Genesis 30:4-8

Context

30:4 So Rachel¹ gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with² her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant³ and gave Jacob a son.⁴ 30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer⁵ and given me a son.” That is why⁶ she named him Dan.⁷

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son.⁸ 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.”⁹ So she named him Naphtali.¹⁰

[30:4] ¹tn Heb “and she”; the referent (Rachel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:4] ²tn Heb “went in to.” The expression “went in to” in this context refers to sexual intercourse.

[30:5] ³tn Or “Bilhah conceived” (also in v. 7).

[30:5] ⁴tn Heb “and she bore for Jacob a son.”

[30:6] ⁵tn 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] ⁶tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6] ⁷sn 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] ⁸tn Heb “and she became pregnant again and Bilhah, the servant of Rachel, bore a second son for Jacob.”

[30:8] ⁹tn 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] ¹⁰sn 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.”