Genesis 30:1-24

Names of God Bible

30 Rachel saw that she could not have children for Jacob, and she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

² Jacob became angry with Rachel and asked, “Can I take the place of Elohim, who has kept you from having children?”

³ She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her. She can have children for me, and I can build a family for myself through her.” ⁴ So she gave him her slave Bilhah as his wife, and Jacob slept with her. ⁵ Bilhah became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Rachel said, “Now Elohim has judged in my favor. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son.” So she named him Dan [He Judges].

⁷ Rachel’s slave Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ⁸ Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle^[a] with my sister, and I have won!” So she named him Naphtali [My Struggle].

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob. ¹¹ Leah said, “I’ve been lucky!” So she called him Gad [Luck].

¹² Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to her second son for Jacob. ¹³ Leah said, “I’ve been blessed! Women will call me blessed.” So she named him Asher [Blessing].

¹⁴ During the wheat harvest Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrakes.^[b] He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you took my husband? Are you also going to take my son’s mandrakes?”

Rachel said, “Very well, Jacob can go to bed with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ As Jacob was coming in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You are to sleep with me,” she said. “You are my reward for my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with her that night. ¹⁷ Elohim answered Leah’s prayer. She became pregnant and gave birth to her fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Leah said, “Elohim has given me my reward because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar [Reward].

¹⁹ She became pregnant again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰ Leah said, “Elohim has presented me with a beautiful present. This time my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun [Honor].

²¹ Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then Elohim remembered Rachel. Elohim answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children. ²³ So she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “Elohim has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph [May He Give Another] and said, “May Yahweh give me another son.”