Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?” Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”
Parallel Translations
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Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?” Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”
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And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.
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And she said unto her: 'Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also?' And Rachel said: 'Therefore he shall lie with thee to-night for thy son's mandrakes.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 30:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 16:13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us?
- Numbers 16:9-10 Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?
- Isaiah 7:13 He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?
- Ezekiel 16:47 Yet you have not walked in their ways, nor done their abominations; but soon you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.
- 1 Corinthians 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man’s judgment. Yes, I don’t judge my own self.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 15. Is it a small matter that thou hast…
15. Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? Moses leaves more for his readers to reflect upon than he expresses in words; namely, that Jacob’s house had been filled with contentions and strifes. For Leah speaks haughtily, because her mind had been long so exasperated that she could not address herself mildly and courteously to her sister: Perhaps the sisters were not thus contentious by nature; but God suffered them to contend with each other, that the punishment of polygamy might be exhibited to posterity. And it is not to be doubted that this domestic private quarrel, yea, hostile dissension, brought great grief and torment to the holy man. But the reason why he found himself thus distracted by opposite parties was, that against all right, he had broken the unity of the conjugal bond.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 30:15 And she said unto her, [Is it]…
Gen 30:15 And she said unto her, [Is it] a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.
Ver. 15. Therefore he shall lie with thee, &c.] Thus he is bought and sold by his emulous wives: which was no small affliction to him, and a punishment of his polygamy.
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 Jacob either did equally divide the times between his…
Jacob either did equally divide the times between his two wives; or rather, had more estranged himself from Leah, and cohabited principally with Rachel, which occasioned the foregoing expostulation.
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 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire,....…
And Leah said, God hath given me my hire,.... Of the mandrakes with which she had hired of Rachel a night's lodging with Jacob, and for which she had a sufficient recompense, by the son that God had given her: and she added another reason, and a very preposterous one, and shows she put a wrong construction on the blessing she received:
because I have given my maiden to my husband; which, she judged, was so well pleasing to God, that he had rewarded her with another son:
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and she called his name Issachar, which signifies "hire" or "reward"; or, there is a reward, or a man of reward.
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 15. Thou hast taken my husband] It appears…
Verse 15. Thou hast taken my husband] It appears probable that Rachel had found means to engross the whole of Jacob's affection and company, and that she now agreed to let him visit the tent of Leah, on account of receiving some of the fruits or plants which Reuben had found.
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 From me. Lia was aware that Jacob’s affection lay…
From me. Lia was aware that Jacob’s affection lay entirely towards Rachel; particularly now, as she had ceased to bear children herself. (Haydock) --- This might, when it is my turn to have him. To prevent any jealousy, the husband visited his wives one after another, as was the case with Smerdis, the king of Persia. (Herodotus iii. 79; Exodus xxi. 10.) (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).
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And she (Leah) said unto her, stomachose (Calvin)Is it…
And she (Leah) said unto her, stomachose (Calvin)Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? literally, Is it little thy taking away my husband? meaning that Rachel had been the cause of Jacob s forsaking her (Leah"s) societyand wouldest thou take away (literally, and to take also= wouldst thou take? expressive of strong surprise) my son"s mandrakes also? Calvin thinks it unlikely that Jacob s wives were naturally quarrelsome; sod Deus confligere eas inter se passus est ut polygamiae puma ad posteras extaret. And Rachel said (in order to induce Leah"s compliance with her request), Therefore he shall be with thee tonight for thy son"s mandrakes.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.