70 | Genesis 29:33
Reu ben, a for she said,“ It is be cause the Lord has seen my mis ery. s Surely my hus band will love me now.”
33 She con ceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said,“ Be cause the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Sim eon. b t
34 Again she con ceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said,“ Now at last my hus band will be come at tached to me, u be cause I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. c v
35 She con ceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said,“ This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Ju dah. d w Then she stopped having children.
30 When Ra chel saw that she was not bear ing Ja cob any chil dren, x she be came jeal ous
of her sis ter. y So she said to Ja cob,“ Give me chil dren, or I’ ll die!” 2 Ja cob be came an gry with her and said,“ Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” z
3 Then she said,“ Here is Bil hah, my ser vant. Sleep with her so that she can bear chil dren for me and I too can build a fam ily through her.” a
4 So she gave him her ser vant Bil hah as a wife. b Jacob slept with her, c
5 and she be came preg nant and bore him a son. 6 Then Ra chel said,“ God has vin di cated me; d he has lis tened to my plea and given me a son.” Be cause of this she named him Dan. e e
7 Ra chel’ s ser vant Bil hah con ceived again and bore Ja cob a sec ond son. 8 Then Ra chel said,“ I have had a great strug gle with my sis ter, and I have won.” f So she named him Naphtali. f g
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped hav ing chil dren, she took her ser vant Zil pah and gave her to Ja cob as a wife. h 10 Le ah’ s ser vant Zil pah bore Ja cob a son. 11 Then Leah said,“ What good for tune!” g So she named him Gad. h i
12 Le ah’ s ser vant Zil pah bore Ja cob a sec ond son. 13 Then Leah said,“ How happy I am! The women will call me j happy.” k So she named him Asher. i l
14 Dur ing wheat har vest, Reu ben went out into the fields and found some man drake plants, m which he brought to his mother Leah. Ra chel said to Leah,“ Please give me some of your son’ s mandrakes.”
15 But she said to her,“ Wasn’ t it enough n that you took away my hus band? Will you take my son’ s mandrakes too?”
“ Very well,” Ra chel said,“ he can sleep with you to night in re turn for your son’ s mandrakes.”
16 So when Ja cob came in from the fields that eve ning, Leah went out to meet him.“ You must sleep with me,” she said.“ I have hired you with my son’ s man drakes.” So he slept with her that night.
17 God lis tened to Leah, o and she be came preg nant and bore Ja cob a fifth son. 18 Then Leah said,“ God has re warded me for giv ing my ser vant to my hus band.” So she named him Issachar. j p
29:32 s Ge 16:11; 31:42; Ex 4:31; Dt 26:7; Ps 25:18
29:33 t Ge 34:25; 49:5
29:34 u Ge 30:20; 1Sa 1:2-4 v Ge 49:5‐7
29:35 w Ge 49:8; Mt 1:2‐3
30:1 x Ge 29:31; 1Sa 1:5-6 y Lev 18:18
30:2 z Ge 16:2; 20:18; 29:31
30:3 a Ge 16:2
30:4 b ver 9, 18 c Ge 16:3‐4
30:6 d Ps 35:24; 43:1; La 3:59 e Ge 49:16‐17
30:8 f Hos 12:3-4 g Ge 49:21
30:9 h ver 4 30:11 i Ge 49:19
30:13 j Ps 127:3 k Pr 31:28; Lk 1:48
l Ge 49:20
30:14 m SS 7:13 30:15 n Nu 16:9, 13 30:17 o Ge 25:21 30:18 p Ge 49:14 a 32 Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son. b 33 Simeon probably
means one who hears. c 34 Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached. d 35 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise. e 6 Dan here means he has vindicated. f 8 Naphtali means my struggle. g 11 Or“ A troop is coming!” h 11 Gad can mean good fortune or a troop. i 13 Asher means happy. j 18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.
Leah gives her servant Zilpah to Jacob, and she bears Gad and Asher. Afterward Leah has two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah. Finally, Rachel conceives and gives birth to Joseph. While Jacob’ s family increases in size, with so many different women involved, the internal dynamics of the family are far from harmonious. In all this, the women perceive the hand of God at work in giving them children. 29:31 Leah was not loved. While the peculiar circumstances of Jacob’ s marriage to Leah explain why he does not love her as he does Rachel( v. 30), the way he treats Leah is nevertheless inappropriate. In Genesis the human tendency to favor one person over another frequently causes tension. In such circumstances God often acts on behalf of the underdog. 29:32 – 35 The Lord’ s enabling Leah to conceive( v. 31) accounts for how she names her first three sons. Significantly, the motif of Jacob not loving Leah repeats with the births of
Reuben, Simeon, and Levi( see NIV text notes on vv. 32 – 34). However, there is no mention of it with Judah’ s birth( see NIV text note on v. 35). Possibly this implies that by this stage Jacob has started to love Leah on account of the sons that she has borne him. Most appropriately Leah praises God for the birth of Judah, the ancestor of the Messianic lineage( Matt 1:1 – 16). See note on 49:8 – 12.
30:1 – 2 Jealous of her sister, Rachel vents her frustration, accusing Jacob of not giving her children. Jacob blames Rachel’ s childlessness on God. Unlike Isaac in 25:21, the text does not say that Jacob prayed for his barren wife. 30:3 – 8 Like Sarah( 16:1 – 4), Rachel proposes that her maidservant become a surrogate mother. When Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali, Rachel names them, indicating in this particular context that they belong to her. The boys’ names reflect Rachel’ s desire to outdo her sister: God has vindicated her, and she has won( see NIV text notes on vv. 6,8). Rachel’ s struggle with her sister recalls the struggle between Jacob and Esau. 30:9 – 13 Responding to Rachel, Leah gives her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob. The births of Gad and Asher bring joy to Leah, as their names indicate( see NIV text notes on vv. 11,13). 30:14 – 16 Jacob’ s relationships with Rachel and with Leah are dysfunctional. Their dispute becomes so twisted that Rachel is prepared to sell Leah a night with Jacob for the price of some mandrake plants that Reuben has collected. Rachel’ s behavior is reminiscent of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew( 25:29 – 34). 30:17 – 21 Although it appeared that Leah had stopped having children( v. 9), Leah becomes pregnant not once but three more times. She bears two sons, Issachar and Zebulun, once again acknowledging God’ s role in their births( see NIV text notes on vv. 18,20), and a daughter, Dinah. The brief mention of Dinah’ s birth prepares for the events in ch. 34.