Rachel, in grief for her barrenness, gives Bilhah her servant to Jacob, 1-4. Bilhah bears Dan and Naphtali, 5-8. Leah gives Zilpah her servant, who bears Gad and Asher, 9-13. Reuben finds mandrakes, with which Leah buys her husband's company from Rachel, 14-16. Leah bears Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, 17-21. Rachel bears Joseph, 22-24. Jacob desires to depart, 25, 26. Laban detains him on a new agreement, 27-36. Jacob's policy, whereby he becomes rich, 37-43.
1 And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die." 2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and he said, "Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" 3 And she said, "Behold, my servant Bilhah, go in to her, and she shall bear upon my knees so that I may also have children by her." 4 And she gave him Bilhah her servant for a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 And Rachel said, "God has judged me and has also heard my voice and has given me a son." Therefore, she called his name Dan. 7 And Bilhah, Rachel's servant, conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 And Rachel said, "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and I have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing, she took Zilpah her servant and gave her to Jacob for a wife. 10 And Zilpah, Leah's servant, bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, "A troop comes." And she called his name Gad. 12 And Zilpah, Leah's servant, bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, "Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed." And she called his name Asher.
14 And Reuben went, in the days of wheat-harvest, and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Give me, I pray you, some of your son's mandrakes." 15 And she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? And would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore, he shall lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes." 16 And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me. For surely I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob the fifth son. 18 And Leah said, "God has given me my hire because I have given my servant to my husband." And she called his name Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again and bore Jacob the sixth son. 20 And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dower. Now my husband will dwell with me because I have borne him six sons." And she called his name Zebulun. 21 And afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
22 And God remembered Rachel. And God listened to her and rendered her fruitful. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach." 24 And she called his name Joseph and said, "The LORD will add to me another son."
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away so that I may go to my own place and to my country. 26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you know my service which I have done for you." 27 And Laban said to him, "I pray you, if I have found favor in your eyes, stay, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake." 28 And he said, "Appoint me your wages and I will give it." 29 And he said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your cattle were with me. 30 For it was little which you had before I came, and it is now increased to a multitude, and the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now when shall I provide for my own house also?" 31 And he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flock. 32 I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, all the brown ones among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and of such shall be my hire. 33 So my righteousness shall answer for me in time to come when you come for my hire before your face. Each one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, shall be accounted stolen with me." 34 And Laban said, "Behold, let it be according to your word." 35 And he removed that day the male goats that were striped and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, each one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. 36 And he set three days' journey between himself and Jacob. And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 And Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the hazel and plane-tree, and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. 38 And he set the rods, which he had peeled, before the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs when the flocks came to drink so that they should conceive when they came to drink. 39 And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flock brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the brown in the flock of Laban. And he put his own flocks by themselves, and did not put them with Laban's flock. 41 And it came to pass whenever the stronger flock conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters so that they might conceive among the rods. 42 But when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. 43 And the man increased exceedingly and had many flocks, women-servants, men-servants, camels, and donkeys.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Genesis, Chapter 30[➚]