Genesis 29:32-35

29:32 So Leah became pregnant ¹  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ²  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ³  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, ⁴  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ⁵ 

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ⁶  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ⁷ 

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. ⁸  Then she stopped having children.

Genesis 30:6-13

30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ⁹  and given me a son.” That is why ¹⁰  she named him Dan. ¹¹ 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ¹²  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ¹³  So she named him Naphtali. ¹⁴ 

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave ¹⁵  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. ¹⁶  30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” ¹⁷  So she named him Gad. ¹⁸ 

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ¹⁹  30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ²⁰  for women ²¹  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ²² 

Genesis 50:23

50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. ²³  He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. ²⁴ 

[29:32]  ¹ tn Or “Leah conceived” (also in vv. 33, 34, 35).

[29:32]  ² sn The name Reuben (רְאוּבֵן, rÿ’uven) means “look, a son.”

[29:32]  ³ tn Heb “looked on my affliction.”

[29:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “hated.” See the note on the word “unloved” in v. 31.

[29:33]  ⁵ 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 Lord “heard” about Leah’s unloved condition and responded with pity.

[29:34]  ⁶ tn Heb “will be joined to me.”

[29:34]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[30:6]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:8]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:11]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and Zilpah, the servant of Leah, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:13]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew statement apparently means “with my happiness.”

[30:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “daughters.”

[30:13]  ²² 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.

[50:23]  ²³ tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”

[50:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.