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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.
God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
Genesis 30:17-22 sits inside this longer paragraph.
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.
God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. She conceived, bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” She named him Joseph, saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”
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.
God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
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.
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
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.
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
31 distinct cross-references across this passage (32 total citations).
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv17, 21, 22 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 vv18, 22 Instead of acknowledging her fault, she boasteth as if…
Instead of acknowledging her fault, she boasteth as if God had rewarded her therefore.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 20, 21, 22 Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she…
Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
Ver. 17. God hearkened unto Leah.] She prayed then, and invited God to her marriage bed. This was praiseworthy in her, howsoever.
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 On vv17–18 God hearkened unto Leah, notwithstanding her many infirmities. Hence…
God hearkened unto Leah, notwithstanding her many infirmities. Hence it appears that she was moved herein not by any inordinate lust, but by a desire of children. cir. 1747
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 On vv17–22 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a…
And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry,.... Having so many children; for though her husband could give her nothing at marriage, and her father gave her no more than one handmaid, yet God had abundantly made it up to her, in giving her so many sons: these are the heritage of the Lord, Psa 127:3,
now will my husband dwell with me; constantly; and not come to her tent now and then only, as he had used to do:
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because I have borne him six sons; this she thought would fix his affections to her, and cause him to cleave to her, and continue with her:
and she called his name Zebulun; which signifies "dwelling". These two sons of Leah, according to the Jewish writers (g), were born, Issachar on the tenth day of Ab or July, and lived one hundred and twenty two years, and Zebulun on the seventh of Tisri or September, and lived one hundred and twenty four years.
(g) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 4. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 21, 22 And God hearkened unto Leah - Perhaps the reason…
And God hearkened unto Leah - Perhaps the reason of this contest between Jacob's wives for his company, and their giving him their maids to be his wives, was the earnest desire they had to fulfil the promise made to Abraham (and now lately renewed to Jacob) that his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude, and that, in one seed of his, the Messiah, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Two sons Leah was now blessed with; the flrst she called Issachar, a hire, reckoning herself well repaid for her mandrakes; nay, (which is a strange construction of the providence) rewarded for giving her maid to her husband. The other she called Zebulun, dwelling, owning God's bounty to her, God has endowed me with a good dowry. Jacob had not endowed her when he married her; but she reckons a family of children, a good dowry.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21, 22 Verse 18. God hath given me my hire] שכרי…
Verse 18. God hath given me my hire] שכרי sechari. And she called his name Issachar, יששכר, This word is compounded of יש yesh, IS, and שכר sachar, WAGES, from שכר sachar, to content, satisfy, saturate; hence a satisfaction or compensation for work done, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 21, 22 Gen 30:17. God hearkened unto Leah — And she…
Gen 30:17. God hearkened unto Leah — And she was now blessed with two sons, the first of whom she called Issachar, hire, reckoning herself well repaid for her mandrakes; nay, (which was a strange construction of the providence,) rewarded for giving her maid to her husband. The other she called Zebulun, dwelling, owning God’s bounty to her, God has endowed me. Jacob had not endowed her when he married her; but she reckons a family of children a good dowry.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 21 Issachar, "the reward of the man, or husband." (Calmet)…
Issachar, "the reward of the man, or husband." (Calmet) --- She might allude also to the reward she had obtained for her mandrakes. (Haydock)
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 On vv20–21 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a…
And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry--The birth of a son is hailed with demonstrations of joy, and the possession of several sons confers upon the mother an honor and respectability proportioned to their number. The husband attaches a similar importance to the possession, and it forms a bond of union which renders it impossible for him ever to forsake or to be cold to a wife who has borne him sons. This explains the happy anticipations Leah founded on the possession of her six sons.
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 On vv18, 20, 21, 22 18. God hath given me my hire — Leah,…
18. God hath given me my hire — Leah, of higher spiritual nature than Rachel, relies on God more than on any love potions, and she has her reward, and she gives her new-born son a name, Issachar, which means, there is a reward.
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 On vv18, 20, 21 18. hire] Heb. sâchâr = “wages,” “reward.”
18. hire] Heb. sâchâr = “wages,” “reward.”
Issachar] The name receives a twofold explanation, in its derivation from sâchâr: (1) as the passive of the verb, in the sense of “he shall be hired or rewarded”; (2) as the combination of îsh, “man,” and sâchâr, “hire,” i.e. “a man of hire.” In Gen_30:16 Leah “hires” Jacob with the mandrakes given to Rachel; in Gen_30:18 she calls Issachar the “hire” or wage, which she receives for giving Zilpah to Jacob.
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 On vv18, 20, 21, 22 (18) Issachar.—Heb., there is hire. As is so often…
(18) Issachar.—Heb., there is hire. As is so often the case in Hebrew names, there is a double play in the word: for, first, it alluded to the strange fact that Jacob had been hired of Rachel by the mandrakes; but, secondly, Leah gives it a higher meaning, “for God,” she says, “hath given me my hire.” In her eyes the birth of her fifth son was a Divine reward for the self-sacrifice involved in giving her maid to Jacob, and which had been followed by years of neglect of herself. As, too, it is said that “God hearkened unto Leah,” we may feel sure that she had prayed for God’s blessing upon her re-union with her husband; for Calvin’s objection that prayer would scarcely accompany such odious courses has little weight. Leah and Rachel were uneducated and untrained country women, whose sole anxiety was to have offspring. Leah was the most religious and best disciplined of the two; and the shame ideally was that she should have been forced thus to buy her husband’s attentions.
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 On vv17, 18, 19, 21, 22 And God hearkened unto Leah, i.e. unto Leah"s prayers…
And God hearkened unto Leah, i.e. unto Leah"s prayers (Onkelos, Jerome, Rosenm Murphy), which Calvin thinks doubtful quis enim putaret, dum odiose sorori suae negat Lea fructus a puero collectos, et hoc pretio noctem mariti mercatur, ullum esse precibus locum. The historian employs the term Elohim to show that Leah"s pregnancy was not owing to her son"s mandrakes, but to Divine power (Keil, Lange)and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son or, counting Zilpah"s, the seventh; while, reckoning Bilhah"s, this was Jacob"s ninth child.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v22 And God remembered Rachel
Gen_30:22-24
And God remembered Rachel
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Gods favour towards Rachel
I.
IT WAS LONG DELAYER. Discipline.
II. IT WAS GRANTED TO HER AFTER SOME SOLEMN LESSONS HAD BEEN LEARNED.
1. Dependence.
2. Patience.
3. Faith and hope.
III. IT AWAKENED GRATITUDE.
1. Grateful recognition of Gods dealings (verse23).
2. Heartfelt acknowledgment of God (Gen_30:24). (T. H. Leale.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v22 Gen_30:23. My reproach.] That is, the reproach of my…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_30:23. My reproach.] That is, the reproach of my barrenness. (See Luk_1:25; 1Sa_1:6; Is. 4:1.)—
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Gen_30:24. Joseph.] “Adding,” or, “he will add.” It may also be rendered in the form of a prayer, “May the Lord add another.” Thus it would be a prophetic declaration of the event which was accomplished in the birth of Benjamin.—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_30:22-24
GOD’S FAVOUR TOWARDS RACHEL
I. It was long delayed. The blessing which Rachel had long desired was, at length, granted. She had not lost the love of God—for that lives on—she had only been denied His favour for a time. God grants His favours as it pleases Him, and yet always with a view to the blessed designs of our discipline. They are bestowed at the best time for us. So it was with Rachel. For upwards of fourteen years of her married life she had been barren. God, at length, “remembered Rachel,” as if she had been forgotten before; for so we may speak of God’s delayed blessings from our human point of view. When the good we seek comes not, we begin to think that we are forgotten; that prayers are of no use when they are not immediately answered. But if we are faithful we shall be blessed according to the time wherein we have been afflicted.
II. It was granted to her after some solemn lessons had been learned. During the long delay Rachel had time to learn some solemn lessons, and which often have to be learned only through painful discipline.
1. The lesson of dependence. She had to be taught that whatever human means are used to gain our ends, all ultimate success depends upon the will of God. All gifts come from His hand. 2 The lesson of patience. She had to wait long for this blessing; and when it was granted, she would see how good it is to be patient. 3 The lesson of faith and hope. She had now learned not to despair because God did not at once grant her desires. It was good to believe and hope. If we abide faithful our confident trust in God will be justified in the end.
III. It awakened gratitude. This spirit showed itself. 1 In a grateful recognition of God’s dealings. She said, “God hath taken away my reproach” (Gen_30:23). The blessing itself was evident; but she recognised the divine source from whence it came. She did not trace the gift to some irresponsible powers of nature, but to the distinct favour of a personal God. 2 In the heartfelt acknowledgment of God. She called the name of her son, Joseph, saying “The Lord shall add to me another son.” She had previously used the name Elohim, which means the invisible Eternal (Gen_30:6); now she uses the name Jehovah, signifying the manifest self-existant-God as known in His covenant relation. This was an important advance in spiritual knowledge and feeling. The distant God becomes near. The God of nature becomes the God of providence and grace. This is similar to the experience of Job, (Job_42:5-6). Rachel has now hope for the future, for she feels that she has an interest in the covenant of promise. What a blessed contrast to her former state of despair! (Gen_30:1).
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_30:22. She began to think that God had forgotten her, because her prayer was not answered. This is a common fault. David bewails it himself. (Psalms 77) So the church of old. (Psa_63:1-5.)—(Trapp.)
Gen_30:23-24. A sweet and sure way of argumentation. God, that hath thus and thus done me good, will not be wanting to me in anything that may conduce to mine eternal comfort; but “will perfect that which concerneth me.” (Psa_138:8.)—(Trapp.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v22 The Birth of Joseph
The Birth of Joseph
v. 22. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. It seems, then, that when all her schemes and stratagems failed, she turned to God in fervent and patient prayer, and that the Lord, in answer, removed her barrenness.
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v. 23. And she conceived, and bare a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach;
v. 24. and she called his name Joseph (He shall add); and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. In taking away from Rachel the reproach of her unfruitfulness, the Lord had added to her the hope that He would add a second son. This wish was later fulfilled, Gen 35:16-18. It is undoubtedly correct to assume, from the subsequent story, that the eleven children of Jacob, from Reuben to Joseph, were born in the seven years after his marriage, not exactly in a chronological succession as narrated, but so that Leah gave birth to her four sons during the first four years. Dan and Naphtali were probably likewise born during this period, the children of Zilpah immediately after, Leah herself again becoming a mother in the sixth and seventh years, and Joseph being born about the end of the seventh year, when Jacob was ninety-one years old. The entire story shows that the fear of the Lord makes for true happiness in the home, for believers rely upon the Lord for all good gifts and gratefully receive them, at His hands.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv19, 22 Leah conceived again
Leah conceived again
"Leah became pregnant again"
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bore a sixth son to Jacob
"gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob"
She called his name Zebulun
Translators may also add a footnote that says: "The name Zebulun means 'honor.'"
called her name Dinah
This is the name of Leah's daughter. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
honor
Zebulun
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 19, 21, 22 30:18 The name Issachar captures the sense of Jacob’s…
30:18 The name Issachar captures the sense of Jacob’s being hired (30:16) and of the Lord’s rewarding Leah (Hebrew sekari, “my hire”).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.