This chapter gives an account of Rachel’s envy of her sister for her fruitfulness, and of her earnest desire of having children, which she expressed to Jacob in an unbecoming manner, for which he reproved her, Gen. 30:1, Gen.

And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children In the space of three or four years after marriage, and when her sister Leah had had four sons: Rachel envied her sister; the honour she had of bearing children, and the pleasure in nursing and bringing them up, when she lay under the reproach of…

And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel Whom yet he dearly loved, hearing her talk in such an extravagant manner, as her words seemed to be, and were not: only expressive of great uneasiness and impatience, but implied what was not in the power of man to do: and he said, am I in God’s stead:…

And she said in order to pacify Jacob, and explain her meaning to him; which was, not that she thought it was in his power to make her the mother of children, but that he would think of some way or another of obtaining children for her, that might go for hers; so the Arabic version, “obtain a son…

And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid To be enjoyed as a wife, though she was no other than a concubine; yet such were sometimes called wives, and were secondary ones, and were under the proper lawful wife, nor did their children inherit; but those which Jacob had by his wives’ maids did inherit…

And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. ] This was so far countenanced by the Lord, that he blessed her with conception, and Jacob with a son by her.

And Rachel said As soon as she heard that Bilhah had bore a son: God hath judged me: and hereby testified his approbation, as she understood it, of the step she had took in giving her maid to her husband, and she was justified in what she had done: and hath also heard my voice: of prayer; she had…

And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again Soon after the birth of her first child: and bare Jacob a second son; this was his sixth son, but the second by Bilhah.

And Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister Or, “with the wrestlings of God” [[0]], wrestling and striving in prayer with God; being vehement and importunate in her petitions to him, that she might have children as well as her sister: some render it, “I used the…

When Leah saw that she had left bearing For a little while, for she afterwards bore again, and observing also what her sister had done; she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife: in this she was less excusable than Rachel, since she had four children of her own, and therefore might have…

And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore Jacob a son. ] For it seems he consented to take her to wife at the motion of Leah, as he had took Bilhah at the instance of Rachel; and having gratified the one, he could not well deny the other; and went in to her, and she conceived, though neither of these things…

And Leah said, a troop cometh A troop of children, having bore four herself, and now her maid another, and more she expected; or the commander of a troop cometh, one that shall head an army and overcome his enemies; which agrees with the prophecy of Jacob, ; and she called his name Gad: which…

And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bare Jacob a second son. ] As well as Bilhah, and no more.

And Leah said Upon the birth of the second son by her maid: happy am I; or, “in my happiness”; or, “for my happiness” [[2]]; that is, this child is an addition to my happiness, and will serve to increase it: for the daughters will call me blessed; the women of the place where she lived would speak…

And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest Leah’s eldest son, who is supposed to be at this time about four or five years of age [[4]], who went out from the tent to the field, to play there perhaps; and this was at the time of wheat harvest, in the month Sivan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which…

And she said unto her Leah to Rachel, taking this opportunity to bring out a thing which had some time lain with uneasiness upon her mind: is it a small thing that thou hast taken away my husband? got the greatest share of his affections, and had most of his company; which last was very probably…

And Jacob came out of the field in the evening From feeding his flocks; and Leah went out to meet him; knowing full well the time he used to come home: and said, thou must come in unto me; into her tent, for the women had separate tents from the men; as Sarah from Abraham; and so these wives of…

And God hearkened unto Leah To the prayer of Leah, as the Targum of Jonathan, for more children: the desire of these good women for the company of their husband was not from lust, or an amorous desire in them, but for the sake of having many children, as appears by giving their maids to him; and…

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…

And Leah conceived again For bearing children Jacob took more to her, and more frequently attended her apartment and bed: and bare Jacob a sixth son; the sixth by her, but the tenth by her and his two maids.

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, ; now…

And afterwards she bare a daughter Which some writers, as Aben Ezra observes, say, was at the same birth with Zebulun, a twin with him; but being said to be afterwards shows the contrary: and called her name Dinah; which signifies “judgment”: perhaps she may have some reference to the first son of…

And God remembered Rachel In a way of mercy and kindness, whom he seemed to have forgotten, by not giving her children: and God hearkened to her; to her prayer, which had been made time after time, that she might have children; but hitherto God had delayed to answer, but now gives one: and opened…

And she conceived and bare a son Through the goodness of God unto her, and for which she was greatly thankful; and said, God hath taken away my reproach; the reproach of barrenness with which she was reproached among her neighbours; and perhaps by her sister Leah, and indeed it was a general…

And she called his name Joseph Which signifies “adding”, or rather, “to be added”; or, “God shall add”, giving this reason for it; and said, the Lord shall add to me another son: which is expressive of strong faith; that as she had begun to bear children, she should bear another, as she did; though…

And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph At which time his fourteen years of servitude were ended; for Jacob was in Laban’s house twenty years, fourteen were spent in serving for his wives, and the other six for his cattle, which begun from this time, as the context clearly shows; see ; so…

Give me my wives His two wives, Leah and Rachel, and the two maids, Bilhah and Zilpah, which he had given him for wives also; he desires leave not to have them, but to take them away with him: and my children; his twelve children; he did not desire his father-in- law to take any of them, and keep…

And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry One would think he could not expect to have much from him, by his treatment of him; but he craftily cajoles him in this fawning, flattering way, in order to gain a point, and begs of him, in a very humble and…

And he said, appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. ] Say what thou wilt have, fix what salary thou thinkest sufficient, and I will agree to it, and punctually pay it: this he craftily said, not choosing to propose anything himself, but leaving it to Jacob, knowing very well the honesty and…

And he said unto him Jacob to Laban, thou knowest that I have served thee; not only diligently and faithfully, without any salary, excepting for his wives; otherwise he had no wages for his service all this time, which therefore should be considered for the future: and how thy cattle was with me:…

For it was little which thou hadst before I came Perhaps but a single flock, and that not a very large one, since Rachel, his youngest daughter, had the care of it: and it is now increased unto a multitude; or “broke forth” [[11]], spread itself over the fields and plains, hills and mountains…

And he said, what shall I give thee? &c.] So said Laban to Jacob, still avoiding making any offer himself, but waiting for Jacob, and pressing upon him to fix his wages: and Jacob said, thou shalt not give me anything; a speech Laban liked very well: his meaning is, that he should give him no…

I will pass through all thy flock today Not alone, but Laban and his sons with him; removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle; that is, such as were black and had white spots on them, or were white and had black spots on them; and the “speckled”, according to Jarchi and Ben Melech,…

So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come Either by the success I shall have, and the blessing of God upon me, making it prosperous; it will appear in time to come, and to all posterity, that I have most righteously and faithfully served thee: or rather, such a separation being made…

And Laban said Being well pleased with the proposal Jacob made, as knowing that, generally speaking, cattle of a colour produced those that were of the same; and whereas Jacob proposed to have a flock of sheep of only white in colour, committed to his care, and to have such for his own that should…

And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted That had strakes of a different colour from the rest on their shoulders, thighs, logs, or feet, or in any part of the body: the word here used stands in the room of that before translated “speckled”; this Laban did, as the…

And he set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob Not three days’ journey for a man, but for cattle; this distance there was between the place where Laban and his sons kept the spotted, speckled, and brown cattle, and that in which Jacob kept the flock only consisting of white sheep; and…

And Jacob took him rods of green poplar Of the white poplar tree, called green, not from the colour, but from the moisture, being such as were cut off of the tree: and of the hazel and chestnut tree; the former some take to be the almond tree, as Saadiah Gaon, and others; and the latter to be the…

And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks, &c.] Opposite them, in the view of them: in the gutters in the watering troughs, when the flocks came to drink; that is, in places of water, where troughs or vessels were made, into which the water ran convenient for the cattle to drink out…

And the flocks conceived before the rods At them, and in sight of them; which had such influence upon them through thee force of imagination, and a divine power and providence so directing and succeeding this device, that they brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; such as Jacob…

And Jacob did separate the lambs The ringstraked, speckled, and spotted; and set the faces of the flocks, that were all white, towards the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; either to go before those that were all white, that they by looking at them might conceive and bring forth…

And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive Whose limbs were well compact, and were strong and healthy: that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; and bring forth party coloured ones, and such as were robust…

And when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in Or “when covered”, as Menachem, that is, with wool, and so not so desirous of copulation with the males, nor so fit and strong for generation; and therefore he put not in the rods into the gutters, partly that he might have none feeble in his…

And the man increased exceedingly Jacob grew very rich: and had much cattle; the greater part of Laban’s flocks brought forth speckled, spotted, and brown cattle, which, according to agreement, were Jacob’s: and maidservants, and menservants; which he got to take care of his household affairs, and…