Genesis 30:14-18

30:14 At the time ¹  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ²  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, ³  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” ⁴  Rachel said, “he may sleep ⁵  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 ⁶  with me because I have paid for your services ⁷  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ⁸  with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention ⁹  to Leah; she became pregnant ¹⁰  and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. ¹¹  30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ¹²  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ¹³  So she named him Issachar. ¹⁴ 

[30:14]  ¹ tn Heb “during the days.”

[30:14]  ² sn Mandrake plants were popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac in the culture of the time.

[30:15]  ³ tn Heb “and she said to her”; the referent of the pronoun “she” (Leah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “therefore.”

[30:15]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “listened to.”

[30:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “she conceived” (also in v. 19).

[30:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a fifth son,” i.e., this was the fifth son that Leah had given Jacob.

[30:18]  ¹² tn Heb “God has given my reward.”

[30:18]  ¹³ tn The words “as a wife” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity (cf. v. 9).

[30:18]  ¹⁴ 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.