Text -- Genesis 35:17 (NET)

35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 35:17

¹ tn The construction uses a Hiphil infinitive, which E. A. Speiser classifies as an elative Hiphil. The contrast is with the previous Piel: there “she had hard labor,” and here, “her labor was at its hardest.” Failure to see this, Speiser notes, has led to redundant translations and misunderstandings (Genesis [AB], 273).

² sn Another son. The episode recalls and fulfills the prayer of Rachel at the birth of Joseph (Gen 30:24): “may he add” another son.