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Genesis 29:31-30:24
New English Translation

The Family of Jacob

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved,[a] he enabled her to become pregnant[b] while Rachel remained childless. 32 So Leah became pregnant[c] and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[d] for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition.[e] Surely my husband will love me now.”

33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved,[f] he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.[g]

34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection,[h] because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi.[i]

35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah.[j] Then she stopped having children.

30 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she[k] became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children[l] or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became furious[m] with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”[n] 3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Sleep with[o] her so that she can bear[p] children[q] for me[r] and I can have a family through her.”[s]

4 So Rachel[t] gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob slept with[u] her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant[v] and gave Jacob a son.[w] 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer[x] and given me a son.” That is why[y] she named him Dan.[z]

7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son.[aa] 8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.”[ab] So she named him Naphtali.[ac]

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave[ad] her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son.[ae] 11 Leah said, “How fortunate!”[af] So she named him Gad.[ag]

12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son.[ah] 13 Leah said, “How happy I am,[ai] for women[aj] will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.[ak]

14 At the time[al] of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants[am] in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But Leah replied,[an] “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,”[ao] Rachel said, “he may go to bed with[ap] you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep[aq] with me because I have paid for your services[ar] with my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with[as] her that night. 17 God paid attention[at] to Leah; she became pregnant[au] and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time.[av] 18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward[aw] because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.”[ax] So she named him Issachar.[ay]

19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time.[az] 20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[ba]

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

22 Then God took note of[bb] Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant.[bc] 23 She became pregnant[bd] and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.”[be] 24 She named him Joseph,[bf] saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 29:31 tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.
  2. Genesis 29:31 tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”
  3. Genesis 29:32 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
  4. Genesis 29:32 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, reʾuven) means “look, a son.”
  5. Genesis 29:32 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”sn Leah’s explanation of the name Reuben reflects a popular etymology, not an exact one. The name means literally “look, a son.” Playing on the Hebrew verb “look,” she observes that the Lord has “looked” with pity on her oppressed condition. See further S. R. Driver, Genesis, 273.
  6. Genesis 29:33 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
  7. Genesis 29:33 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shimʿon) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shamaʿ) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.
  8. Genesis 29:34 tn Heb “will be joined to me.”
  9. Genesis 29:34 sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.
  10. Genesis 29:35 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yehudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
  11. Genesis 30:1 tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  12. Genesis 30:1 tn Heb “sons.”
  13. Genesis 30:2 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”
  14. Genesis 30:2 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”
  15. Genesis 30:3 tn The Hebrew collocation of the verb בּוֹא (boʾ) and the preposition אֶל (ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations. Similarly the translation employs a euphemism. For more on this phrase as a euphemism see the note at 2 Sam 12:24.
  16. Genesis 30:3 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.
  17. Genesis 30:3 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  18. Genesis 30:3 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.
  19. Genesis 30:3 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָּנָה).
  20. Genesis 30:4 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  21. Genesis 30:4 tn Heb “came to.” The expression בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
  22. Genesis 30:5 tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).
  23. Genesis 30:5 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”
  24. Genesis 30:6 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.
  25. Genesis 30:6 tn Or “therefore.”
  26. Genesis 30:6 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.
  27. Genesis 30:7 tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”
  28. Genesis 30:8 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.
  29. Genesis 30:8 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”
  30. Genesis 30:9 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”
  31. Genesis 30:10 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”
  32. Genesis 30:11 tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial ב (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”
  33. Genesis 30:11 sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.
  34. Genesis 30:12 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”
  35. Genesis 30:13 tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”
  36. Genesis 30:13 tn Heb “daughters.”
  37. Genesis 30:13 sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ʾasher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.
  38. Genesis 30:14 tn Heb “during the days.”
  39. Genesis 30:14 sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.
  40. Genesis 30:15 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  41. Genesis 30:15 tn Heb “therefore.”
  42. Genesis 30:15 tn Heb “lie down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” can be a euphemism for going to bed for sexual relations.
  43. Genesis 30:16 tn Heb “must come to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. The expression בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
  44. Genesis 30:16 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.
  45. Genesis 30:16 tn Heb “lay down with.” See note at v. 15.
  46. Genesis 30:17 tn Heb “listened to.”
  47. Genesis 30:17 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).
  48. Genesis 30:17 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.
  49. Genesis 30:18 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”
  50. Genesis 30:18 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).sn Leah seems to regard the act of giving her servant Zilpah to her husband as a sacrifice, for which (she believes) God is now rewarding her with the birth of a son.
  51. Genesis 30:18 sn The name Issachar (יִשָּׁשכָר, yissakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.
  52. Genesis 30:19 tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.
  53. Genesis 30:20 sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.
  54. Genesis 30:22 tn Heb “remembered.”
  55. Genesis 30:22 tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  56. Genesis 30:23 tn Or “conceived.”
  57. Genesis 30:23 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
  58. Genesis 30:24 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yosef) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף, ʾasaf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
Close NLT

Genesis 29:31-30:24
New Living Translation

Jacob’s Many Children

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. 32 So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[a] for she said, “The Lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”

33 She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon,[b] for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”

34 Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi,[c] for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”

35 Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah,[d] for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.

30 When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

2 Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”

3 Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me,[e] and through her I can have a family, too.” 4 So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son. 6 Rachel named him Dan,[f] for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.” 7 Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel named him Naphtali,[g] for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”

9 Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Soon Zilpah presented him with a son. 11 Leah named him Gad,[h] for she said, “How fortunate I am!” 12 Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah named him Asher,[i] for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”

14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?”

Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”

16 So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah. 17 And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. 18 She named him Issachar,[j] for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.” 19 Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. 20 She named him Zebulun,[k] for she said, “God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons.” 21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. 24 And she named him Joseph,[l] for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.”

Footnotes

  1. 29:32 Reuben means “Look, a son!” It also sounds like the Hebrew for “He has seen my misery.”
  2. 29:33 Simeon probably means “one who hears.”
  3. 29:34 Levi sounds like a Hebrew term that means “being attached” or “feeling affection for.”
  4. 29:35 Judah is related to the Hebrew term for “praise.”
  5. 30:3 Hebrew bear children on my knees.
  6. 30:6 Dan means “he judged” or “he vindicated.”
  7. 30:8 Naphtali means “my struggle.”
  8. 30:11 Gad means “good fortune.”
  9. 30:13 Asher means “happy.”
  10. 30:18 Issachar sounds like a Hebrew term that means “reward.”
  11. 30:20 Zebulun probably means “honor.”
  12. 30:24 Joseph means “may he add.”
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