Genesis 30:5-9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 30:1-13

We have here the bad consequences of that strange marriage which Jacob made with the two sisters. Here is, I. An unhappy disagreement between him and Rachel (Gen. 30:1, 2), occasioned, not so much by her own barrenness as by her sister's fruitfulness. Rebekah, the only wife of Isaac, was long childless, and yet we find no uneasiness between her and Isaac; but here, because Leah bears children, Rachel cannot live peaceably with Jacob. 1. Rachel frets. She envied her sister, Gen. 30:1. Envy is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 30:5

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. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 30:6

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 prayed to God that her maid might have a child, or she have one by her: and hath given me a son ; whom she reckoned her own, Bilhah being her servant, and so her children born of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 30:7

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. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 30:8

And Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister ,.... Or, "with the wrestlings of God" F1 נפתולי אלהים "luctationibus Dei", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Cartwright. , 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 craftinesses of God", or "great craftiness with my sisters" F2 "Calliditatibus Dei, Oleaster, astutiis Dei",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 30:9

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 been content without desiring others by her maid; nor had she long left off bearing, and therefore had no reason to give up hope of having any more. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 30:6

Called she his name Dan - Because she found God had judged for her, and decided she should have a son by her handmaid; hence she called his name דן dan , judging. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 30:8

She called his name Naphtali - נפתלי naphtali , my wrestling, according to the common mode of interpretation; but it is more likely that the root פתל pathal signifies to twist or entwine. Hence Mr. Parkhurst translates the verse, "By the twistings - agency or operation, of God, I am entwisted with my sister; that is, my family is now entwined or interwoven with my sister's family, and has a chance of producing the promised Seed." The Septuagint, Aquila, and the Vulgate, have nearly... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 30:5

Verse 5 5.And Bilhah conceived. It is wonderful that God should have deigned to honor an adulterous connection with offspring: but he does sometimes thus strive to overcome by kindness the wickedness of men, and pursues the unworthy with his favor. Moreover, he does not always make the punishment equal to the offenses of his people, nor does he always rouse them, alike quickly, from their torpor, but waits for the matured season of correction. Therefore it was his will that they who were born... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 30:8

Verse 8 8.With great wrestlings (74) Others translate it, “I am joined with the joinings of God;” (75) as if she exulted in having recovered what she had lost; or, certainly, in having obtained an equal degree of honor with her sister. Others render it, I am doubled with the duplications of God. But both derive the noun and the verb from the root פתל (patal,) which signifies a twisted thread. The former of these senses comes to this; that since Rachel has attained a condition equal to that of... read more

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