Genesis 30
Lexham English Bible
Jacob’s Children
30 When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, “Give me children—if not, I will die!” 2 And Jacob became angry[a] with Rachel. And he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children as my surrogate.[b] Then I will even have children[c] by her.” 4 Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her 5 And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 And Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob. 8 And Rachel said, “I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed.” And she called his name Naphtali. 9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob. 11 Then Leah said, “Good fortune!” And she called his name Gad. 12 And Zilpah, Leah’s female servant, bore a second son to Jacob. 13 Then Leah said, “How happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.
14 And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 And she said to her, “Is your taking my husband such a small thing that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?” Then Rachel said, “Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, “Come in to me, for I have hired[d] you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Then Leah said, “God has given me my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband.” And she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun. 21 And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah. 22 Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb. 23 And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “Yahweh has added to me another son.”
Jacob’s Prosperity
25 And it happened that as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my place and my land. 26 Give me my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” 28 And he said, “Name your wage to me and I will give it.” 29 Then he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.[e] 30 For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned.[f] So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?” 31 And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep them. 32 Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with[g] every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That[h] shall be my wages. 33 And my righteousness will answer for me later[i] when you come concerning my wages before you. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen if it is with me.” 34 Then Laban said, “Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word.” 35 But that day he[j] removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that had white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and put them in the charge of his sons.[k] 36 And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban’s flock. 37 Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which was on the branches. 38 And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs and in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink. 39 And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban’s flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban. 41 And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches in full view[l] of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches. 42 But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put them there. So the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger were Jacob’s. 43 And the man became exceedingly[m] rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:2 Literally “became hot of nose”
- Genesis 30:3 Literally “upon my knees”
- Genesis 30:3 Literally “be built up”
- Genesis 30:16 Literally “I have fully paid for”
- Genesis 30:29 I.e., “How well they have done under my care”
- Genesis 30:30 Literally “to my foot”
- Genesis 30:32 Or “and”
- Genesis 30:32 Or “it”
- Genesis 30:33 Literally “on the day tomorrow”
- Genesis 30:35 That is, Laban
- Genesis 30:35 Literally “he gave into the hands of his sons”
- Genesis 30:41 Literally “before the eyes of”
- Genesis 30:43 Literally “very, very”
Genesis 30
International Standard Version
Rachel’s Children by Bilhah
30 Rachel noticed that she was not bearing children for Jacob, so because she envied her sister Leah, she told Jacob, “If you don’t give me sons, I’m going to die!”
2 That made Jacob angry with Rachel, so he asked her, “Can I take God’s place, who has not allowed you to conceive?”[a]
3 Rachel[b] responded, “Here’s my handmaid Bilhah. Go have sex with her. She can bear children[c] on my knees so I can have children through her.”
4 So Rachel[d] gave Jacob[e] her woman servant Bilhah to be his wife, and Jacob had sex with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore a son for Jacob. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore, she named him Dan.[f]
7 Rachel’s servant conceived again and bore a second son for Jacob, 8 so Rachel said, “I’ve been through a mighty struggle with my sister and won.” She named him Naphtali.[g]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she took her woman servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore a son to Jacob, 11 and Leah exclaimed, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.[h]
12 Later, Leah’s servant Zilpah bore a second son for Jacob. 13 She said, “How happy I am, because women will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.[i]
Jacob and the Mandrakes
14 Some time later, during the wheat harvest season, Reuben went out and found some mandrakes[j] in the field and brought them back for his mother Leah. Then Rachel[k] told Leah, “Please give me your son’s mandrakes.”
15 In response, Leah asked her, “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes!”
But Rachel replied, “Very well, let’s let Jacob sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went to meet him and told him, “You’re having sex with me tonight. I traded my son’s mandrakes for you!” So he slept with her that night.
17 God heard what Leah had said, so she conceived and bore a fifth son for Jacob. 18 Then Leah said, “God has paid me for giving my servant to my husband as his wife.” So she named him Issachar.[l]
19 Later, Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son for Jacob. 20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. This time my husband will exalt me, because I’ve borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[m]
21 After that, Leah conceived, bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.
Rachel’s Son Joseph is Born
22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb, 23 so she conceived, bore a son, and remarked, “God has removed my shame.” 24 Because she had been asking, “May God give me another son,” she named him Joseph.[n]
Jacob and Laban’s Livestock
25 After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban, “Send me off so that I can go back to my place and country. 26 Give me my wives and children for whom I’ve served you. Then I’ll leave, since you’re aware of my service to you.”
27 Then Laban responded, “If I’ve found favor in your sight, please stay with me, because I’ve learned through divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wage, and I’ll give it to you.”
29 But Jacob replied to Laban, “You know how I’ve served you and how your cattle thrived under my care. 30 What you had previously was only a few head, but the herd has now multiplied, because the Lord has blessed you through my efforts.[o] But now, when am I going to be able to provide for my own household?”
31 “What do I have to give you?” Laban asked.
Jacob responded, “You don’t have to give me anything. Just do this for me: Let me tend your flock again and watch over it. 32 Let me walk among your flocks today and remove every speckled or spotted sheep, along with every black lamb, and let me do the same with the speckled and spotted goats. These will be my wages. 33 In the future, you’ll be able to verify my honesty because, when you come to check[p] what I’ve earned, if you find a goat that’s not speckled or spotted or a sheep that’s not black, then it will have been stolen by me.”
34 “Very well,” Laban replied. “We’ll do it the way you’ve asked.” 35 That very day, Laban[q] removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted—that is, every one that had white on them—and all the black lambs and placed them into the care[r] of his sons. 36 He sent them as far away from Jacob as a three days’ journey could take them.
Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban’s flock. 37 Jacob took branches[s] from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees,[t] stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches. 38 Then he placed the branches that he had stripped bare in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He placed the branches in front of the flock, and they went into heat as they came to drink. 39 When the flocks mated in front of the branches, they would bear offspring[u] that were striped, speckled, or spotted.
40 Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban’s flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the more vigorous of the flock came into heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the flock to make them mate by the branches.
42 But he didn’t put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob. 43 Therefore the man Jacob[v] prospered so much that he had large flocks, female and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys.
Footnotes
- Genesis 30:2 Lit. has withheld from you fruit of the womb
- Genesis 30:3 Lit. She
- Genesis 30:3 Lit. them
- Genesis 30:4 Lit. she
- Genesis 30:4 Lit. him
- Genesis 30:6 The Heb. name Dan means judge
- Genesis 30:8 The Heb. name Naphtali means my struggle
- Genesis 30:11 The Heb. name Gad means lucky
- Genesis 30:13 The Heb. name Asher means happy
- Genesis 30:14 I.e. a plant native to Canaan thought to facilitate procreation
- Genesis 30:14 Lit. she
- Genesis 30:18 The Heb. name Issachar means wages
- Genesis 30:20 The Heb. name Zebulun means exalted
- Genesis 30:24 The Heb. name Joseph means added
- Genesis 30:30 Lit. my foot
- Genesis 30:33 The Heb. lacks check
- Genesis 30:35 The Heb. lacks Laban
- Genesis 30:35 Lit. hand
- Genesis 30:37 Lit. took a rod
- Genesis 30:37 Or and plane trees; i.e. a species of trees that could readily be stripped of their bark
- Genesis 30:39 The Heb. lacks offspring
- Genesis 30:43 The Heb. lacks Jacob
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