1 And when Rachel H7354 saw H7200 that she bare H3205 Jacob H3290 no children, Rachel H7354 envied H7065 her sister; H269 and said H559 unto Jacob, H3290 Give H3051 me children, H1121 or else H369 I die. H4191
Cursed H779 be the day H3117 wherein I was born: H3205 let not the day H3117 wherein my mother H517 bare H3205 me be blessed. H1288 Cursed H779 be the man H376 who brought tidings H1319 to my father, H1 saying, H559 A man H2145 child H1121 is born H3205 unto thee; making him very H8055 glad. H8055 And let that man H376 be as the cities H5892 which the LORD H3068 overthrew, H2015 and repented H5162 not: and let him hear H8085 the cry H2201 in the morning, H1242 and the shouting H8643 at noontide; H6256 H6672 Because he slew H4191 me not from the womb; H7358 or that my mother H517 might have been my grave, H6913 and her womb H7358 to be always H5769 great H2030 with me. Wherefore came I forth H3318 out of the womb H7358 to see H7200 labour H5999 and sorrow, H3015 that my days H3117 should be consumed H3615 with shame? H1322
And they journeyed H5265 from Bethel; H1008 and there was but H5750 a little H3530 way H776 to come H935 to Ephrath: H672 and Rachel H7354 travailed, H3205 and she had hard H7185 labour. H3205 And it came to pass, when she was in hard H7185 labour, H3205 that the midwife H3205 said H559 unto her, Fear H3372 not; thou shalt have this son H1121 also. And it came to pass, as her soul H5315 was in departing, H3318 (for she died H4191 ) that she called H7121 his name H8034 Benoni: H1126 but his father H1 called H7121 him Benjamin. H1144 And Rachel H7354 died, H4191 and was buried H6912 in the way H1870 to Ephrath, H672 which is Bethlehem. H1035
Wherefore is light H216 given H5414 to him that is in misery, H6001 and life H2416 unto the bitter H4751 in soul; H5315 Which long H2442 for death, H4194 but it cometh not; and dig H2658 for it more than for hid treasures; H4301 Which rejoice H8056 exceedingly, H1524 and are glad, H7797 when they can find H4672 the grave? H6913
After H310 this opened H6605 Job H347 his mouth, H6310 and cursed H7043 his day. H3117 And Job H347 spake, H6030 and said, H559 Let the day H3117 perish H6 wherein I was born, H3205 and the night H3915 in which it was said, H559 There is a man child H1397 conceived. H2029
And when the time H3117 was that Elkanah H511 offered, H2076 he gave H5414 to Peninnah H6444 his wife, H802 and to all her sons H1121 and her daughters, H1323 portions: H4490 But unto Hannah H2584 he gave H5414 a H259 worthy H639 portion; H4490 for he loved H157 Hannah: H2584 but the LORD H3068 had shut up H5462 her womb. H7358 And her adversary H6869 also provoked H3707 her sore, H3708 for to make her fret, H7481 because the LORD H3068 had shut H5462 up H1157 her womb. H7358 And as he did H6213 so year H8141 by year, H8141 when H1767 she went up H5927 to the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 so she provoked H3707 her; therefore she wept, H1058 and did not eat. H398 Then said H559 Elkanah H511 her husband H376 to her, Hannah, H2584 why weepest H1058 thou? and why eatest H398 thou not? and why is thy heart H3824 grieved? H3415 am not I better H2896 to thee than ten H6235 sons? H1121
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 30
Commentary on Genesis 30 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 30
Ge 30:1-24. Domestic Jealousies.
1. Rachel envied her sister—The maternal relation confers a high degree of honor in the East, and the want of that status is felt as a stigma and deplored as a grievous calamity.
Give me children, or else I die—either be reckoned as good as dead, or pine away from vexation. The intense anxiety of Hebrew women for children arose from the hope of giving birth to the promised seed. Rachel's conduct was sinful and contrasts unfavorably with that of Rebekah (compare Ge 25:22) and of Hannah (1Sa 1:11).
3-9. Bilhah … Zilpah—Following the example of Sarah with regard to Hagar, an example which is not seldom imitated still, she adopted the children of her maid. Leah took the same course. A bitter and intense rivalry existed between them, all the more from their close relationship as sisters; and although they occupied separate apartments, with their families, as is the uniform custom where a plurality of wives obtains, and the husband and father spends a day with each in regular succession, that did not allay their mutual jealousies. The evil lies in the system, which being a violation of God's original ordinance, cannot yield happiness.
20. 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.
21. afterwards, she bare a daughter—The inferior value set on a daughter is displayed in the bare announcement of the birth.
Ge 30:25-43. Jacob's Covenant with Laban.
25. when Rachel had born Joseph—Shortly after the birth of this son, Jacob's term of servitude expired, and feeling anxious to establish an independence for his family, he probably, from knowing that Esau was out of the way, announced his intention of returning to Canaan (Heb 13:14). In this resolution the faith of Jacob was remarkable, for as yet he had nothing to rely on but the promise of God (compare Ge 28:15).
27. Laban said … I have learned—His selfish uncle was averse to a separation, not from warmth of affection either for Jacob or his daughters, but from the damage his own interests would sustain. He had found, from long observation, that the blessing of heaven rested on Jacob, and that his stock had wonderfully increased under Jacob's management. This was a remarkable testimony that good men are blessings to the places where they reside. Men of the world are often blessed with temporal benefits on account of their pious relatives, though they have not always, like Laban, the wisdom to discern, or the grace to acknowledge it.
28. appoint me thy wages, and I will give it—The Eastern shepherds receive for their hire not money, but a certain amount of the increase or produce of the flock; but Laban would at the time have done anything to secure the continued services of his nephew, and make a show of liberality, which Jacob well knew was constrained.
31. Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing—A new agreement was made, the substance of which was, that he was to receive remuneration in the usual way, but on certain conditions which Jacob specified.
32. I will pass through all thy flock to-day—Eastern sheep being generally white, the goats black, and spotted or speckled ones comparatively few and rare, Jacob proposed to remove all existing ones of that description from the flock, and to be content with what might appear at the next lambing time. The proposal seemed so much in favor of Laban, that he at once agreed to it. But Jacob has been accused of taking advantage of his uncle, and though it is difficult to exculpate him from practising some degree of dissimulation, he was only availing himself of the results of his great skill and experience in the breeding of cattle. But it is evident from the next chapter (Ge 31:5-13) that there was something miraculous and that the means he had employed had been suggested by a divine intimation.
37. Jacob took rods, &c.—There are many varieties of the hazel, some of which are more erect than the common hazel, and it was probably one of these varieties Jacob employed. The styles are of a bright red color, when peeled; and along with them he took wands of other shrubs, which, when stripped of the bark, had white streaks. These, kept constantly before the eyes of the female at the time of gestation, his observation had taught him would have an influence, through the imagination, on the future offspring.
38. watering troughs—usually a long stone block hollowed out, from which several sheep could drink at once, but sometimes so small as to admit of only one drinking at a time.