Discovery BoxGenesis 29:31--30:24
Context29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, 1 he enabled her to become pregnant 2 while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant 3 and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, 4 for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. 5 Surely my husband will love me now.”
29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, 6 he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 7
29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, 8 because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. 9
29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. 10 Then she stopped having children.
30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she 11 became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children 12 or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious 13 with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” 14 30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with 15 her so that she can bear 16 children 17 for me 18 and I can have a family through her.” 19
30:4 So Rachel 20 gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with 21 her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant 22 and gave Jacob a son. 23 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer 24 and given me a son.” That is why 25 she named him Dan. 26
30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 27 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” 28 So she named him Naphtali. 29
30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave 30 her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 31 30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” 32 So she named him Gad. 33
30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 34 30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, 35 for women 36 will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. 37
30:14 At the time 38 of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants 39 in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, 40 “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” 41 Rachel said, “he may sleep 42 with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep 43 with me because I have paid for your services 44 with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations 45 with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention 46 to Leah; she became pregnant 47 and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 48 30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward 49 because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” 50 So she named him Issachar. 51
30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 52 30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. 53
30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
30:22 Then God took note of 54 Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 55 30:23 She became pregnant 56 and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 57 30:24 She named him Joseph, 58 saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
Genesis 35:16
Context35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, 59 Rachel went into labor 60 – and her labor was hard.
Genesis 35:23-26
Context35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
35:26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.
These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
Exodus 1:1-4
Context1:1 61 These 62 are the names 63 of the sons of Israel 64 who entered Egypt – each man with his household 65 entered with Jacob: 1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 1:4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Exodus 1:1
Context1:1 66 These 67 are the names 68 of the sons of Israel 69 who entered Egypt – each man with his household 70 entered with Jacob:
Exodus 2:1-2
Context2:1 71 A man from the household 72 of Levi married 73 a woman who was a descendant of Levi. 74 2:2 The woman became pregnant 75 and gave birth to a son. When 76 she saw that 77 he was a healthy 78 child, she hid him for three months.
[29:31] 1 tn Heb “hated.” The rhetorical device of overstatement is used (note v. 30, which says simply that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah) to emphasize that Rachel, as Jacob’s true love and the primary object of his affections, had an advantage over Leah.
[29:31] 2 tn Heb “he opened up her womb.”
[29:32] 3 tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).
[29:32] 4 sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”
[29:32] 5 tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”
[29:33] 6 tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.
[29:33] 7 sn The name Simeon (שִׁמְעוֹן, shim’on) is derived from the verbal root שָׁמַע (shama’) and means “hearing.” The name is appropriate since it is reminder that the
[29:34] 8 tn Heb “will be joined to me.”
[29:34] 9 sn The name Levi (לֵוִי, levi), the precise meaning of which is debated, was appropriate because it sounds like the verb לָוָה (lavah, “to join”), used in the statement recorded earlier in the verse.
[29:35] 10 sn The name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) means “he will be praised” and reflects the sentiment Leah expresses in the statement recorded earlier in the verse. For further discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ with an Excursus on the Etymology of Todah and Torah,” JBL 46 (1927): 151-85; and A. R. Millard, “The Meaning of the Name Judah,” ZAW 86 (1974): 216-18.
[30:1] 11 tn Heb “Rachel.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:2] 13 tn Heb “and the anger of Jacob was hot.”
[30:2] 14 tn Heb “who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb.”
[30:3] 15 tn Heb “go in to.” The expression “go in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
[30:3] 16 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the conjunction indicates the immediate purpose of the proposed activity.
[30:3] 17 tn The word “children” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:3] 18 tn Heb “upon my knees.” This is an idiomatic way of saying that Bilhah will be simply a surrogate mother. Rachel will adopt the child as her own.
[30:3] 19 tn Heb “and I will be built up, even I, from her.” The prefixed verbal form with the conjunction is subordinated to the preceding prefixed verbal form and gives the ultimate purpose for the proposed action. The idiom of “built up” here refers to having a family (see Gen 16:2, as well as Ruth 4:11 and BDB 125 s.v. בָנָה).
[30:4] 20 tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:4] 21 tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.
[30:5] 22 tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).
[30:5] 23 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”
[30:6] 24 tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.
[30:6] 26 sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.
[30:7] 27 tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”
[30:8] 28 tn Heb “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister, also I have prevailed.” The phrase “mighty struggle” reads literally “struggles of God.” The plural participle “struggles” reflects the ongoing nature of the struggle, while the divine name is used here idiomatically to emphasize the intensity of the struggle. See J. Skinner, Genesis (ICC), 387.
[30:8] 29 sn The name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי, naftali) must mean something like “my struggle” in view of the statement Rachel made in the preceding clause. The name plays on this earlier statement, “[with] a mighty struggle I have struggled with my sister.”
[30:9] 30 tn Heb “she took her servant Zilpah and gave her.” The verbs “took” and “gave” are treated as a hendiadys in the translation: “she gave.”
[30:10] 31 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”
[30:11] 32 tc The statement in the Kethib (consonantal text) appears to mean literally “with good fortune,” if one takes the initial בְּ (bet) as a preposition indicating accompaniment. The Qere (marginal reading) means “good fortune has arrived.”
[30:11] 33 sn The name Gad (גָּד, gad) means “good fortune.” The name reflects Leah’s feeling that good fortune has come her way, as expressed in her statement recorded earlier in the verse.
[30:12] 34 tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”
[30:13] 35 tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”
[30:13] 36 tn Heb “daughters.”
[30:13] 37 sn The name Asher (אָשֶׁר, ’asher) apparently means “happy one.” The name plays on the words used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. Both the Hebrew noun and verb translated “happy” and “call me happy,” respectively, are derived from the same root as the name Asher.
[30:14] 38 tn Heb “during the days.”
[30:14] 39 sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.
[30:15] 40 tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:15] 41 tn Heb “therefore.”
[30:15] 42 tn Heb “lie down.” The expression “lie down with” in this context (here and in the following verse) refers to sexual intercourse. The imperfect verbal form has a permissive nuance here.
[30:16] 43 tn Heb “must come in to me.” The imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance here. She has acquired him for the night and feels he is obligated to have sexual relations with her.
[30:16] 44 tn Heb “I have surely hired.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form for emphasis. The name Issachar (see v. 18) seems to be related to this expression.
[30:16] 45 tn This is the same Hebrew verb (שָׁכַב, shakhav) translated “sleep with” in v. 15. In direct discourse the more euphemistic “sleep with” was used, but here in the narrative “marital relations” reflects more clearly the emphasis on sexual intercourse.
[30:17] 46 tn Heb “listened to.”
[30:17] 47 tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).
[30:17] 48 tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.
[30:18] 49 tn Heb “God has given my reward.”
[30:18] 50 tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).
[30:18] 51 sn The name Issachar (יְשָּׁשכָר, yishakhar) appears to mean “man of reward” or possibly “there is reward.” The name plays on the word used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew noun translated “reward” is derived from the same root as the name Issachar. The irony is that Rachel thought the mandrakes would work for her, and she was willing to trade one night for them. But in that one night Leah became pregnant.
[30:19] 52 tn Heb “and she bore a sixth son for Jacob,” i.e., this was the sixth son that Leah had given Jacob.
[30:20] 53 sn The name Zebulun (זְבֻלוּן, zevulun) apparently means “honor.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement made earlier in the verse. The Hebrew verb translated “will honor” and the name Zebulun derive from the same root.
[30:22] 54 tn Heb “remembered.”
[30:22] 55 tn Heb “and God listened to her and opened up her womb.” Since “God” is the subject of the previous clause, the noun has been replaced by the pronoun “he” in the translation for stylistic reasons
[30:23] 57 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
[30:24] 58 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
[35:16] 59 tn Heb “and there was still a stretch of the land to go to Ephrath.”
[35:16] 60 tn Normally the verb would be translated “she gave birth,” but because that obviously had not happened yet, it is better to translate the verb as ingressive, “began to give birth” (cf. NIV) or “went into labor.”
[1:1] 61 sn Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the
[1:1] 62 tn Heb “now these” or “and these.” The vav (ו) disjunctive marks a new beginning in the narrative begun in Genesis.
[1:1] 63 sn The name of the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is שְׁמוֹת (shÿmot), the word for “Names,” drawn from the beginning of the book. The inclusion of the names at this point forms a literary connection to the book of Genesis. It indicates that the Israelites living in bondage had retained a knowledge of their ancestry, and with it, a knowledge of God’s promise.
[1:1] 64 tn The expression בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).
[1:1] 65 tn Heb “a man and his house.” Since this serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[1:1] 66 sn Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the
[1:1] 67 tn Heb “now these” or “and these.” The vav (ו) disjunctive marks a new beginning in the narrative begun in Genesis.
[1:1] 68 sn The name of the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is שְׁמוֹת (shÿmot), the word for “Names,” drawn from the beginning of the book. The inclusion of the names at this point forms a literary connection to the book of Genesis. It indicates that the Israelites living in bondage had retained a knowledge of their ancestry, and with it, a knowledge of God’s promise.
[1:1] 69 tn The expression בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).
[1:1] 70 tn Heb “a man and his house.” Since this serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[2:1] 71 sn The chapter records the exceptional survival of Moses under the decree of death by Pharaoh (vv. 1-10), the flight of Moses from Pharaoh after killing the Egyptian (vv. 11-15), the marriage of Moses (vv. 16-22), and finally a note about the
[2:1] 72 tn Heb “house.” In other words, the tribe of Levi.
[2:1] 73 tn Heb “went and took”; NASB “went and married.”
[2:1] 74 tn Heb “a daughter of Levi.” The word “daughter” is used in the sense of “descendant” and connects the new account with Pharaoh’s command in 1:22. The words “a woman who was” are added for clarity in English.
[2:2] 75 tn Or “conceived” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[2:2] 76 tn A preterite form with the vav consecutive can be subordinated to a following clause. What she saw stands as a reason for what she did: “when she saw…she hid him three months.”
[2:2] 77 tn After verbs of perceiving or seeing there are frequently two objects, the formal accusative (“she saw him”) and then a noun clause that explains what it was about the child that she perceived (“that he was healthy”). See GKC 365 §117.h.
[2:2] 78 tn Or “fine” (טוֹב, tov). The construction is parallel to phrases in the creation narrative (“and God saw that it was good,” Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 17, 21, 25, 31). B. Jacob says, “She looked upon her child with a joy similar to that of God upon His creation (Gen 1.4ff.)” (Exodus, 25).
