Genesis 11:30

11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

Genesis 29:31

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ¹  he enabled her to become pregnant ²  while Rachel remained childless.

Genesis 25:21

25:21 Isaac prayed to ³  the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

[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.”

[25:21]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb עָתַר (’atar), translated “prayed [to]” here, appears in the story of God’s judgment on Egypt in which Moses asked the Lord to remove the plagues. The cognate word in Arabic means “to slaughter for sacrifice,” and the word is used in Zeph 3:10 to describe worshipers who bring offerings. Perhaps some ritual accompanied Isaac’s prayer here.