Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive.
Parallel Translations
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Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive.
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Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
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And Leah's eyes were weak; but Rachel was of beautiful form and fair to look upon.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Genesis 29:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 12:11 When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.
- Genesis 24:16 The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin. No man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up.
- Genesis 29:6-12 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep.” He said, “Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.” They said, “We can’t, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we water the sheep.” While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them. When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.
- Genesis 29:18 Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”
- Genesis 30:1-2 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.” Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
- Genesis 30:22 God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
- Genesis 35:19-20 Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem). Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
- Genesis 35:24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
- Genesis 39:6 He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.
- Genesis 46:19-22 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
- Genesis 48:7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).”
- 1 Samuel 10:2 When you have departed from me today, then you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb, on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will tell you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found; and behold, your father has stopped caring about the donkeys, and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do for my son?” ’
- Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
- Jeremiah 31:15 Yahweh says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”
- Matthew 2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, blear-eyed.
Or, blear-eyed.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 29:17 Leah [was] tender eyed; but Rachel was…
Gen 29:17 Leah [was] tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
Ver. 17. Leah was tender-eyed.] Purblind or squint, as one {a} interprets it. Now, a froward look and squint eyes, saith the historian, {b} are the certain notes of a nature to be suspected. The Jerusalem Targum tells us, that her eyes were tender with weeping and praying. Mary Magdalene is famous for her tears; and Christ was never so near her as when she could not see him for weeping. After which she spent (as some report) thirty years in Gallia Narbonensi, in weeping for her sins.
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But Rachel was beautiful, &c.] Plato calls beauty the principality of nature; Aristotle, a greater commendation than all epistles. {See Trapp on "Gen 24:16"}
{a} Mercer.
{b} Turk. Hist., fol. 483.
{c} Heidfeld.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Leah was tender-eyed; her eyes were soft and moist,…
Leah was tender-eyed; her eyes were soft and moist, and therefore unsightly.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Leah was tender eyed,.... Blear eyed, had a moisture…
Leah was tender eyed,.... Blear eyed, had a moisture in them, which made them red, and so she was not so agreeable to look at; though Onkelos renders the words,"the eyes of Leah were beautiful,''as if her beauty lay in her eyes, and nowhere else:
but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured; in all parts, in the form of her countenance, in her shape and stature, and in her complexion, her hair black, her flesh white and ruddy, as Ben Melech observes.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. Leah was tender-eyed] רכות raccoth, soft, delicate,…
Verse 17. Leah was tender-eyed] רכות raccoth, soft, delicate, lovely. I believe the word means just the reverse of the signification generally given to it. The design of the inspired writer is to compare both the sisters together, that the balance may appear to be greatly in favour of Rachel. The chief recommendation of Leah was her soft and beautiful eyes; but Rachel was יפת תאר yephath toar, beautiful in her shape, person, mien, and gait, and יפת מראה yephath mareh, beautiful in her countenance. The words plainly signify a fine shape and fine features, all that can be considered as essential to personal beauty. Therefore Jacob loved her, and was willing to become a bond servant for seven years, that he might get her to wife; for in his destitute state he could produce no dowry, and it was the custom of those times for the father to receive a portion for his daughter, and not to give one with her. One of the Hindoo lawgivers says, "A person may become a slave on account of love, or to obtain a wife." The bad system of education by which women are spoiled and rendered in general good for nothing, makes it necessary for the husband to get a dowry with his wife to enable him to maintain her; whereas in former times they were well educated and extremely useful, hence he who got a wife almost invariably got a prize, or as Solomon says, got a good thing.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Blear-eyed. Hebrew, racoth. Watery and tender, unable to look…
Blear-eyed. Hebrew, racoth. Watery and tender, unable to look steadfastly at any object, but at the same time very beautiful. (Onkelos; &c.) --- The beauty of Rachel was perfect; not confined to one part. These two sisters represented the synagogue and the Church of Christ. Lia, though married first, never gains the entire affection of her husband. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Leah tender-eyed--that is, soft blue eyes--thought a blemish.
Leah tender-eyed--that is, soft blue eyes--thought a blemish.
Rachel beautiful and well-favored--that is, comely and handsome in form. The latter was Jacob's choice.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. Leah was tender eyed — Her eyes were…
17. Leah was tender eyed — Her eyes were weak (Sept. ασθενεις) and perhaps inflamed, (Vulg. lippi,) a great blemish, “since bright eyes, with fire in them, are regarded as the height of beauty in Oriental women.” — Keil.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. Leah’s eyes were tender] i.e. weak or soft,…
17. Leah’s eyes were tender] i.e. weak or soft, wanting in clearness and brilliancy. The eye was the chief feature of Oriental beauty. The versions rather exaggerate the sense. LXX ἀσθενεῖς = “weak,” Lat. lippis oculis, Aq. Sym. ἁπαλοί = “tender.”
beautiful and well favoured] Lit. “fair of form and fair of looks.” The Old English “favoured” has reference to personal appearance; cf. Gen_41:2; Gen_41:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Leah was tender eyed.—Leah, whose name signifies languor,…
(17) Leah was tender eyed.—Leah, whose name signifies languor, weariness, had dull bleared eyes. Probably she suffered, as so many do in that hot sandy region, from some form of ophthalmia. Rachel (Heb., the ewe) was, on the contrary, “beautiful and well favoured” (Heb., beautiful in form and beautiful in look). Leah’s bleared eyes would be regarded in the East as a great defect, just as bright eyes were much admired. (See 1Sa_16:12, where David is described as fair of eyes.) Yet it was not Rachel, with her fair face and well-proportioned figure, and her husband’s lasting love, that was the mother of the progenitor of the Messiah, but the weary-eyed Leah.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Leah was tender eyed. Literally, the eyes of Leah…
Leah was tender eyed. Literally, the eyes of Leah were tender, i.e. weak, dun; ajsqeneiv (LXX), lippi (Vulgate); cf. 1Sa_16:12. Leah"s face was not ugly (Bohlen), only her eyes were not clear and lustrous, dark and sparkling, as in all probability Rachel"s were (Knobel). But Rachel was beautiful and well favored. Literally, beautiful in form (i.e. in outline and make of body; cf. Gen_39:6; also 1Sa_16:18 man of form," i.e . formosus, well made) and beautiful in appearance (i.e. of a lovely countenance). "If authentic history was not in the way, Leah, as the mother of Judah, and of the Davidic Messianic line, ought to have carried off the prize of beauty after Sarah and Rebakah (Lange).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.