 mandrakes H1736 in the field, H7704 and brought H935 them unto his mother H517 Leah. H3812 Then Rachel H7354 said H559 to Leah, H3812 Give me, H5414 I pray thee, of thy son's H1121 mandrakes. H1736

15 And she said H559 unto her, Is it a small matter H4592 that thou hast taken H3947 my husband? H376 and wouldest thou take away H3947 my son's H1121 mandrakes H1736 also? And Rachel H7354 said, H559 Therefore he shall lie H7901 with thee to night H3915 for H8478 thy son's H1121 mandrakes. H1736

16 And Jacob H3290 came H935 out of the field H7704 in the evening, H6153 and Leah H3812 went out H3318 to meet H7125 him, and said, H559 Thou must come in H935 unto me; for surely H7936 I have hired H7936 thee with my son's H1121 mandrakes. H1736 And he lay H7901 with her that night. H3915

17 And God H430 hearkened H8085 unto Leah, H3812 and she conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 Jacob H3290 the fifth H2549 son. H1121

18 And Leah H3812 said, H559 God H430 hath given H5414 me my hire, H7939 because H834 I have given H5414 my maiden H8198 to my husband: H376 and she called H7121 his name H8034 Issachar. H3485

19 And Leah H3812 conceived H2029 again, and bare H3205 Jacob H3290 the sixth H8345 son. H1121

20 And Leah H3812 said, H559 God H430 hath endued H2064 me with a good H2896 dowry; H2065 now H6471 will my husband H376 dwell H2082 with me, because I have born H3205 him six H8337 sons: H1121 and she called H7121 his name H8034 Zebulun. H2074

Commentary on Genesis 30 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 30

Ge 30:1-24. Domestic Jealousies.

1. Rachel envied her sister—The maternal relation confers a high degree of honor in the East, and the want of that status is felt as a stigma and deplored as a grievous calamity.

Give me children, or else I die—either be reckoned as good as dead, or pine away from vexation. The intense anxiety of Hebrew women for children arose from the hope of giving birth to the promised seed. Rachel's conduct was sinful and contrasts unfavorably with that of Rebekah (compare Ge 25:22) and of Hannah (1Sa 1:11).

3-9. Bilhah … Zilpah—Following the example of Sarah with regard to Hagar, an example which is not seldom imitated still, she adopted the children of her maid. Leah took the same course. A bitter and intense rivalry existed between them, all the more from their close relationship as sisters; and although they occupied separate apartments, with their families, as is the uniform custom where a plurality of wives obtains, and the husband and father spends a day with each in regular succession, that did not allay their mutual jealousies. The evil lies in the system, which being a violation of God's original ordinance, cannot yield happiness.

20. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry—The birth of a son is hailed with demonstrations of joy, and the possession of several sons confers upon the mother an honor and respectability proportioned to their number. The husband attaches a similar importance to the possession, and it forms a bond of union which renders it impossible for him ever to forsake or to be cold to a wife who has borne him sons. This explains the happy anticipations Leah founded on the possession of her six sons.

21. afterwards, she bare a daughter—The inferior value set on a daughter is displayed in the bare announcement of the birth.

Ge 30:25-43. Jacob's Covenant with Laban.

25. when Rachel had born Joseph—Shortly after the birth of this son, Jacob's term of servitude expired, and feeling anxious to establish an independence for his family, he probably, from knowing that Esau was out of the way, announced his intention of returning to Canaan (Heb 13:14). In this resolution the faith of Jacob was remarkable, for as yet he had nothing to rely on but the promise of God (compare Ge 28:15).

27. Laban said … I have learned—His selfish uncle was averse to a separation, not from warmth of affection either for Jacob or his daughters, but from the damage his own interests would sustain. He had found, from long observation, that the blessing of heaven rested on Jacob, and that his stock had wonderfully increased under Jacob's management. This was a remarkable testimony that good men are blessings to the places where they reside. Men of the world are often blessed with temporal benefits on account of their pious relatives, though they have not always, like Laban, the wisdom to discern, or the grace to acknowledge it.

28. appoint me thy wages, and I will give it—The Eastern shepherds receive for their hire not money, but a certain amount of the increase or produce of the flock; but Laban would at the time have done anything to secure the continued services of his nephew, and make a show of liberality, which Jacob well knew was constrained.

31. Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing—A new agreement was made, the substance of which was, that he was to receive remuneration in the usual way, but on certain conditions which Jacob specified.

32. I will pass through all thy flock to-day—Eastern sheep being generally white, the goats black, and spotted or speckled ones comparatively few and rare, Jacob proposed to remove all existing ones of that description from the flock, and to be content with what might appear at the next lambing time. The proposal seemed so much in favor of Laban, that he at once agreed to it. But Jacob has been accused of taking advantage of his uncle, and though it is difficult to exculpate him from practising some degree of dissimulation, he was only availing himself of the results of his great skill and experience in the breeding of cattle. But it is evident from the next chapter (Ge 31:5-13) that there was something miraculous and that the means he had employed had been suggested by a divine intimation.

37. Jacob took rods, &c.—There are many varieties of the hazel, some of which are more erect than the common hazel, and it was probably one of these varieties Jacob employed. The styles are of a bright red color, when peeled; and along with them he took wands of other shrubs, which, when stripped of the bark, had white streaks. These, kept constantly before the eyes of the female at the time of gestation, his observation had taught him would have an influence, through the imagination, on the future offspring.

38. watering troughs—usually a long stone block hollowed out, from which several sheep could drink at once, but sometimes so small as to admit of only one drinking at a time.