Back to Genesis 30

Genesis 30:17-21

God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my servant to my husband.” She named him Issachar. Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun. Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Read all of Genesis 30 →

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.

    Leah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my servant to my husband.” She named him Issachar.

    Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob.

    Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun.

    Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

  • KJV King James Version

    And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

    And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

    And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.

    And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

    And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

Show all 3 translations
  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son.

    And Leah said: 'God hath given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.

    And Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob.

    And Leah said: 'God hath endowed me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' And she called his name Zebulun.

    And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

View more translations →

Cross-references (23)

  • Genesis 35:23 (vv18, 20) The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
  • Genesis 34:1-3 (v21) Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the…
  • Genesis 49:13 (v20) “Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon.
  • Matthew 4:13 (v20) Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
  • Genesis 30:6 (v17) Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
Show all 22 cross-references
  • Genesis 30:22 (v17) God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
  • Genesis 34:26 (v21) They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.
  • Genesis 46:13 (v18) The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.
  • Genesis 46:14 (v20) The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
  • Genesis 46:15 (v21) These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters…
  • Genesis 49:14-15 (v18) “Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags. He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant.…
  • Exodus 3:7 (v17) Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I…
  • Deuteronomy 33:18 (v18) About Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents.
  • Judges 4:10 (v20) Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him.
  • Judges 5:14 (v20) Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim, after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors come down out of Machir. Those who…
  • 1 Samuel 1:20 (v17) When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”
  • 1 Samuel 1:26-27 (v17) She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh. I prayed for this child, and…
  • 1 Chronicles 12:32 (v18) Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their heads were two hundred; and all…
  • Psalms 68:27 (v20) There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
  • Luke 1:13 (v17) But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and…
  • Genesis 29:34 (v20) She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.”…
  • Genesis 30:15 (v20) 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,…

22 distinct cross-references across this passage (23 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (16 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv17, 21 17. And God hearkened unto Leah. Moses expressly declares…

17. And God hearkened unto Leah. Moses expressly declares this, in order that we may know how indulgently God dealt with that family. For who would have thought, that, while Leah was hatefully denying to her sister the fruits gathered by her boy, and was purchasing, by the price of those fruits, a night with her husband, there would be any place for prayers? Moses, therefore, teaches us, that pardon was granted for these faults, to prove that the Lord would not fail to complete his work notwithstanding such great infirmity. But Leah ignorantly boasts that her son was given to her as a reward of her sin; for she had violatedthe fidelity of holy wedlock, when she introduced a fresh concubine to oppose her sister. Truly, she is so far from the confession of her fault, that she proclaims her own merit. I grant there was some excuse for her conduct; for she intimates that she was not so much excited by lust, as by modest love, because she desired to increase her family and to fulfill the duty of an honorable mother of a family. But though this pretext is specious in the eyes of men, yet the profanation of holy marriage cannot be pleasing to God. She errs, therefore, in taking what was no cause for the cause. And this is the more to be observed; because it is a fault which too much prevails in the world, for men to reckon the free gifts of God as their own reward; yea, even to boast of their deserts, when they are condemned by the word of God. In her sixth son, she more purely and rightly estimates the divine goodness, when she gives thanks to God, that, by his kindness, her husband would hereafter be more closely united to her, (verse 20). For although he had lived with her before, yet, being too much attached to Rachel, he was almost entirely alienated from Leah. It has before been said, that children born in lawful wedlock are bonds to unite the minds of their parents.

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.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v18 Instead of acknowledging her fault, she boasteth as if…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21 Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–18 God hearkened unto Leah, notwithstanding her many infirmities. Hence…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–21 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 21 And God hearkened unto Leah - Perhaps the reason…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 Verse 18. God hath given me my hire] שכרי…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 21 Gen 30:17. God hearkened unto Leah — And she…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 Issachar, "the reward of the man, or husband." (Calmet)…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20–21 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 18. God hath given me my hire — Leah,…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 18. hire] Heb. sâchâr = “wages,” “reward.”
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 (18) Issachar.—Heb., there is hire. As is so often…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21 And God hearkened unto Leah, i.e. unto Leah"s prayers…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v19 Leah conceived again
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 19, 21 30:18 The name Issachar captures the sense of Jacob’s…
Share